View the Oldest Haggadah

The oldest manuscript of a Passover Haggadah dates from the tenth or eleventh century. In the early twentieth century, it was found in the Cairo Geniza, a repository containing centuries of Jewish liturgical texts and other documents. This Haggadah is in the possession of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. It reflects the tradition of the land of Israel and differs in many ways from the Haggadot of the Geonim, leaders of the Jewish community in Babylonia. For example, this Haggadah includes different questions and lacks the complete Midrashic elaboration on “My father was a wandering Aramean.” To see the Haggadah’s “Three Questions” (about why we dip twice, eat matzah, and eat only roasted meat) go to page 4 (i). View the oldest Haggadah here.