Prior to the invention of the printing press, written works consisted of extraordinarily elaborate hand-written and illustrated manuscripts primarily for text study, worship, and artistic representation of Biblical stories. Like the Christian majority, Jewish communities created or commissioned their own illuminated chumashim, haggadot, and machzorim. Although few survived the persecution faced by the Jewish people in Europe intact, the fragments that remain offer invaluable insight into Jewish religious and self-expression. Exploring manuscripts such as the Bird's Head Haggadah, the Worms Machzor, and the Alba Bible is an exploration of early Yiddish, abstract art forms unique to European Jews, and Jewish interaction with Christians during a most fraught time in history.

Hannah Seymour has been a member of the DC Jewish community since 2017. She is a data scientist with a graduate degree in physics. She conducted nuclear physics research at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, where she became acquainted with the storied Jewish community in the Rhineland and developed an interest in preserving knowledge of Jewish art and culture from the region.

Via ZOOM  (click the link or dial 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 378 157 5306)

Part of the Voices of Kesher Israel series.