Kresge Art Museum
March 21 – April 15, 2009
The Story of Exodus: The Passover Haggadah features over 35 Passover Haggadot on loan from the Jewish Heritage Collection, Special Collections, University of Michigan. As the centerpiece of the Jewish holiday of Passover, the Haggadah is read aloud during the Seder meal. The text recounts the story of the Jews’ exodus through the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt. Integral to Jewish faith and identity, the family Seder is a time for teaching and passing long-held traditions from generation to generation.
Kresge Art Museum will exhibit the earliest Haggadot showing the influence of medieval Christian illustrations as well as more recent artistic endeavors by Ben Shahn and David Moss.
At MSU Main Library’s Special Collections, historically important 20th century examples will be on view ranging from consumer-product and feminist Haggadot to those from Israeli kibbutzim. They tell the story of increasing secularism in early 20th century Israel and the changing tradition of American and Israeli Judaism to accommodate modern life.
A joint project of the Kresge Art Museum and Jewish Studies Program, MSU, funded by the College of Arts and Letters.
