Back to the Records
By Charlize Assoulin and Esther Gindi
This gallery is filled with photographs, immigration documents, passports, letters and books, a ketuvah and more. We learn so much about our family stories from these artifacts, if we read between the lines. We learned about how much a wedding cost in 1933, we learned about the ages of great grandparents when they immigrated, and we read actual notes taken by our ancestors. We learned about some of the positive and negative situations they went through.
The photographs showed us what kind of life our ancestors lived, the clothing that our relatives wore and some of activities they enjoyed.
Birth Certificate of Yusuf B.
Aleppo, Syria
Teddy B.
This is the birth certificate of Yusuf B, my great great grandfather. When he wanted to come to America in 1900 with his family, he used these documents to get into America. It also shows very interesting details about him. For instance, his father's mustache was light brown. When he first came to America he was only 4 years old.
It shows how much we stuck to Judaism and how we never gave up on it. He went to shul every holiday and Shabbat. They weren't so rich so on Succot they had to get their whole family to shul so after they can say a berachah in the synagogue's succah. They did not have their own succah.
Immigrant idenitfication card
Beirut, Syria
Richard G.
My grandfather, Joseph G, immigrated to the United States from Syria. He came to Ellis Island on August 21, 1929. Without the Immigrant Identification Card, he wouldn’t be allowed into the United States. He and his family came to America from Syria to create a better life for themselves. When my grandfather came to America, he came by boat.
My great grandfather, Chacham Moshe G, came to the United States before the rest of his family and then brought them to America. He brought them here to create a better Jewish life for them. Jewish life was difficult in Syria.
Notebook on the Torah
Syria
My Grandfather Moshe
This artifact is a handwritten notebook that came from my great great grandfather, Moshe A. In Syria, he was a great rabbi, he also wrote pizmonim that we sing on Shabbat and holidays. We are so very thankful that we were able inherit this special artifact.
It is a beautiful book on the commentary of the Torah. In fact, the perasha that is discussed in this book is the same persasha that I read on my bar mitzvah. I even used some of it for my speech.
British Passport
Jamaica
Isaac S.
This artifact was given to my grandfather when he moved to Jamaica from Syria. This passport shows how he came from the old country and moved to Jamaica to make money. He lived there for 20 years. My grandmother lived there for 13 years and my aunt for 3 years. This is very special to our family because this is our heritage.
This is significant to Jewish heritage because a lot of Syrian Jews moved from Syria to another country to run away. This shows our Community's tradition that we were from Syria.
Photograph
Barranquilla, Columbia
Sophia T.
This is an enlargement of a 4 x 6 photograph. This enlargement is 8 x 10. My great great grandpa Samuel M donated all the money and built a shul in honor of his father Nissim M. It makes our family very proud that our grandfather built the only shul in the city with his own money and workers. He wanted to save the Jewish community's religion in a town that didn't have much religious influence
Samuel M met with the Pope to tell him to tell the non-Jews not to bomb the shul. By meeting with the Pope he saved the community's only shul in Barranquilla, Columbia. The shul is now used as a school.
My Great-Grandfather's Testimony After The Holocaust
Poland-America
Grandma- Susan F.
This artifact is very important to my whole family because it explains what my great-grandpa, Felix A"H, had gone through during the Holocaust. He wrote this testimony so he could remember everything that occurred. He couldn't write this during the Holocaust because he didn't have anything to write on or with. He wrote this so that in the future no one would think the Holocaust never occurred.
This artifact shows all of us the life of a Jew in the horrifying Holocaust where Germans would abuse and kill Jews because of no reason.
Book
Manhattan
Yishayahu G.
My grandfather, grandmother, great uncle, and great aunt went to Europe. They went to Europe because it is their tradition to visit their ancestors' graves every 100 years. They made a picture book telling about the graves and gave a copy to each of their children and grandchildren. The significance is it is continuing a tradition.
It is significance to my Jewish heritage because my grandfather is going to visit his Jewish ancestors, and by doing this it is like he is going back to his Jewish heritage.
Holocaust letters
Israel
Grandma Odie Z.
My artifact is a collection of letters from the Holocaust. My great grandmother moved to Israel when her dad had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. My great grandmother sent notes to her friends from Hebrew school. They passed away during the time of the Holocaust. These notes were saved and hung up in Yad Vashem in Israel. My grandmother has copies of the letters that are still on display in Israel.
These artifacts have to do with Judaism because they was sent from our land Israel and it was during the time of the Holocaust.
Book
Jerusalem
Moe T.
A bunch of papers were found in Rabbi Yoseph Chayem S's house 30 years after he died. He was my great great great grandfather. These are books that were put together by Nuriel S, a cousin from Jerusalem.
Rabbi Yoseph Chayem S. used to go around the world, stopping in Jewish communities to raise money for the shul and charities in Israel. He helped with building a shul, and was a great tzadik.
Collage of photos
Bulgaria
Lina M.
This collage of photos are the only pictures left of my grandmother's parents. Her parents passed away in the Holocaust so it means a lot to her.
This collage of photos are important to Jewish heritage because it shows how Jewish life was like before the Holocaust.
These pictures also show the customs of Jewish people and how they dressed.
Great Grandpa's passport
Czechoslovakia
Mori S.
This passport is the one my great grandfather used to escape the Holocaust and travel to America to start a new family. My Great Grandpa left from Czechoslovakia in 1949 by boat.
This artifact is from the Holocaust which was a terrible time for the Jews.
Framed Wedding picture
Brooklyn, NY, United States
Stevie S.
This artifact is a photograph of my great grandparents, and is important to me because it started my family. It's the origin of my entire family. It's also important to me because it was taken at the wedding of my great grandma, Pauline S, who recently passed away.
This has to do with Jewish heritage because it was a Jewish wedding and in accordance with the Jewish law and traditions. The groom stepped on the glass, there was a chupah, Hebrew music, and a lot more. It also was the beginning of a big Jewish family.
Passport
Czechoslovakia
Helen S.
This is the Passport my great grandmother used to escape the Holocaust. She knew that a terrible thing was going to happen so she had leave by travelling from Czechoslovakia down to Italy then she went across the Mediterranean Sea and finally got to New York. She left on the last boat to New York. There she went to school and mailed letters to her father in Yiddish.
She used this passport to travel across Europe to make the final boat to America to escape the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a major part of World War II, and was a terrible time when Hitler killed 6,000,000 Jews and a lot others.
Letter
New York
Frieda B.
Eli D, my great-grandfather, lived in Puerto Rico. He owned a factory there beginning in 1927. His older sister Rachel was married to Joe T. and lived in Brooklyn, New York. Joe’s sister Rena lived in Mexico and had a daughter named Esther, my great-grandmother. Esther traveled from Mexico to Brooklyn to visit her uncle Joe at the same time that Eli traveled from Puerto Rico to New York to visit his sister, Rachel, and brother-in-law, Joe.
IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!
They spent some time together and continued communicating through the mail. After they decided to get married, Joe took it upon himself to make arrangements for the wedding because Esther’s mom had died when she was only 14 years old.
Joe wrote this letter on July 12, 1933 and sent it to Eli. It described all of the arrangements that he made in New York for the upcoming wedding which was to take place on September 23, 1933.
Interesting Facts:
The engagement ring cost between $700-$800! The entire wedding cost $250!
Rabbi Jacob Kassin officiated their wedding. This was the first wedding he performed in the United States. After he moved from Israel to the Untied States, he went on to officiate over 3,000 weddings for the Syrian community. The Rabbi kept a record of all the names and dates of these weddings in a special book, which is now in the possession of Mr. Jacob K, the father of our Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Saul J. K.
Ketuvah
Brooklyn, NY
Morris H.
The artifact that I have chose for the Heritage Fair is my great grandparents' Ketuvah. The Ketuvah is a very special and valuable item to my family. It commemorates the marriage of my great grandparents Edward and Sarah H. This document also shows the history of my family, and shows the strong togetherness of which I am the lucky beneficiary.
In a Jewish sense, a Ketuvah, which means “written thing”, is a special type of prenuptial agreement, which is instrumental in a traditional Jewish marriage. In a Ketuvah, it is laid out what responsibilities the groom has to uphold, concerning the bride he will marry. In another sense, it shows the closeness and togetherness that we have as members of Am Yisrael, and that in many different ways, we are all connected serving Hashem.