The Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture is proud to be a patron sponsor of the new exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, "Arthur Szyk and the Art of the Haggadah," on display until June 29, 2014. The Haggadah, the ritual text for the Passover seder, evokes the story of the exodus of the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. While myriad Haggadot have been created from the tenth century to the present, the exhibition highlights the unique and powerful story of The Szyk Haggadah (1940). Arthur Szyk (1894–1951), a Polish-Jewish-born American keenly aware of current events, fused his two passions—art and history—into a visual commentary on the dangerous parallel between the Passover narrative and the alarming developments unfolding in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The exhibition includes all 48 original illustrations of Szyk’s masterpiece that has become a mainstay in Jewish homes. Historical illuminated Haggadot from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as contemporary versions, will also be featured.
