INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES ADDRESS BOOK AND PENCIL CASE 4 x 8 inches, Leather, metal, pencils, ruler, British postage stamp, British coins, paper Brought from Germany to England in 1939 Gift of Erika Tichauer Rosenthal Erika took this address book and pencil case with her when she and her younger brother Horst were sent to England as part of the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was a rescue effort that helped approximately 10,000 children leave Nazi Germany for England. When Erika and Horst’s parents entrusted them to the Kindertransport they did not know if they would ever see their children again. These artifacts are a reminder of the difficult decisions that parents had to make to protect their children during the Nazis’ rise to power. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES RAZUMNY FAMILY TREE 26 x 22-1/2 inches, Paper Possibly the United States, 1983 Gift of Janice and Marvin Epstein The Razumny family is originally from Latvia but members of this family now live in over a dozen countries including Denmark, England, France, Spain, Germany, Israel, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, the former Soviet Union, and the United States. Many members of the family have a copy of the family tree just like this one. This family tree illustrates the presence of the Jewish people all over the world. It also shows us how names were passed down through the generations and how names were changed based on where different parts of the family were located. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES PHOTOGRAPH OF NACHUM AND RITA KAHN IN AN ORCHARD Photograph Herzliya, Palestine, 1928 Collection of Efrat Carmon Nachum Kahn is a descendent of the Razumny family. He is shown here with his wife Rita Kahn in an orchard in Herzliya, Palestine in 1928. Nachum was a beekeeper. The Kahns lived in Palestine when it was controlled by Britain after the First World War.This photo shows the Jewish connection to the land that is now Israel and the desire of families to move there. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES SPORTS BLOUSE FROM THE BAR KOCHBA SPORTS CLUB 18-1/4 x 15-1/4 inches, Textile Berlin, Germany, 1936 Gift of Mary Levinsky During the Nazi period when Jews were forbidden to play sports with their neighbors, Jews started their own clubs. This blouse was worn by Mary Offentier, an athlete in the Bar Kochba Jewish sports club in Berlin. She was later sent to Holland by her parents to escape the Nazis. Mary Offentier survived and kept this blouse with her. One motive for starting these clubs was to give Jews the opportunity to continue to play organized sports. Another purpose was to prove that Jews were not physically and racially inferior as claimed by the Nazis. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES NOODLE MAKER 13 x 7 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches, Wood and Metal Germany Gift of Louis Blumengarten Sophie Lindenbaum Blumengarten immigrated to the United States from Kalusz, Austria-Hungary in 1906. She used this noodle maker in her apartment on New York's Lower East Side. Sophie Lindenbaum Blumengarten brought her recipes and traditions with her when she immigrated. Her story reflects the way Jews throughout history have carried their heritage with them to new homes. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES CANDLESTICKS 13 inches, Silver Austria-Hungary, Late 1800's Gift of Betty Edell Candlesticks used on the Sabbath and festivals are often passed from mother to daughter. This pair once belonged to Mrs. Flatow and was later passed down to her granddaughter, Betty Edell. Candles are lit on Shabbat to symbolize Shalom Bayit (harmony in the home) and Oneg Shabbat (Sabbath joy). The passing on of Jewish objects is a testa- ment to the continuity of Judaism and the relevance Jewish objects still hold in the daily lives of Jews. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES CIRCUMCISION TOOLS 3 1/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 5/8 inches United States, 1900's Gift of Ida Rosen This shield and knife were used by Rabbi Moses R. Friedman during his career as a mohel, or ritual circumciser. In 1923 Rabbi Friedman performed his first circumcision on his son, Joseph. Throughout Jewish history circumcisions have been performed as a symbol of the Jewish people’s covenant with God, and serve as a reminder of Jews’ connection to one another through this covenant. The first Jewish circumcision appears in the Bible when Abraham circumcises himself as a symbol of his, and subsequently the Jewish people’s covenant with God. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES OIL BURNING HANUKKAH MENORAH 5-1/2 x 9-1/4 x 3-3/4 inches, Tin Flehingen, Germany, 1914 – 1918 Gift of Louis Heidelberger The Heidelberger family lit this oil-burning Hanukkah lamp or menorah during World War I when candles were unavailable in their town. This lamp is distinct because it has two rows of eight cups which enables two families or two people in the same family to use it at the same time. This menorah is a testament to the ingenuity of some Jews to maintain their practices and identities during times of scarcity. The two rows of burners also indicate that holidays are meant to be shared with friends, neighbors and family. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES PUSHKE - CHARITY BOX 4 x 3-5/8 x 8-1/4 inches, Silver Russian Empire, Probably Kiev, 1864 Gift of Elsie O. Sang in Memory of Philip D. Sang This tzedakah box was used to collect money to support Jewish burial societies called Chevra Kadisha or the “Holy Brotherhood.” The word tzedakah means both “justice”and “charity.” The highest form of tzedakah is giving when the person receiving it does not know who has provided the charity. Many Jews consider donating to the Chevra Kadisha a very special form of charity because the recipient of the charity (the dead) cannot thank the giver. This puskhe shows the importance of charity and caring for others. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES TEFILLIN Aleppo, Syria Gift of Isaac and Evelyn Shama and Jack and Cheryl Shama These tefillin were worn by Jacob Shama who was born in 1893 in Aleppo, Syria. Tefillin are two cube-shaped black leather boxes attached to long black leather straps. Inside the boxes are four passages from the Torah that are handwritten on parchment. This particular set is small and possibly designed for travel. Traditionally, Jewish men begin wearing tefillin at weekday morning services shortly before their thirteenth birthday. One of the tefillin is generally wrapped around the left arm and hand, and the other is worn above the forehead in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 6:8,“And you shall bind them (i.e. the words of the Torah) as a sign upon your hand and as an emblem between your eyes.” INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES IDENTITY CARD OF RUDY “ISRAEL”SIMONSTEIN 7 x 5 inches Chemnitz, Germany, 1938 Nazi Germany, like many countries, required everyone, including Jews, to carry identity papers at all times. To both humiliate Jews and to make it easier for Nazis to identify Jews, Jewish men who did not have easily recognizable Jewish names were required to take on the middle name “Israel”and Jewish women had to adopt the name “Sara.” In 1938, at the request of Switzerland, a country to which many Jews were fleeing, Jewish passports were stamped or printed with a red letter J. Some European countries required their citizens or subjects to carry identifica- tion cards or internal passports before the rise of the Nazis. Forcing Jews to change their names was an unprecedented act designed to de-humanize them. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES PHOTOGRAPH OF A SEDER AT THE HOME OF ABRAHAM BLOCK Photograph New York, Around 1930 Collection of Janice Epstein and Ruth Bernstein This is a photograph of a seder at the home of Abraham Block. A seder is a Passover dinner celebration during which the participants reenact the Jews’ liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. Abraham Block, a member of the Razumny family is wearing glasses and is seated at the head of the table. He is surrounded by his children and grandchildren. This photograph illustrates how Jewish holiday traditions are passed down from generation to generation at family celebrations. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES ODESSA ERUV MAP 9 x 15 inches, Paper Odessa, Ukraine, Around the early 1900's An eruv is a fence or a line that symbolically extends the borders of the home to a larger area. This allows observant Jews to follow the rules of the Sabbath that apply to the home while they are outside of the house. For example, one rule states that a Jew cannot carry an object outside of the home. Once an eruv is set up, Jews can carry, for example, a house key outside of their home but within the borders of the eruv. This map shows the boundaries of the eruv in the city of Odessa and repre- sents the Jews’ devotion to keeping the Sabbath rituals and regulations. INTERARTIFACTVIEW GUI CARDDELINES MA’YAN PASSOVER HAGGADAH 10 x 8 inches, Paper New York, 1999 Gift of Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project at the JCC in Manhattan This Passover Haggadah is called “B’tzait Yisrael” in Hebrew, or “The Journey Continues” in English. Passover is a holiday that celebrates the Jews’ freedom from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago. The Haggadah is the story of Passover that Jews read during the holiday meal. The Haggadah guides participants through a reenactment of the story of Jewish freedom. The Ma’yan Haggadah highlights the role of women in the Passover story. This Haggadah’s title,“The Journey Continues” as well as the cover illustration of a women’s seder, indicates that these women feel a connection to each other and to other women, as women around the world still struggle for freedom.