Everybody's Book: The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah

In Everybody’s Book: The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, students in grades K-5 learn how an ancient haggadah – Jewish text that guides the Passover seder and retells the Exodus story – represents unity and hope. They follow the journey of the hand-painted Sarajevo Haggadah, from its origins as a wedding gift in Spain more than 600 years ago to its burial in an underground vault in Bosnia during the Bosnian war.

When the newlyweds fled the Spanish inquisition, the Haggadah traveled with them and survived for centuries in different countries, evading destruction at the hands of the Nazis during World War II and later Serbian and Croatian militants during the Bosnian war.

Students explore how people of other faiths, who had no cultural ties to the text, worked to keep it safe. They learn about the Sarajevo museum curator who smuggled the Haggadah out of the museum, the mosque where it was later hidden and protected, and how it was unearthed from an underground vault during an interfaith Passover seder.

Ultimately, students gain insight into the concept of tolerance and come to recognize the Sarajevo Haggadah as a symbol of cooperation, protection, and collaboration across cultures and religions.