University:
Making an Impact
M eet Prof. Aren Maeir of the
Department of Archaeology at Bar-Ilan
University. Dubbed the “Jewish Indiana
Jones,” he has directed numerous
archaeological excavations across Israel.
Since 1996, he has been leading a 20-year
excavation of the Philistine city of Gath - the
home of Goliath and the location where a
blinded Sampson knocked down the temple
pillars.
Prof. Maeir and his team have dug up some
UHPDUNDEOH¿QGLQJVVXFKDVD3KLOLVWLQH
Temple and countless ritual items dating
back to the Iron Age.
Your generous contribution will enable us
to uncover our roots in the land of Israel
and deepen our sense of history.
Tel: 847-423-2270
8170 McCormick Blvd.
Suite 120
Skokie, IL 60076
$ri.6teinberg@afbiu.org
AFBIU.ORG
62
March 29 • 2018
jn
passover
continued from page 60
goat, the Pascal sacrifice from the
The National Library of Israel,
Temple. You can also prepare by see- located in Jerusalem, has put much
ing a portrait of our medieval pre-
of its Judaica collection into digital
cursors at their seder, in the actual
form and made it accessible online.
book that they used.
The library also encourages other
If you wanted to see a
libraries to digitize their
ABOVE: The Birds’
medieval Haggadah, until
Judiaca collections and
Head Haggadah
a few years, you had to
make them available to the
is the oldest
travel to the right library.
public.
surviving illuminated
The easiest way to access
There, deep in the rare
Ashkenazi Haggadah. those Haggadot is to go
book room, if you could
It was made around
to the National Library of
get permission, an archi-
1300 in southern
Israel’s KTIV website, which
vist or librarian would
Germany.
aggregates Hebrew-language
show you the book: rever-
manuscripts from around
ently taking the book to
the world in one location.
you and nervously watch-
You can go there and simply search
ing your every move as you turn its
for the term הגדה של פסח in
pages. It might take months of plan-
the search bar (if you can type in
ning to see one Haggadah.
Hebrew) or “Haggadah” in English (if
Now, thanks to digitization, you
you use English, you will get some
can sit at your computer and see
false positives, but keep looking for
images of nearly all the old manu-
Passover Haggadot) and then limit
scripts, along with many newer
the search to those available online.
printed and handwritten versions.
Overwhelmed? Too many possibil-
Finkelman has suggestions for
ities? Finkelman recommends limit-
how to take a tour of these works.
ing your search “to a period or place,
A few famous Haggadot (Sarajevo
using the options on the left column
Haggadah, Birds’ Head Haggadah,
(left on the English interface) or to
Copenhagen Haggadah, Rothschild
languages like Yiddish, Spanish or
Haggadah, Golden Haggadah, Wolff
Haggadah) have their own dedicated Judeo-Arabic.”
You can even find a non-tradition-
webpages. You can Google them and
al Haggadah, the work of an early
get there pretty easily. Some also
secular pioneer in pre-state Israel or
have Wikipedia pages.
of a kibbutz network or of a social
You do not have to restrict your
justice movement. •
tour to the most famous ones. Most
manuscript Haggadot over history
Dr. Yoel Finkelman, archivist of Judaica at the
were not the beautiful illuminated
National Library of Israel, is a former Detroiter
ones that became famous. Most
who attended Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and
were simpler and were copied for
graduated from Yeshivat Akiva (now the
individual use and done relatively
Farber Hebrew Day School). He is the son of
cheaply (to the extent that manu-
Louis and Marilyn Finkelman of Southfield.
scripts can be cheap).