In the United States, in 1960, there were few family-friendly alternatives to the ubiquitous Maxwell House Hagadah. From Twilight To Dawn: The Traditional Pessach Hagadah, created in Washington Heights, filled that gap.
The Hagadah was the brainchild of two distinguished residents of Washington Heights, Rabbi Shlomo Kahn and Mr. Herbert Harwitt. Both were born in Germany in the 1920s: Kahn in Stuttgart and Harwitt in Berlin, both escaped Nazi rule and arrived in America in the 1930s as bar-mitzvah age young men. Their families settled in Washington Heights and both men eventually became leading community figures: Kahn as rabbi of Congregation Beth Hillel-Beth Israel, chair of the Washington Heights Council for Soviet Jewry, and a rebbe at the Frisch School, and Harwitt as the founder of Scribe Publications, president of Mt. Sinai Jewish Center, and a member of the Washington Heights Community Board.
Rabbi Kahn was a graduate of 麻豆区 High School for Boys and received his semicha from RIETS. Mr. Harwitt studied at local public schools and later ran a book- binding business and founded Scribe Publications. They were close friends, and Mr. Harwitt would always join the Kahn鈥檚 at their Seder table, where they engaged in lively, stimulating, study and discussion. Thus, the Hagadah was born.
From Twilight to Dawn: the Traditional Pessach Hagadah, was arranged by Rabbi Shlomo Kahn, who 鈥渃ompiled more than sixty classic Hagadah commentaries and adapted them conveniently鈥 for use at the Seder. The Hagadah was published by Scribe Publications, owned by Mr. Harwitt, and Rabbi Kahn thanked Mr. Harwitt for his 鈥渃ritical reading of the book鈥檚 manuscript and his numerous valuable suggestions.鈥 Rabbi Kahn viewed this Hagadah as an educational endeavor; he explained that many laymen needed a Hagadah with clear halachic explanations and directions and thought provoking, yet accessible commentary in English. This was a pioneering concept for 1960, a mere fifteen years 鈥 less than a generation -- after the end of Second World War. That specter is alluded to in the title From Twilight to Dawn, based on the phrase in the Hagadah, me-afelah le-or gadol, 诪讗驻诇讛 诇讗讜专 讙讚讜诇. As Rabbi Kahn states in the introduction, 鈥淭he Pessach Hagadah has become for our people鈥 a beacon of light in the dark nights of the Goluth 鈥 in the valleys of death under Nazi rule 鈥 and a shining symbol of faith in our future.鈥 In essence, this Hagadah was designed to be educational, yet popular; a forerunner of many ArtScroll publications. published its first book, a commentary on Megilas Esther, with an English translation, in 1976.
Now it is hard to imagine the world of Jewish education in America in 1960, or the world of Judaica without ArtScroll. Jewish education In the United States at the time, even for children of many Orthodox families, took place primarily in Sunday school or Talmud Torahs children attended after the end of their day in public school. Almost every synagogue in Washington Heights 鈥 and there were many at the time, stretching from 161st Street to Dyckman Street 鈥 housed a Talmud Torah, where educational levels varied. The Talmud Torahs were full at the time, despite the presence of two all-day yeshiva elementary schools in the neighborhood at the time, 麻豆区 Rabbi Moses Soloveichik and 麻豆区 Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. 麻豆区 Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch continues to serve the neighborhood today.
Rabbi Shlomo Kahn died in 2000, not long after Congregation Beth Hillel-Beth Israel merged with Mt. Sinai Jewish Center on Bennett Avenue. Mt. Sinai Jewish Center recently observed Mr. Harwitt鈥檚 first yahrzeit. Their Hagadah has stood the test of time; it has been republished many times since 1960, most recently by in 2018 in memory of Rabbi Shlomo Kahn.
The Hagadah melds belief in Hashem with the necessity of human beings to be God鈥檚 messengers; this is particularly evident in Rabbi Kahn鈥檚 description of the birth of the State of Israel. 鈥淲hen 鈥 the United Nations voted for a Jewish State in Palestine, when the amies of Israel defeated the superior forces of the Arabs, we know that these are only instruments in the hands of God and to Him only do we owe gratitude. Thus, we know that He brought us out of all misery and every exile throughout history, although often the deliverance was brought about by what we call 鈥榥atural鈥 or 鈥榥ormal鈥 causes.
The phrase me-afelah le-or gadol is followed by mi-shibud li-geulah, 诪砖注讘讜讚 诇讙讗讜诇讛, from bondage to redemption. A sentence from the introduction to From Twilight to Dawn explains the soul of the Hagadah, 鈥渨e immediately associate it with our cherished, often lost, gained, relost and regained freedom.鈥 Let us hope that this Passover will bring freedom to the hostages in the captivity of Hamas, and may they celebrate Passover in Jerusalem.
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Notes on Scribe Publications (New York) and the H. Itzkowski Press (Berlin)
Mr. Herbert Harwitt came from a family of publishers; he founded Scribe Publications, a boutique publisher which published a few select books. The first book, published in 1959, was an edition of , . Today it is a rare book, held by only a few libraries. From Twilight To Dawn: The Traditional Pessach Hagadah, followed in 1960.
Scribe Publications published Ever Since Sinai: a modern view of Torah by Jacob Petuchowski in 1961. Petuchowski was born in Berlin in 1925 and was a contemporary of Herbert Harwitt. Petuchowski left Germany on a Kindertransport in 1939, eventually moved to the United States, and received a rabbinical degree and a PhD from Hebrew Union College where he later taught.
What is the connection between Herbert Harwitt, an Orthodox Jew, and Jacob Petuchowski, a Reform rabbi? Sometimes the introductory pages of a book, in this case Ever Since Sinai, tell a story, in this case the story of the H. Itzkowski press and the connection to Herbert Harwitt.
Mr. Harwitt鈥檚 great-grandfather, H. [Zvi Hirsh] Itzkowski established the in 1873/1874 in Berlin. Itzkowski Press became a well-known and respected publisher in the fields of Hebraica and Judaica. After Itzkowski鈥檚 death in 1914, his son-in-law, Mr. Harwitt鈥檚 grandfather, Meir Hurvits, took over Itzkowski Press
Marcus Petuchowski, Jacob鈥檚 grandfather, had published his book, Der Tanna Rabbi Ismael with Itzkowski press in 1894 and both Harwitt鈥檚 and Petuchowski鈥檚 grandfathers had worked together on projects at the press. In the 1961 book, Petuchowski writes 鈥渢hat out of the ruins of the old-world precious memories were saved, and the close friendship of the latter-day descendants survivies in the New World. May the present volume serve as a token of this.鈥
There was a later edition of Ever Since Sinai on the shelf near the 1961 edition 鈥 the later edition does not mention the connection to the Itzkowski Press. Please note of the research lesson here 鈥 introductions and acknowledgements can provide valuable information, and not every edition of a book is the same.
The Itzkowski press published its final book in 1932.
Posted by Shulamith Z. Berger
