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