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).