To the late Bezalel Narkiss—for many years the acknowledged dean of the history of Jewish art—any depiction of animals in medieval Jewish manuscripts was merely decorative, a case of borrowing from non-Jewish iconography devoid of any specific symbolism. Marc Michael Epstein takes the opposite position, one he first arrived at thanks to a single illustration, as he writes:

Besides being one of the most beloved of all Jewish texts, argues Meir Soloveichik, the Haggadah is also a foundational work of Jewish political philosophy. He explains why this is so—and much else about this deceptively simple work—in an eight-part audio course. Listen to the first lecture here, and click on the link below for the entire series. (Other options for download and streaming are also available.)