Non traditional Haggadah – Ihud HaBonim, Cycle 22 – mid-1940s.

The Haggadah opens with spring-themed passages and excerpts from the traditional Haggadah. It continues with an introduction referring to the Seder night as celebrated within the youth movement: "On all other nights of the year, we sit at the family table, separated from one another; tonight, we all sit around the same table - members of our movement, from the youngest to the oldest, to sing of the Exodus from Egypt." There are passages addressing the struggle for a Hebrew state: "On all other nights of the year, we worry about our future and our struggle in the Diaspora; on this night, our participation in building the state and realizing our ideal feels very close to us."

The Four Sons section is also framed around the fight for independence: "The wise one - what does he say? Why must we fight and struggle for our independence? Why such stubbornness? And you shall answer him… because freedom is the most precious possession of our people, and every Jew must feel obligated to fight for it… To the one who does not know how to ask, tell the story of our people, from the Exodus from Egypt to the establishment of the State of Israel. You shall say to him: we were slaves and now we are free. Explain to him about two years of hope and despair, two days of rebellion, and two moments of heroism…". Later in the Haggadah appear sections devoted to the events of the Holocaust and, in particular, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in which members of HaBonim actively participated: "Now it is clear to us that what happened exceeded all our expectations. Thanks to our resistance, we accomplished something beyond our abilities. Our forces are dwindling. We are on the verge of annihilation. Twice we forced the Germans to retreat, but they returned with reinforcements. Overall, our achievements were not great, and this is the result… The last aspiration of my life has been fulfilled: Jewish self-defense became a reality; resistance became a fact. How happy I am to have been among the first Jewish fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto."

Likewise, passages appear documenting the role of the Bonim in the war against the Arab enemy: "The tank was still approaching. It was about to enter Degania, to loot everything, to destroy everything... What could we do against this blind, unconquerable iron monster? What could we do with our few improvised rifles? It had to be stopped at any cost... Then a boy came out of the trench, a grenade in his hand. He climbed onto the tank, opened the hatch, threw the explosive inside, and jumped out...". As well as passages dealing with the Zionist vision: "A homeland is not granted, it is not acquired by privilege or political agreement, it is not purchased with gold, it is not conquered by brute force. A homeland is built with the sweat of one's brow. A homeland is a historical creation, the collective labor of a people, the result of physical, spiritual, and moral work over generations. A people has the right to say 'this is my land, my homeland' only after it has created a state of its own. The land is a gift of nature. The development of the land and the creation of livable conditions are the mission of the chalutzim - pioneers of labor, construction, and science; they are armed with unwavering will and conscious of their historical mission; they are capable of tying their fate to an ideal and are ready to sacrifice themselves for the realization of their aspirations...", and more. The Haggadah concludes with the words: "Next year in the working settlement."

49 pages. Very good condition.