For The Home
The Moroccan Teapot
Morocco
Sarah Benatar
In 1930 a Moroccan teapot came alive in the Benatar family. This item was bought by the great grandmother of Sarah Benatar in Morocco. The tea pot has a significant design which displays a flower. Even though there are not many ways to describe a flower, it tries to represent peace, love, and culture. Sarah Benatar’s great grandmother used the tea pot to serve tea when she had company. The Benatar family still uses this teapot to serve tea.
This item is very important to the Benatar family because it’s a remembrance of the way their great grandmother used the teapot and where the teapot came from.
An Educator
Iran
Zoe G’s maternal great-great uncle was a kind and caring man who did everything he could in Iran to help children have a Jewish education. Abe Loskove was a builder and a teacher for young children during times when they could not afford to go to school and have a proper education. Abe taught children about manners, history, and basic everyday knowledge. Abe also built schools and bathrooms for many people. As a reward for all of Abe Loskove’s hard and dedicated work, he was given a magnificent tray from the Jewish Distribution Committee. This tray is stored inside Zoe’s grandparents’ house in Memphis, Tennessee.
Every time Zoe’s family sees this tray, they think about all of the marvelous things that Abe Loskove accomplished.
The Memory Dish
Germany
Lauren K’s maternal family owns a few pieces of precious silver. One of them is a silver candy and nut dish that is more than 200 years old. On the dish is carving of three cherubs playing in a field. It originally belonged to the Bondi family, Lauren’s maternal family. The dish came to America while they were fleeing Germany. The dish was used for candy and nuts when Lauren’s grandparents entertained.
This dish is special to Lauren’s family because it has been passed down all the way from Lauren’s great grandparents, and Lauren’s mother has many fond memories of her mother using it.
An Unexpected Surprise
Europe
Sabrina K’s paternal great grandmother had a prized possession she was never willing to give up. Sabrina’s great grandmother, Frieda, wanted to save something for future generations, thus giving them a little piece of her heritage. Frieda sent away her mortar and pestle with her cousins to Florida when she felt something bad was going to happen. Unfortunately, Frieda did not survive the Holocaust but her daughter Raja, Sabrina’s grandmother, did. After the Holocaust, Sabrina’s grandmother went to Florida to visit her cousins. When she walked in the house, she immediately saw the mortar and pestle and, she just fell with tears. Her cousins asked her why she was crying. She told them that she had nothing from her mother. Her cousins had sympathy and told her she could have it because that’s what her mother asked when she sent it .
This object is very important to the K. family because it is the only thing they have from their paternal side. Sabrina hopes that this object will stay with her family forever.
The Only Silver Left
Austria
Can you remember a time when everything got taken away from you? This story happened to Alexandra K’s paternal great grandmother, Olivia Hacker. Olivia received these pieces of sterling silver as a wedding gift from her first marriage. During World War Two, the Nazis came and took all of Olivia’s belongings from her. There were only a few belongings that she had left, including these two pieces of sterling silver. When Olivia Hacker came to America with her husband and her three children, she kept the silver in her house. Now this sugar cup and toothpick box are sitting in the house of Alexandra’s paternal grandmother, Gladys K.
Despite all the trouble Olivia went through, she kept these special belongings.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
miami
Maya Goldstein’s paternal great grandmother, Evelyn Rottenberg, crocheted this needlepoint when she and her husband Harry Rottenberg moved into their first apartment. The needlepoint is kept in the collection of Maya G. This object is currently hanging in the G. house to remember the Rottenbergs. It is significant to Maya’s family because it reminds them of their ancestors, and how they lived.
This object is a special part of Maya’s family
Knives of Greatness
Greenfield Park, NY
During the 1930’s Justin S’s paternal great grandfather Rabbi Shmai’ya Rosenberg A’’H, was a Shochet in Greenfield Park, New York. He used these elegant knives for his entire life as a Shochet. The big knives were used for slaughtering cows, and the small one is for chickens. Unfortunately, these knives are no longer kosher for slaughtering animals. They simply are not as sharp as they need to be according to the Gemara. There are many laws that come from the Gemara about slaughtering an animal. Some are about where to slaughter it, and how to inspect the animal. After Rabbi Shmai’ya died, the knives went to his wife Helen Rosenberg A’’H. Then, she gave them to her daughter, Thelma S., who then gave them to Justin’s father as a keepsake because he wanted something belonging to his grandfather.
Justin hopes that one day his father will pass these beautiful knives on to him.
Beautiful Serving Platter
England
Rachel M.’s special object, a large serving platter with a beautiful floral pattern surrounded by a gold border, belonged to her maternal great grandmother. It was part of a set of chinaware dishes that Rachel M.’s great grandmother was given when she got married to use for meat meals. The dish is the only remaining piece from the original set. It was purchased in Macy’s store in New York City and was used only on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays. When Rachel M’s ancestors arrived as immigrants to America, they owned nothing except for some clothes and a cooking pot or two in their luggage. After they had worked for several years, they were able to purchase a lovely set of dishes for the family to use in making the Shabbat table more beautiful. It represents a strong connection to the laws of keeping kosher, to the Torah, to Sabbath, and to their heritage as Jews in a land where they were not persecuted. This serving platter is kept in a pretty see-through cover among Rachel M’s mother’s Sabbath dishes and is used on special occasions. It is significant in Rachel M.’s family, because this dish was given to Rachel M.’s mother by her grandmother.
Rachel M. decided to display and write about this platter because it is a beautiful piece that has been in her family for generations and has a great deal of sentimental value to the M. family.
A Wedding Gift
Iran
For many people their wedding is the most important moment of their life. You get to marry the person you love and begin spending the rest of your life with them. Sharon B.`s paternal grandfather got married in the early 1900’s. He got married in Iran, and for his wedding gift he received a traditional item. That item was a carpet that said mazel tov on it in Hebrew letters. This item was a symbol of love of and marriage. This item is now being passed on through Sharon’s family and used at their family weddings.
This is significant to Sharon B.`s family because it has been handed down from generation to generation.
Stitch by Stitch
Israel
Whenever Rebecca P. went to visit Helen Landa, her maternal great grandmother, her eyes would always focus on one picture hanging on the dining room wall in her house in Monsey, New York. It is a needle point of Rivka standing by the well. Helen and her cousin, Frimit, survived World War Two together. Frimit showed her appreciation by creating this picture for her. It remained on Helen’s dinning room wall until she passed away. Because Rebecca’s Hebrew name is Rivka, she has always wanted to own this picture. Rebecca’s great grandmother would always say, “Rebecca, take it now.” Rebecca didn’t want to take it away from her because it held so many memories.
Now the needle point of Rivka standing by the well hangs in Rebecca’s room and reminds Rebecca of how great of a person her great grandmother Helen was.
The Moroccan Teapot
Morocco
In 1930 a Moroccan teapot came alive in the B. family. This item was bought by the great grandmother of Sarah B. in Morocco. The tea pot has a significant design which displays a flower. Even though there are not many ways to describe a flower, it tries to represent peace, love, and culture. Sarah B.’s great grandmother used the tea pot to serve tea when she had company. The B. family still uses this teapot to serve tea.
This item is very important to the B. family because it’s a remembrance of the way their great grandmother used the teapot and where the teapot came from.
The Basket of Generations
Palestine
One special object to Daniel W. and his family is this bread basket. It is made out of silver, and it has a beautiful design around the rim. It has been in Daniel’s family over eighty years. It originally belonged to Sarah Vogel, and she gave it to Jacob Vogel. Then when Jacob passed away, Daniel’s grandfather, Manny Vogel took possession of it. Sarah originally bought it at a silver store circa 1930. This historic bread basket survived a shipment to Palestine, and after World War Two, it was shipped to New York. Manny Vogel currently keeps it in his house and uses it every Shabbat for challah.
The significance of this bread basket is that it is a memory of Sarah Vogel to the W. and Vogel family.
A Little Gold Heart
England
A little girl and her mother were both given gold bracelets. A heart on the small braided gold chain meant so much to the girl. Sadie Port Lewis was that little girl in England. She played all her fun games while wearing that bracelet. She ate all of her meals in that bracelet and became a wonderful woman in that bracelet. When she was older, her mother passed down the same bigger gold bracelet to her, and Sadie passed down the smaller one to her daughter Natalie, Charlotte R.’s grandmother. Sadie Port Lewis was a coordinator of three Hebrew Day schools in Montreal. She worked for over 50 years and was honored many times. The first time she was honored she was given a silver tray with her accomplishment of 25 years of service engraved onto it. Sadie Port Lewis grew into amazing woman with a little gold heart on her wrist. This bracelet later became a part of many other women’s lives including her great granddaughter, Charlotte R.
With this bracelet Sadie Port Lewis grew and accomplished many magnificent experiences in her life time.
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