The Shohet (from “Had Gadya”)

“Had Gadya” is a concluding song in the Passover Seder ritual. The song chronicles the killing of various characters (from a goat to a butcher) until God comes and slays the Angel of Death. At the end of a story about oppression and redemption, the song captures the morbid history of Jewish persecution as well as the belief that God will ultimately prevail. This image of the Shohet (the Butcher) drawn after World War I underscores the violence of the song rather than the final redemption.