Limmud Michigan 2019

The Birds' Heads Haggadah, a 14th-century illuminated Ashkenazi manuscript, used to belong to the lecturer's great grandfather, Ludwig Marum, prior to World War II. Ludwig Marum was a German Jewish lawyer and politician who became a parliament member for the Social Democrats and was murdered by the Nazis in 1934. In this session, the story will be told of the Marum family, explaining the tragic circumstances that led to their loss of this precious possession, the most ancient surviving Haggadah, now exhibited at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Also discussed will be the medieval Haggadah and its unique feature of the birds' heads, and considering, more generally, the significance of Haggadot for Ashkenazi culture.