Jewelry
These artifacts are pieces of jewelry that have special meaning for their owners.
Wedding Ring
Poland
my mother
My artifact is a plain wedding band made in Poland during the 1800s. It is 3 1/4 inches and it is made of gold. It is imprinted with 14k. The Jewish wedding is one of the most joyous life cycle events and a plain gold wedding band is a symbol of that event.
My great great grandpa Max Grubman passed it down to his daughter, Irene. She never married but held on to it for many years. When my mother got engaged, she gave it to my mom. My mom used it during her wedding in 1998. The significance of this artifact to my family is that it was passed down four generations and I will be the fifth. It represents the memory of our ancestors.
Hadassah Pin and Chai charm
New York
My father
One of my artifacts is a pin. It is gold. It says Hadassah Life Member and has Hebrew letters in the middle. It has ribbon decoration on the bottom. It is about half an inch round.
The other artifact is a Chai charm from a necklace. It is also gold and is about a half inch wide. It has delicate cutout designs on it.
These artifacts were given to my Great Grandmother, Anna Blackman. The Temple gave them to her because of all the charity work she did These are significant to our family because they remind us of how she was a charitable person.
Mezuzah
San Francisco, California
Leena G.
My great grandma's parents died when she was a baby. She was raised by her grandparents, who she called Mom and Dad. She also called her uncles and aunts, brother and sister. When she was 12, for her Bat Mitzvah, she got this golden mezuzah from her "parents." It is important to my family because it was made from gold mined during the Gold Rush, and it is symbolic.
This mezuzah is important to Jewish heritage because it is so G-d would always be with you and protect you. It shows that G-d is to be respected.