This true story begins long ago in Spain, where a bride and groom are gifted a hand-painted haggadah. It is used at many Passover seders until the Spanish Inquisition when the family escapes. The haggadah survived for centuries in different countries. Scholars declared it a treasure. To protect it from the Nazis, a curator smuggled it out of a Sarajevo museum and hid it in a village mosque. On Passover of 1995, with bombs exploding overhead, the Bosnian president brought out the book from an underground vault to show the world that it was safe. The Sarajevo Haggadah has become a symbol of people of many faiths and cultures working together.
Linda Leopold Strauss is a graduate of Vassar College and Columbia University. She has been writing for young people for over 40 years and has published twelve books and many stories for children. Her work has been translated into French, Italian, German, and Swedish. She lives with her husband in Cincinnati, Ohio.