PASSOVER

W

hy is this Haggadah different
from all other Haggadot?
Well, it’s the first one
Southfield educator and medieval culture
buff Marilyn Finkelman has written, illus-
trated and bound.
And while it’s based on a medieval doc-
ument, Finkelman’s alterations make it
uniquely hers.
Finkelman, 71, of Southfield, and her hus-
band, Rabbi Eliezer Finkelman, have a keen
appreciation for all things medieval. For
more than 20 years they have been active
with the Society for Creative Anachronism,
an organization dedicated to researching and
recreating the arts and skills of medieval and
Renaissance Europe. The Finkelmans spe-
cialize in the lifestyle of Jews of that era.
Finkelman has been creating medie-
val-style Hebrew pieces for many years.

When the eldest of her 11 grandchildren
celebrated her bat mitzvah, Finkelman’s
gift was an illuminated panel with the
word baruch — blessed — in Hebrew.
Other pieces followed, including a 12-page
booklet containing the Hallel prayers for a
granddaughter named Hallel and a Hebrew
primer for a daughter-in-law’s graduation
from library science school. Finkelman also
did a collection of psalms for herself.
Now her grandson, Shmuel Pessah
Englard, is preparing for his bar mitzvah,
and in honor of his middle name and the
celebration’s springtime date, Finkelman
decided to create a Haggadah for him. At 86
pages, it’s her most ambitious project yet.
She chose as her model the Haggadah
portion of the Hamilton Siddur, an illu-
minated manuscript from the early 1300s
owned for many years by Alexander, Earl

ABOVE: Marilyn Finkelman binds the
Haggadah she made for her grandson.
TOP: Pages from the medieval-style
Haggadah she has created.

This Passover, a Haggadah that’s different from all others.
Positively Medieval

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

12 | MARCH 25 • 2021