Jewish Holidays
Our holidays are very important to us as Jews. They help us to understand many of the major events in Jewish history.
All of our artifacts have a story to tell about how a particular holiday is celebrated. In fact,
holiday traditions have often been passed down from generation to generation.
Having such a variety of holidays makes being Jewish fun and meaningful.
Miniature Cup
Galicia
Grandma and Grandpa
This artifact has been passed down in my family for generations.
The youngest child in the family used it to drink "wine" from at the Passover seder.
My grandparents were going to pass it down to me at some point. Guess what, they just did because of our museum.
I am really excited about getting it.
Pesach is one of our most important holidays.In fact, more Jews celebrate Pesach than any other Jewish holiday.
It is when we got our freedom and began to build a nation. We got the Torah
49 days after we left Egypt. It gave us the guidelines we needed to live good and ethical lives.
Hanukiah
USA
my father
This hanukiah was passed down by my great-grandmother to my father as a gift to him on the occasion of his bar mitzvah.
It is significant to my family because we use it every year to light the Hanukkah candles. When we do, we remember her.
When we celebrate Hanukkah we are continuing to observe a holiday oberved by our people for many years.
Hanukkah stands for religious freedom, the right to practice Judaism wherever we are.
I am proud to be Jewish and I love celebrating Hanukkah.
Seder Plate
Israel
grandma
My grandfather got this when he was married to my grandma.He gave it to her as a gift. my grandfather then passed away.
The Seder plate reminds my grandma of my grandfather. My whole family uses this Seder plate at Passover every year.
Passover is one of our most important Jewish holidays. In fact, more Jews celebrate Passover ytahn any other holiday.
Passover is a celebration of our freedom. If we hadn't gotten out of Egypt, we could still be slaves.
Menorah (Hanukiah)
Jewish Museum in New York
Grandma
We use this hanukiah every Hanukkah and it wouldn't be Hanukkah without a menorah.
It has been in my family for many years. My mom and aunt used it when they were kids and now my siblings and I use it.
The Hanukiah is a symbol of Hanukkah and the miracle that happened.
The real miracle is that we won the war.
We were fighting for religious freedom.
We are so lucky to live in a country where we are free to live as Jews.
Hanukiah
Israel
My Grandma
This was my grandmother's favorite hanukiah and it got passed down from her mother to her to my dad and then to me.
All of us cherish it and we hope it can be passed down for many more generations. To us it really means "midor l'dor."
Lighting Hanukah candles and putting them in our windows shows that we are proud to be Jewish.
I am so happy we live in a country where we can all practice whatever religion we want.
menorah (Hanukiah)
Israel
father
This menorah was passed down from my great-grandmother who passed it down to my father as a gift to him for becoming a bar mitzvah.
This is significant to my family because we use it every year to light the Hanukkah candles in her honor.
On Hanukah we remember our fight for religious freedom.
I am proud that I am celebrating the same holidays and carrying on the same traditions as my ancestors.
Dreidel
Israel
Family (me)
This is a modern dreidel I got in Israel. It is important to me because I got it on my first family trip to Israel.
We take it out every Hannukah and set it up for display, because it is not a dreidel you can play with.
It reminds us about our first family trip to Israel and how much fun we had.
The dreidel is used as a game for Hannukah, the festival of lights.
Our ancestors played dreidel to hide the fact that they were studying.They didn't want to get caught by the Syrian Greeks.
It is learning which has kept Judaism and the Jewish people going.
Hannukah celebrates our right to practice and study our religion.
Chanukah Sign
Los Angeles, California, USA
Great Aunt Betsy G. H.
For my great Aunt Betsy's Bat-Mitzvah, she asked her Great Uncle (My Great,Great, Great Uncle) Harry, if he could help her make and design a Happy Chanukah Sign. He owned a sign making company so he was a good person to help her make a sign. She wanted a sign because everyone in her neighborhood (except for her family) was Christian and they all had Christmas signs in their windows. She wanted to show everyone that she celebrated Chanukah and was proud of it. Together they designed the sign and Great, Great, Great Uncle Harry made it. But my Great Aunt Betsy paid the whole $45 for it(remember, it's 1955).
This past Chanukah, my family put this sign in our window for the first time.
Chanukah celebrates religious freedom. We are lucky because we live in a country where we are free to celebrate our religion.
By putting the sign in our window each year, we are showing that we are proud to be Jewish and we aren't afraid to publicize it.