Arts & Entertainment
Why Is This Collection
Different From ?
An incredible display of Haggadot comes to the Janice Charach Gallery.
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
I
t isn't every collector who relishes a
counterfeit. But this counterfeit is a
masterpiece.
The pages are light brown, like the
inside of a chestnut, with elegant lettering
in gold leaf and delicate drawings.
It's an exact replica — down to the
tiny imperfections — of the Barcelona
Haggadah. Dating from the mid-14th cen-
tury, the Barcelona Haggadah is consid-
ered one of the finest illuminated Hebrew
manuscripts in the world.
Irwin Alterman, 68, has been collecting
Haggadot for the past
40 years and owns more
than 1,000 of them,
some of which will be
displayed at the Jewish
Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit's
Janice Charach Gallery
Irwin
from Feb. 8-March 15
Alterman
in an exhibit titled "The
Fifth Question: Why
So Many Haggadot? Haggadot From the
Collection of Irwin Alterman."
Among Alterman's favorites is the
Barcelona reproduction — though he
holds equally dear a rather ordinary look-
ing Haggadah filled with the names of
guests, many of whom have since died,
who once came to his seder.
"Never have I seen anyone have such
passion for any type of collection:' says
Gallery Director Terri Steam. "Irwin is like
a kid in a candy store when he speaks of
his Haggadot. With his guidance, we have
curated a must-see, one-of-a-kind exhibit
for our community."
Alterman always has been passionate
about books. His West Bloomfield home
is filled with bright art and large windows
and a cozy library that houses his law and
history books, Judaica and Haggadot.
A former president of both the JCC
and Adat Shalom Synagogue, Alterman
grew up in New Jersey, where his father
was an insurance salesman. Passover was
rich with tradition, with the head of the
household leading seders, the family sing-
ing "all of the songs in a melody that my
THE SON . W140 DOES NOT UNDERSTAND TO ASk
The Four Sons, from a vintage Haggadah by Artscroll
father's family had brought from Poland."
Alterman's mother always prepared a large
meal, which invariably involved brisket,
and there were many guests.
Young Irwin enjoyed the seder and
adores books, so Haggadot proved to be "a
wonderful merger of two things I love."
About 40 years ago, Alterman was at a
Jewish bookstore, looking for a Haggadah
with new commentary; he bought one book.
"The next year I bought a couple more, and
this kept going on; and I realized that new
additions and commentary and artists' illus-
trations in various Haggadot were published
every year," he says.
He searched stores, especially "every
Sunday between Purim and Passover when
I would make the rounds of every Jewish
bookstore in town." Then he began visiting
stores in other cities and other countries,
and he received many Haggadot as gifts.
Every treasure hunter's favorite goldmine
has proved to be another astonishing
resource. "In recent years, through my fian-
cee Marilyn McCall, I have been acquiring
many Haggadot through sellers on eBay;'
Alterman says. "There are about 50 for sale
at all times and perhaps as many as 700 in
the couple of weeks before Passover."
For his own family seders, Alterman
opts for a Haggadah from the Conservative
movement, though his collection is hardly
tucked away in secret, ignored and alone.
Instead, it is housed in Alterman's
library where Haggadot are organized by
design (shaped like a hamsah, for exam-
ple) or source (there are literally dozens
from airlines
or food or
wine compa-
ft
nies) or theme
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.7'-' It X7,
(vegetarians)
or by artists,
like Arthur
Szyk and Ben
Shahn.
Throughout
the years
Haggadot
have under-
gone incred-
ible changes,
Alterman says.
The Ten Plagues, from a French Haggadah
Extra com-
mentary has
been added, illustrations have taken on
He hopes one day to own an original,
themes, especially in the portraits of the
with individual illustrated plates, of the
Four Sons, where you can find everything
Holocaust Haggadah, which he calls "one
from gangsters to Hitler, the evil son.
of the most powerful I've ever seen." II
And by the mid-20th century, Haggadot
became available en masse and affordable. Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing
Though his collection is extraordinary,
specialist at the Jewish Community Center
it will never be complete, Alterman says.
of Metropolitan Detroit.
.-
The Janice Charach Gallery's "The Fifth Question: Why So Many Haggadot?
Haggadot From the Collection of Irwin Alterman" runs Feb. 8-March 15 at the
gallery, located within the Jewish Community Center, 6600 W. Maple Road,
West Bloomfield. There also will be a sale of Passover ceremonial objects.
The opening reception is at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8. Hear Irwin Alterman speak
about his collection at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 1, in the gallery. For reservations
for Alterman, call (248) 432-5449. Gallery hours:10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-
Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays and noon-4 p.m. Sundays. For more
information, call (248) 432-5579.
February 5 • 2009
C5