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520 THE JEWISH QUAKTERLY REVIEW
A FRAGMENT OF A SHORTHAND HAGADAH.
A MS. recently acquired by the Bodleian Library (Hebr. MSS. e 68)
contains an interesting shorthand fragment of the Hagadah for Pass-
over. The instructions for the several ceremonies are given in Arabic,
and are, with a few exceptions, the same as in the printed Hagadahs.
The exceptions are these : The washing of the hands before the par-
taking of the parsley is followed by the blessing Q'''T' n?''D3 7J? ; this is
not the case in the German rite. According to the Hagahoth Maimuni,
this was the practice of former generations — perhaps in the time of the
Talmud and the Geonim, but not e. g. in the days of Maimonides. This
circumstance would lead us to assume that the fragment was copied
from a very old original i. Another deviation from the established
rite is the recital of a blessing after having partaken of the parsley.
The form of this blessing is likewise peculiar. The usual initial
foi-mula is followed by '•n "i N 2 K13E' HD bv nUI [niE'JSJ [N"']ia
D''D?iyn "Creator of many desires for that which he created, blessed
art thou, Lord, who livest for ever^" It is doubtful whether this
form is in accordance with some established rite, or is merely the
result of the copyist's negligence, of which there is good evidence in the
fragment. It is further insisted upon, that'each time the cup is refilled
with vfine it should previously be rinsed with water, a process (^a''E36^')
prescribed in the Talmud (Berachoth, 6oi a) for every n3"13 PC D13.
The Kiddush is almost identical with that contained in our printed
editions ; but the first paragraph of the Hagadah, which usually
begins N^JJJ NCn? NilD, has, in our fragment, the following form:
ru]2r>^ [ii]3y [snjK'n • ^N->E"T NjnN3 [nvan n^'p^'p nan [Nn]trn
[Ti]"''' [T'>>T Wai [b^jyi [Ti]" [i"'q]31 [b]2 ' [r]in ['•Jn [nxan
[nD]D*i '.
As regards the sequence of the questions, the MS. has the same order
as Maimonides, but in a shortened form ; the words nriN DyS P"'aN ,
CDya TIB' (the MS. has )''i'''3t30 IJN instead) and ^ib^ are omitted.
The next paragraph runs as follows :
[i];a Qw [wJni'N ■>'• [i3N]'>yi''i [Dn]sm [nyjna^ i^n [iy]i2V
^ The mistakes met with in the fragment, especially on the first page,
are such as can only be attributed to a copyist.
^ The accepted form is : niTinS «niiD nn "ja te Dsncni mm mazi nt3
' The letters in square brackets have been added by me.
A FRAGMENT OP A SHORTHAND HAGADAH 52 1
DN [ittjiTi [«]in [T>]-i3 [Di]i3t3n [^]N3 vh [li'j^xi [n'-jiDJ [jnt]3i ni^jn
nab [i3*n]i3K m »b (mv) [onajyie'D un [ijm [onjstsD [ij'-jnax
: nuns [ttjTin uniw 'Kje* ^jsj linx (nuK) tiN [spx ^kj
The next two paragraphs being omitted, the MS. continues "1333
min mai D'^a ny3"lN, with the following variation in reply to the
wicked :
[N]S ['•j^ " [njB'y n; [lujyn [vjit? nx [nn]pni i^ [nijoK [n]nK «!«
: W:t: [n>]Nn s^ db' n^n i^'n [i]^
In the next section there are no variations of importance, except
that in the paragraph beginning moyr N\ni the words "ini "in Pa^C
i:nib^ ir^y OnDiy are omitted. The section beginning ''b'hyn ''DV ""ai
to WniJiy by ISS? is likewise absent. The following two paragraphs
are likewise a peculiarly contracted form :
[r\]''r\ [i^]n3 [iD]vy [n]N [n]N->^ [b]iN [aj-'n [ni]ii in [i']33
; [dJe'd [N'']vin [u]niNi [idnJjk' [onJ^CD [N]y
[^]i5^ [DD]n^ [iNJoi' [03]^^ [^i'Jni' [D'3]>n 13N [vy^h
i3N''Sini [n]^Nn d^d^h ij3 ns [i3n]i3Nh i^i' [nc'JyB' [*]oi' [nn]inh
:n'<i^^ni mbhn "ios3i [n]in^ [nn]3yc
The next sentence concludes the fragment :
: c^D^n ny i'sir' nNS3 nb " n3y ^bbn
The copyist was suddenly interrupted, or else he would have addeil
the two words O'D iryc^.
The MS. is written on paper in Syro-Egypt. characters, about
1 300 according to Dr. Neubauer. Vowels are occasionally added ;
the signs are the ordinary ones, but the writer does not seem to have
always been able to distinguish between holem and long Tcamets ;
for he writes m3y instead of nT3y ; 'h'^n instead of T^'n ; D''nD03
instead of D'naib3, N^zrN?, and so on. Probably he pronounced
long kamets like 0. It may further be noticed that an interchange,
as in Yemen MSS., takes place between pathah and segol, and between
segol and tsere ; that a simple vowel takes the place of a sh'ra
compositum.
The object of a shorthand Hagadah of this kind was probably
to enable the Jews to carry copies of the ritual with them when
compelled to move from place to place. It assisted the memory
in things known almost by heart, which were thus saved from oblivion.
(Comp. " Fragment of the Hebrew Bible," Proceedings of the Societij
for Biblical Archaeology, March, 1896.)
M. Fkiedlandek.
