Monday, March 18, 2013

A 400-year old description of the cleaning of dishes and utensils for Passover

Here is Johannes Buxtorf's description of hagalat kelim, the purging of vessels, for Passover. From the English version of his Synagoga Judaica, which was originally published in 1603.



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6 comments:

  1. so you see that people cleaned their house for pesach 400 years ago too.
    take that, failed messiah!

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    1. So true.

      Check out Seforim blog's post on Haggadot from last year. There's an illustration posted from a centuries-old Italian Haggadah depicting bedikat chametz, and the woman in the picture is quite clearly sweeping the ceiling with a broom. Overboard cleaning is not a new phenomenon at all!

      Delete

  2. When was this translated into English and published?

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    1. Good question. 1657. If you'll email me, I'll send you a copy.

      Alan Corre's original (and more correct) English translation as The Jews' Synagogue is online here. Here is the chapter from which this post is excerpted.

      Delete

  3. And the sidenotes, going from Matthew to the Orach Chayyim.

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