Jewelry
This gallery displays meaningful jewelry.
Hamsa necklace
Israel
Allison T. F.
My artifact is a shiny gold necklace with a hand called a Hamsa. This artifact was made in Israel in about 1952. The shiny gold chain is about 10 inches long. There are lots of decorative scrollwork details in the Hamsa itself, which is about 1 ½ inches long. The width is about 1/2 inch. This was lent to me by my mom Allison T. F.
This artifact was passed down from my great grandma Ethel S. to my grandma Barbara and then to my mom Allison T. F. This was made after World War 2 and after Israel became a state in 1948. The Hamsa is supposed to protect you from the evil eye. The 5 fingers on the Hamsa represent the 5 books in the Torah. It is also sometimes called the Hand of G-d.
Israel charm necklace
Israel
This gold charm is shaped like the map of the State of Israel. It is about one inch long and only a quarter of an inch wide. Israel is a very small country and therefore this is a very small charm. I am a very strong supporter of the State of Israel even though I may not always agree with everything she does. I will always defend our tiny country because it is our homeland and the land God promised to the Jewish people.
In the 1970's, my father and mother used to lead groups from our congregation on trips to Israel and they instilled a love of the country in me. My first trip to Israel was after senior year of high school with my Youth Group in 1976. Later, I married an Israeli man, so we went to Israel as a family maybe 5 or 6 times over the years.
In the summer of 2015, I took my first trip back to Israel by myself. I spent four weeks in Israel. I studied at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Center, for two weeks, and then I spent two weeks visiting with family and friends. I had seen someone wearing a similar charm and I had it stuck in my mind to buy one for myself. My sister-in-law and niece and I walked all over Tel Aviv looking in every jewelry store! We finally found the perfect one on Allenby Street.