This Purim Megillah reminds us that our great grandparents believed that it was important for their children to attend a Jewish day school.
My Bubbie lit the Shabbat candles every week using these candlesticks and every Friday night we remember her, and how she taught us Jewish values and her love of Shabbat.
We use these candlesticks to light Shabbat candles every week. We are reminded of our grandfather and great grandfather each week as we kindle Shabbat lights. Through his bravery in eventually making his way to South Africa, we have a great respect for his love of family and Judaism.
My Zaidi was in the airforce and he had a little bit of time before he had to go back to the airforce so he went out with my Bubie for a dinner in that precious little bit of time they had together before they parted.
This is a wedding picture of my mother's grandmother, Lillian, in Salem Massachusetts. I wish I had been able to get to know her better.
This is a photo of my mom's maternal grandparents. It was taken by a photographer, Mr. Braunstein, shortly after they were married. Mr. Braunstein rented rooms to each of them when they first arrived in Toronto from Poland and Lithuania. That was how they met.
He was my great grandfather who survived the Holocaust (two concentration camps) so it's special to our family because it reminds us of how great, strong and lucky he was to have survived the war. If he would have died I would have never been born and able to write this.
My maternal great gandparents purchased these candlesticks in Israel. They moved there after the Holocaust from Poland. Eventually they left Israel and moved to Montreal.
The tefillin belonged to my Daddy's grandfather who was born in a country called Turkey. He then moved to another country called Spain. Before the war with Hitler he travelled half way around the world to a country called Columbia. It was here he finally settled to start a family.
It is significant because it is one of the few things my great grandfather could save from his place of birth. It is filled with childhood memories, it also symbolizes his Jewish heritage and an identity as a Jewish person. It is also important because it is one of the few things that reminds us of my Daddy's grandfather.
My great grandparents' wedding represents a return to normal Jewish life after the Shoah. They were both born in Lodz, Poland and were introduced after the war by my great Bubby's cousin who was my great Zaydie's best friend. Less than two years after this photo was taken they came to Canada with my Bubbie. My great grandparents, Max and Rose B. have been married for sixty-one years are a great inspiration to me and my entire family.
This joint passport shows the joining together of two Jewish people. My great grandparents often travelled to different places in search of other relatives that they did not know. They met with them and shared their common Jewish heritage. I was named after my great grandfather.
This photograph symbolizes happy family times before the Nazis invaded Poland. The surviving cousins remained very close after the war. They had wonderful memories of their summers together at Sreniawa. The 4th + 5th generation of family members are very close as well, even though we live in Israel, U.S. and Canada. This is due to the effort of my Grandpa Sam and all his surviving cousins.
This artifact is a symbol of my Sephardic heritage and Jewish values. When this artifact was given to my grandfather by his grandmother, it was the start of him becoming more religious and observant. His grandmother instilled in him traditional Jewish values and helped him lead a more observant way of life. My grandfather became a religious man who taught many bar mitzvah boys their parshas. He practiced a Jewish way of life with Sephardic customs which he passed down to all his 11 children. I am very proud to be his granddaughter.
This is significant to my family because my great grandparents survived the Holocaust and my Dad is part of this family. When they came to North America they brought their silver cutlery. My Bubbie, Gabriella, made it a tradition to use this cutlery during Passover Seders. The cutlery was passed on to my Bubbie, Madeleine, who passed it on to my parents. Today my family uses this cutlery during the Seders.
It is a memory of my Savta when she was a little girl.
This is a British army medal given to my mother's father, Teibisch G., in 1942. He earned it as a medic in the British army helping soldiers who were fighting the Nazis in North Africa.
This old tablecloth is important to my family because it belonged to my great grandmother. Now it belongs to my Bubby. She treasures this tablecloth as it holds many memories.
My dad was very close to his grandmother. Before my dad got married his grandmother gave this kiddush cup to him, in 1996. Our family uses this kiddush cup to remember my great grandparents. One day I hope to pass this kiddush cup on to my children to continue our family tradition.
This medal shows that my grandfather was a survivor of the war. He fought the Germans with the other Russian soldiers. These soldiers had to endure many difficult years to receive this medal. That is why it is so sacred to them.