Exhibit shows how Passover was artistically reinvented through the years

By Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service

DURHAM, N.C.--The text of the story is familiar to most Jews gathering around the table Monday (April 10) to recount the biblical story of their liberation from slavery in Egypt.

Indeed, many know parts of the Passover manual they will be reciting — called a “haggadah” — by heart.

But the images used to illuminate this ancient text, embellished with hymns, songs and prayers, tell an additional story. It is the story of Passover told visually through the ages.

Dozens of such books, spanning the 14th to the 21st centuries, are on display at a Duke University gallery and they showcase the artistic imagination used in the service of Passover, which is probably Judaism’s most widely observed holiday.

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