Sometime in the late 15th century, an illuminated manuscript of the Haggadah came into the possession of a monastery in southern Germany, which then passed it on to the Christian Hebraist Erhard von Pappenheim, who appended a detailed prologue. The entire manuscript, prologue included, has now been published with a series of scholarly introductions. Philip Getz writes:

Although its illuminations are exquisite, what makes this Haggadah utterly unique is that some of them are also aggressively Christian. For instance, the quotation from Chronicles 21:16, “with a drawn sword in his hand directed against Jerusalem,” is accompanied by a Jesus-like figure raising a cross-like sword with one hand and folding two fingers and his thumb into the palm of his other hand to symbolize the Trinity. The same Jesus appears again several pages later when the Haggadah beseeches God to “Pour out Your fury on the nations that do not know You.” This time he is capped with a Judenhut and galloping in as the messiah on a white horse. . . .

The Latin prologue that precedes the manuscript contains something darker: a detailed outline of the seder, its laws and traditions, together with several classic (and innovative) versions of Christian anti-Semitism. . . . Nearly every element of Erhard’s prologue contributes to its meticulous depiction of a contemporary Ashkenazi seder. I say nearly because, written in as matter of fact a manner as the recipe for “herosses” [sic], we find the following: “If there is fresh blood, the head of the household sprinkles some drops—more or fewer, depending on how much he has—into the prepared batter, even though, they say, a single drop will suffice.”

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.