Sarajevo Haggadah

 The Sarajevo Haggadah is a rare book that comes from the fourteenth century.  It was found in Sarajevo.  A Haggadah is the prayer book used during the Passover Seder.  People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, is historical fiction.  There is such a book, found in Sarajevo.  The restorer found a half an insect wing, a single white hair, some wine and blood stains.  How these things got in the book is the story and it is quite the story.

It is remarkable because the Haggadah is richly illustrated, and Jews didn't do that.  It's considered idolatry.  So, the story ends with the illustrator adding pictures, like the Christians did.  Since few could read in the fourteenth century, stain glass windows told the stories of the Bible.  This is what the Sarajevo Haggadah did.  It told the Biblical story. The author, Geraldine Brooks, has the illustrator using the pictures to teach a deaf child the story of the Passover.

The insect wing was traced to come from an extinct moth from Iran.  The white hair came from a Persian cat's hair, that at that time was used in paint brushes.  The author, Geraldine Brooks had different characters add their blood and spilled wine, in the story.  

Somehow, this prayer book survived the Inquisition, Nazi treasure hunters, war, careless handling, intrigue, and other conflicts.  It is a beautiful testament to faith and talent.