Plate 23. Next Year in Jerusalem

The illumination depicts an elderly gardener studying his carob tree; blended in the trunk of the tree, characteristic Jerusalem homes appear. Thus, Jerusalem supports the carob tree—a plant which sustains us physically and spiritually. The background is suffused with more colorful dwellings of Jerusalem. From a modest fruit, creativity and learning flourish. All of these contribute to a rebuilt Jerusalem. While the closing message of the haggadah may ostensibly be about the physical Jerusalem in our midst, its deeper message is related to Yerushalayim shel ma’alah—heavenly Jerusalem—Jerusalem above and Jerusalem inside each of us.