Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the Sarajevo Haggadah is its seemingly everlasting power to connect people. Not just people across the Seder table, although judging from its wine-stained pages, it did that, many times across the years. But more than that, its power to connect people from various backgrounds in the celebration of life.
If Sarajevo is indeed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s heart, the baščaršija (pronounced baash-char-shiya) is its shining historic, and cultural heart within a heart. Centrally located within the old city, the baščaršija is a remnant of Bosnia’s Ottoman past, but has been reclaimed as a point of national pride and living history within the country. This central market may be hundreds of years old, but its busy activity has not ceased since its construction in 1462.
The academic in me writhed in pain even at the idea of writing something like this. An uncited, cliff-note style summary of hundreds of years of rich Bosnian history? To top it off, incredibly well written with a sharp sense of humor? (OK, maybe not). Don’t do it. Just don’t. It’s not worth it. It goes against everything you’ve been trained to do.
Continue reading “A Crash (Dummy) Course in Bosnian History”
Bosnian History 