The Sarajevo Haggadah: A Masterpiece of Jewish Art, Prof. Shalom Sabar, The Hebrew University

Nowadays considered Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most valuable national art treasure, the Sarajevo Haggadah is popularly known as the most beautiful Hebrew book ever produced. The famous illuminated Haggadah was created in the second quarter of the fourteenth century in one of the Jewish communities in the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Aragon (Catalonia). The fascinating illuminations reflect the high cultural and artistic achievements of Sephardic Jewry at the time. Shalom Sabar is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Art and Folklore at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. in Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1987. He is the author of about 250 publications that explore Jewish art and the material culture of Jewish communities in the Sephardic and Ashkenazic world in Europe and the Islamic East. His areas of research include Jewish ceremonies and rituals, life cycle events, objects of daily life, ephemera, folk art, amulets, and magic as well as the visua