Special Items
We have some very interesting items in this gallery.
Some of these are closely connected to individual family histories.
Another is special to a sports enthusiast.
We are delighted to have them in our exhibit.
Sandy Koufax Baseball Card
USA
My uncle gave me this card for my birthday 2 years ago.
Sandy Koufax is a Jew who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. One year, one of the World Series Games was on Yom Kippur. He refused to play. I think of him on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Passport
Israel
great grandparents
This passport was my great grandpa's. His name was Mendel. He died in March, 2009. He was born in Poland and fought in the resistance armies against the Nazis. Many of his family were killed during this time. His brother survived the Auschwitz death camp. My great grandma's picture is on the passport too.
This is an Israeli passport and it belonged to my great-grandparents. They were Jewish and survived the WWII. The passport was from the WWII time period. They were very lucky to survive and get to Israel. To me the passport symbolizes freedom and the right to live and travel anywhere without being harmed. It also means that we can practice our religion anywhere in the world.
Family Photos
Israel and France
Gramparents
These are the only pictures of my zaide when he was young. He survived the Holocaust and we are lucky to have these photos and him.
My zaide survived a tragic time in Jewish history. After the war he was an orphan and lived in France on his own. He then went to Israel, served in the Hagganah and helped to build the Jewish state. He came to the U.S.in 1949.
Tower Wedding Ring
israel
My Bubbie M.
My bubbie and zadie and my mom and dad used this ring during their wedding ceremonies and I plan to use it too.
Jews a long time ago used wedding tower rings when they got married. They filled it with good smelling spices. The bride would smell the ring to remind her of the sweet life they would share together.
Shalom Sign
Israel
Barb F. (Bubbie)
This artifact has been passed on in our family and I hope it will be passed down to me. My Great Grandma had it. She got it in Israel and Israel is an important place to Jews. My Great Grandma hung it in her house and now my Bubbie hangs it in her house next to all her other shalom signs.
The word shalom means peace. The whole world needs peace. We all pray for the day that Israel will have peace.
Documents & Pictures from the Holocaust
Germany
My Great Uncle Norbert
These pictures and documents are special to my family because they are a few of the only things left from my great uncle's life in Germany, before the Holocaust.
These documents are from the Holocaust and the pictures are from before the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a very tragic time in Jewish history.
We should never forget what happened.
The Jewish Community of Chatanooga
Chatanooga, TN
my Bubbie
It is a book about the Jewish community of Chattanooga,TN. It has an excerpt about my family also about many other families in Chattanooga,TN.
Chattanooga,TN. is also where my Mom, Abbie B., Bubbie Martha B. and my Bubbie's mom lived.
Its about the Jewish history of Chattanooga, TN. Also about the community in Chattanooga,TN where a HUGE part of my family grew up.
Jews live everywhere and it is possible
to be Jewish even in the South.
Wedding Glass
U.S.A.
Tamara and Larry P.
It was the glass that my dad stepped on when my parents got married. It's important to my family because it signifies my parents' marriage and how happy they were and are.
It's a Jewish custom to break a glass at the wedding ceremony. It symbolizes that life is fragile and that both husband and wife should work together to keep things whole.
Hand Stitched Art
U.S.S.R
A gift to my grandma from my great-grandma
The significance of this artifact to my family is it was my great-grandma's artwork. At this time, Jews were not allowed to practice Judaism in Russia.
The significance of this artifact to my family is my great-grandma sewed it when she was still in Russia and she was still writing books about sewing and home economics.
This artifact was passed down to my mom from my grandma. It is reminiscent of a time when one couldn't practice Judaism.
Now we are free to be Jews.