Sarajevo Haggadah Used for Scoring Political Points!?

(Patria) - An invaluable manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadah is one of the oldest and most valuable Sephardic illuminated manuscript books in the world. Lately, it has been an unusual subject of interest for Bosnian-Herzegovinian politicians.

Some would give it away, while others suddenly remembered to promote it worldwide. Neither side mentions the situation of the National Museum, which cares for the Haggadah.

Without disputing the right of political, religious, and all other institutions to promote the cultural treasure of our country, which is preserved and cherished by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, curators from this institution are still waiting for an answer from the highest state officials as to why they were left out of the promotion of the Sarajevo Haggadah in the USA, BHRT reports.

They wonder, do statesmen have no need to learn anything from the experts who preserve this manuscript and, by the nature of their work, know the most about it and can present it professionally?

"We were not at any point notified, informed, or consulted about anything. I think it is ultimately inappropriate for any presentation, discussion, or promotion of the Haggadah to be done without the National Museum of BiH," says Ana Marić, acting director of the National Museum of BiH.

The symbolism of the Sarajevo Haggadah was presented to numerous guests, including US congressmen. The diplomats promoting the Haggadah claim that the central event was a traditional religious "seder," a ritual dinner organized for Passover, not a political event, and the Jewish community in Bosnia and Herzegovina refused the invitation precisely for that reason.

"I was invited to this promotion of the Haggadah, however, since it is a political act, I thought it made no sense for me to give a lecture about the Haggadah. It is fortunate that our ambassador in Washington is a member of our community, so the Jewish community was represented through Ambassador Alkalaj. And I believe there was no place or need for our experts to speak about what they know about the Haggadah."

Professor Asim Mujkić, from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, says: "Not only is it assumed in a professional, academic sense, but in a basic cultural sense. So, yes, they should have been invited. That event, which undoubtedly has cultural significance for our country, should have had that significance reinforced by the presence of people from the National Museum."

The Sarajevo Haggadah, a Jewish illuminated manuscript codex from the 14th century, a treasure from UNESCO's International Register of the Memory of the World, is internationally recognized precisely thanks to the professional work of the valuable employees of the National Museum of BiH, an institution that has been begging the state for decades to provide it with legal status.