Lights LeChaim Spice
Our precious possessions used to celebrate Shabbat.
Shabbat Candlesticks
Unknown
Missy C
These brass candlesticks have been passed down from generation to generation. My mom\'s family used to use them to light the Shabbat candles weekly. At our house we have another set of candlesticks, special silver candlesticks that are very valuable. They were given to my mom from my great-grandma (Nana), and we use them for Shabbat. These brass ones that are in the picture are not currently being used to help preserve them.
The Shabbat candlesticks are used to signify the beginning of Shabbat. It is the day that G-d rested after creating the world. The women have the pleasure of lighting the candles and welcoming the beginning of Shabbat.
Candlesticks
Germany
Jeffrey Mark G
On Kristallnacht when my family was celebrating my great grandma\'s birthday the Nazis broke into my grandma\'s house and ransacked it. My grandma realized she and her family were not safe living in Germany anymore.When my grandma, Irma Frank, and her family fled from Germany at the start of WWII one of the things she took were these candlesticks. My grandmother used these candle sticks on the Sabbath and on holidays. Years ago my grandma died, and these candle sticks were given to my father and I hope one day they will be handed down to me.
They make me remember how lucky I am and what an amazing life I have. They link me to the horrors that my family had to go through because they were Jewish. They teach me to always stand up for what I believe in. The candle sticks represent a connection with my grandma and I.
Candlestick
Poland
Steven R
My great-grandmother Esther used this candlestick to light candles with her family when she and my great-grandfather Abraham came here from Russia. They brought it with them. My grandmother gave it to my dad when my great-grandmother died. My parents don\'t use it during Shabbat simply because they want to preserve it and not get any wax on it. We are not sure how they got the candlestick holder or who gave it to them but we do know that it came with them over 60 years ago.
Every Friday night my grandma, my family and I would light candles in this holder.
Candlesticks
Germany
Stacey Cunn
My great-grandmother Hedwig Heiman was given these candlesticks from her parents for a wedding present when she married my great-grandfather Sigfried Heiman in Hamburg Germany in 1930. These candlesticks with little else made it out of Nazi Germany in 1938, along with my great grandmother Hedi and grandmother Margot, who was then 4 years old, on the very last train from Hamburg, to the very last boat from Holland to the United States. As my great-grandparents rebuilt a life here in America (Brooklyn NY to be precise), a little before sundown every Friday for almost 70 years she put out a small glass of wine, a challah covered with a beautiful white, blue, silver embroidered cover and these Silver candlesticks which were lit by my great-grandmother to welcome Shabbos.
Lighting candles every Friday just before sundown has happened from the beginning and is a must in observance of the Sabbath.
For my great grandparents and many Jews around the world, the welcoming of Shabbat by lighting candles was a comfort even in the darkest days of loss.
Kiddush Cup
Israel
Alissa A
This Kiddush Cup was given to me when I was born by Elisa Schwartz. Elisa was in Israel just before my brother Matt and I were born. She bought it to use for the Kiddush at our bris/baby naming.
It was a present for the celebration of my birth. It has a design of Jerusalem painted on it, and connects my birth to our ancient homeland in Israel.
Spice Box
Israel
Randi Schuster
This Besamim Box became my mother\'s when her mother Sheila passed away. I am named for my grandmother. Unfortunately my grandmother died so young, that most of the story of this box is gone with her. It must have been given as a gift because neither my grandmother nor her mother were ever in Israel.
This kind of collectible, is found in many American Jewish homes. It combines contemporary design with oxidized copper patinas, emblematic of Israel\'s fusion of ancient and modern.
It is a symbol of all who came before my generation. It is also very interesting since it bears a made in Israel stamp and was probably among the first manufactured items to bear that designation when Israel became a recognized nation.
Kiddush Cup
Manhattan, NY
Mitchel S
My great-grandfather\'s father-in-law gave him a silver kiddush cup. Every Friday when my great-grandfather came home from Shabbat he would drink from this cup. The cup is inscribed M. Zitner from H. Stone 1922. This cup was given to my grandmother\'s (Sylvia S) father (Harry Stone) by his father-in-law (Meyer Zitner).
Although it is inscribed M. Zitner from H. Stone, we think this may have been an error. The cup was given to Harry on the occasion of his wedding to Meyer\'s daughter, Ida.
It reminds us of people who drank from the cup.
Kiddush Cup
Russia - Moscow
Noah K
This is one of the few silver pieces that my great-great grandfather could take from Russia when he left in 1902. My great-great grandfather Morris Isaacoff came from the village of Grabina. When he came, he brought his wife Ida, her mother (great-great-great grandma Gold), great-grandpa Harry, who was 6 months old, and great-great-grandma Ida\'s brother Max and sister Sarah.
My great-great grandfather Morris and his family immigrated to the U.S. because of religious persecution in Russia. They came through Ellis Island. They could not bring much so they only brought important stuff like this kiddush cup,to continue our Jewish tradition of making Kiddush on Shabbat and Festivals.
Kiddush Cup
USA
Cliff K
My dad was given the kiddush cup on May 18, 1981. It was a gift from the Men\'s Club of Temple Israel, Ridgewood, NJ on the occasion of my dad becoming a bar mitzvah. Now we use if for Shabbat.
Its significance to Jewish Heritage is that Jewish people all around the world use kiddush cups to say blessings over wine or grape juice and then to drink it. All Jews hold this in common.