Between the Lines
By: Jennifer D.
When you think of old documents you may think they are old worthless papers ready to be recycled. Well, they aren’t. They take us back decades ago to when our ancestors were born, got jobs, married, immigrated, and accomplished their own personal goals.
These documents include naturalization papers, letters, birth certificates, and much more. Victoria and Nathan have letters written by a family member, Sophia has an ancestor's birth certificate from the Ottoman Empire, Sarah has a wedding invitation, Joseph T. brought in a stamp that was important to his grandfather, and we have naturalization papers from our Morris T's ancestor.
Every family cherishes their own family history. These letters, documents and certificates reveal so much about our families' stories when we read "between the lines."
Naturalization Document
America
Laura D.
My artifact was given to my great-grandma Mollie Esses on December 6th, 1949 in the district court of the US. This document made her a citizen of the US. She went from Syria to Ellis Island. My great-grandmother told my grandma the story of how she got it. When she got off the ship in Ellis Island there were lots of people. She saw a man in front of her and she was wondering why he was immigrating. He looked American and spoke fluent English. It turned out he wasn't immigrating he was just looking out for fellow Jews.
My Great-grandma Mollie E. came to America because of my Great-grandfather Fred. His entire family was immigrating and lots of the people in Syria were also leaving the country. She came because her family wanted to explore.
Wedding Invitation
Syria
Gido Joe H
Joseph H. was married twice. The wedding invitation was written in French and this wedding took place in Syria in 1909. This wedding invitation is over 100 years old which make it very fragile and important. The spelling of my Gido's last name changed when they came to America. My Gido had two sons when his wife passed away. One of the sons is my great grandfather, Isaac Hafif A"H and the other one was Morris Hafif A"H.
At a Jewish ceremony the groom steps on a glass to show the sadness of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Also the bride and groom pray for everything that they would like so that God will answer them. At the wedding, the bride and the groom stand under a huppah to symbolize their new home. The huppah, with four open sides, is a symbol of the Jewish home filled with hesed like the tent that Abraham and Sarah opened to all people.
Letters
Brooklyn
Evelyn R.
This artifact belonged to my Great Great Grandfather, Matloub Abadi. When he came to Brooklyn he was the first rabbi in the Magen David community. As a salary the community gave him 50 dollars a week in order to support his family.
This artifact was the letter that started the Magen David community in Brooklyn.
Letter
America
Hersel M
This is a letter written by Mrs. Roosevelt to my grandfather Hersel M. My artifact talks about lending a hand to other people. This letter defines my family, since we always like to give a lending hand to anybody in need. That is why I picked this artifact.
The letter is important to Jewish heritage because it talks about how Israel is a place of freedom and democracy. Israel is such a small place and it can only do so much. That is why Mrs. Roosevelt asks my grandfather to help out with a program that helps people immigrate people to America.
A letter
Syria
Grandma Emma
This letter was given to my Grandma Emma by her mother. When my Sito was home she wrote these letters to her children, who were in camp. This was important because my grandma would not know that my Gido was in the hospital. When my grandma would send the letters at the post-office she would see little kids who were poor. She told them to come to her and she paid for them to go to camp .
After she passed away random people went to my Grandma and said, "Wow! Your mom was so nice." I was one of the girls who would sit next to the mailbox at the post office when your mom would mail letters.
Stamp
Syria
Jack T.
My grandfather Joseph bought it from a antique store and brought it to the United States becaused he thought it was worth money and he wanted to sell it. Unfortunately, he was not able to sell it but he kept it. When he passed, my dad Jack inherited it from him.
The stamp has Hebrew and Arabic letters on it.
Birth Certificate
The Ottoman Empire
My father, Rene R.
The artifact is my paternal great grandmother's birth certificate. Her name was Rosa S.R. and she was born in Damascus, Syria in 1888. In those days Syria was not a separate country and was part of the Ottoman Empire. The birth certificate was issued by the Ottoman Empire and has the seal of the Sultan on the front of the document. The certificate is a form roughly 7"x 11" written entirely in Arabic with spaces to fill in information such as the name, date of birth and religion.
It is interesting that in the space marked religion is the word "Moussaoui" which means follower of Moses in Arabic. It is significant in that it is proof of my Syrian Jewish heritage.
My father, Rene R, found the birth certificate among other papers about eight years ago when he was cleaning out my great uncle's apartment.
Photograph
United States of America
Great Grandmother Lilly S.
My artifact is a long lost picture with my mother's grandmother, and my father's grandparents, eating dinner together after my grandfather was released from the American army during WWII. My grandparent's names were Dick and Lilly S. and Mrs. Amy M, may they rest in peace.
This is a significant part of my Jewish heritage because it showed that when two families marry within our own faith, there was usually some connection between two families in the past, which symbolizes how close our Syrian Jewish community is. I am proud to be a Jew, and proud to be part of this beautiful united community.
Naturalization papers
Brooklyn, New York
Renee S.
This is important because this made my great great grandmother a legal American citizen. This is also important because it belonged to my great great grandmother who I never met and I'm happy to have this to remind me of her.
Many Jewish people had immigrated to the U.S in the early 1900s. My grandmother wanted to become a true American so she applied for citizenship. In the old country the Jews had hard times. So this certificate made her a Jewish American citizen. Also this paper said and proved she was a Syrian Jew.
Aramaic Book
Europe
This Aramaic book was given to my Grandmother by her Great Grandfather. It is important to him because everything that happened in his life he wrote about it in the book.
This Aramaic book was used to keep a diary of my Great Great Great Grandfather's life. Aramaic is another language.