Docent Ruthe Goldstein tours the Prato exhibit with Gail Goodstein of Farmington Hills and Joanne Robinson of West Bloomfield.
Timeless
Medieval Haggadah manuscript makes its way from Spain to Southfield.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
I
f you think the frayed Maxwell House Haggadot in
your Passover book pile are old, take a look at what's
in the lobby of one Southfield synagogue.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek is hosting the Prato
Haggadah traveling exhibit, a facsimile display of medi-
eval Haggadah manuscript pages produced in Spain 700
years ago. The exhibit runs through May 29.
The original manuscript is part of the Rare Book
Collection in the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)
library in New York. This manuscript is among the oldest
of all illuminated Spanish Haggadot.
Little is known about the whereabouts of the Haggadah
from the time it was produced around 1300 until it was
acquired by the JTS library in 1964. In fact, even the
Haggadah's scribe is unknown although thought to be
highly skillful.
According to JTS Professor David Kraemer, what is
known is that the Hebrew text was written in Spain and,
somewhere along the way, additions were made, including
Ashkenazi liturgical poems and the 1617 signature of an
Italian church cursor.
The next known location of the Haggadah is Rome in
1928, when it was in the possession of Dr. Ludwig Pollak,
a humanist and collector of classical art, literary manu-
scripts, books and Judaica. Pollak promised the Haggadah
to his friend, Rabbi David Prato, chief rabbi of Rome. But
Pollak, his wife and son perished in Auschwitz before the
gift was bestowed. Several years later, after Prato's death
in 1951, his son, Dr. Jeonathan Prato, an Israeli diplomat,
was visited by Pollak's sister-in-law, who brought him the
Haggadah.
The manuscript, which came to be known as the Prato
Haggadah, was purchased by JTS in 1964. In 2002, the Dr.
Bernard Heller Foundation awarded a grant to the JTS
library for its full restoration.
On The Move
The Prato Haggadah's arrival in Detroit marks the second
year the exhibit has been on loan from the library. Last
year, it was at the Las Vegas Museum of Art.
"Our hope is that it will travel to a different community
each year to be exhibited before and during Passover;'
said Professor Kraemer.
Up until two years ago, the original exhibit could be
viewed at the JTS library, which is where Ruthe Goldstein
of West Bloomfield first saw it 10 years ago. Now she is
among the docents teaching others about the manuscript
at Shaarey Zedek.
The exhibit is on display whenever the synagogue is
open, but Goldstein suggests visiting when docents are
available or tours are scheduled.
"It has been very interesting to watch our docents hold
small, informal tours after Shabbos services:' Goldstein
said. "Every week we see people getting together in groups
to see the wonderful exhibit in private little circles."
Docents lead tours and share a video and multimedia
presentation related to the creation of parchment and the
process of producing a manuscript.
Timeless on page B4
April 10 • 2008
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