Here we have recorded responses from a questionnaire we sent out to our classmates. Our goal with this section is to present even more insight into personal Jewish experience for reasons stated under the descriptions for Interviews #1 & #2. We have also included responses from some non-Jewish classmates to contribute to a greater discussion of material culture as a whole.
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Jewish Respondents
Do you have a specific religious object that has been present throughout your life that reflects your family’s diaspora? If you have not moved much (undergone diaspora), do you still have an object that embodies and symbolizes home for you, and does this object have anything to do with your Jewish identity (if applicable)
- Alison Curry: No, unfortunately my family has not been religious for a while and we do not have many objects that have been passed down through generations.
- Anonymous: I do not have anything religious that has been in our family since before my parents bought it. This is a result of my paternal grandmother’s rejection of her Jewish ancestry in favor of her husband’s Christian traditions and the Holocaust (on my mom’s side). However, the objects we do have (some chanukiot) have moved with us across the United States, from CA to FL to NC, possibly with a stint in NM. These don’t symbolize any geographic location, but rather a spiritual connection to my family and those before me who also gathered around a similar Chanukiah to celebrate Chanukah.
- Anonymous: No, but I do have a hamsa necklace and star of David necklace that I received at my bat mitzvah from my grandfather and a cousin in Israel that I basically never take off of my neck.
Do you have an object that has been passed down throughout your (Jewish) ancestry?
- Alison Curry: The one object we do have that has (sort of) been “passed down” was my grandmother’s menorah. My mother currently has it. I do not know the history of this object, though so I don’t know how my grandmother got it.
- Anonymous: No, for reasons stated in my previous response. The only other object I can think of is a Magen David necklace my mom has given me. It is only a couple decades old, but it does mean a lot to me. Also, some shabbat paraphernalia and chamsas. I made the challah cover in preschool, and we use it every Friday night. My safta (mom’s mom) made the Shabbat mat and chamsas (embroidered on cloth) for us, and they are also used/displayed constantly.
- Anonymous: No
How have these objects been preserved?
- Alison Curry: —
- Anonymous: They are relatively young, so we have not pursued any important preservation efforts. We use the chanukiot every year, and I wear the necklace when at home. I don’t take it to college for fear of losing it.
- Anonymous: I do not preserve my necklaces because I think there is no point in having a beautiful object sit in dust and they should be used.
How does your cultural/religious viewpoint affect the way you engage with material objects (religious or not)?
- Alison Curry: I am Jewish through my mother’s side of the family, but I was not raised in a religious household or family. So my connection with Judaism is mostly through culture and tradition. I think I have had a personal yearning to connect more my Jewishness over the years, which had made me purchase Jewish (either religious or symbolic or art) objects. I use them to highlight my personal identity, but also to engage with Jewish culture more meaningfully.
- Anonymous: When using Jewish objects, especially religious ones, I tend to engage with them only in a religious manner. I would never use the Shabbat candlesticks just to light a candle, for example. Other Jewish objects, I do think I look at different than a gentile. Mostly because I understand the general story/purpose of the object, and also because seeing Jewish objects gives me a sense of inclusion. Like, “Oh, me too!” I feel connected to other Jewish people, throughout generations, due to what I know is a millennia-old tradition.
- Anonymous: I engage with Judaica because it is comforting and evokes feelings of connection with Israel and the Jewish community.
Have you or anyone in your family experienced a diaspora? Could you explain this story? (You can use the term “diaspora” as loosely or as literally as you like.)
- Alison Curry: My family (on my mother’s side) emigrated from Poland. Her father’s side of the family left in the 1880s and her mother’s side left in 1917. I know more about her mother’s side (which is actually a very interesting story and I’ve been working on their genealogy for a while now). Some of the family members remained behind in Poland and unfortunately were killed in the Holocaust. We do have, in my opinion, a diaspora history in my family as this family left their home country for a new country (the United States).
- Almost every one of my grandparents or their close family in recent times, and, as a result of being Jewish, probably around 75% of my ancestors (all except the ones on my dad’s dad’s side).
- Safta (Mom’s mom): Safta’s story is the most emotional/challenging of them, and the longest. She was born in 1934 (probably). What we know for sure is that she was 4 on 1 Sept 1939, when the Nazis invaded Poland. She lived in Ternopl, which is now in Ukraine, with her older sister, two older brothers, and her parents. She was born Ruzha Sczidlower (although, we don’t actually know how this was spelled). I won’t tell the whole story; it’s long and not relevant, but I’ll summarize. Her father was taken away (and probably killed) first. They had enough money to send her eldest brother (Awigdor) out of the country, but as the new “man of the house” he refused. They were moved to the Ternopl ghetto. Her brothers were taken away (and killed). Her sister was moved to a work camp. Her mother met the same fate as her brothers, but hid her and told her to find her sister. She did, her sister hid her, they were moved, and eventually were to be put on trucks, likely ending at death camps. She, following her sister’s orders, jumped off the truck and wandered the country, escaping danger until she found a woman who took her in for the remainder of the war. She was the only survivor. After the war, she was put with a group of orphans, who lived in Europe. She believes that for a time they lived in France. Eventually her group (Haogen) moved to Kibbutz Hazorea in Israel. As Israel was a fledgling nation, it was common practice to change your name and make it Israeli, so she changed her name to Shoshana. This is where she met my saba and raised a family (which did not fully stay there, as evidenced by my being American).
- Saba (Mom’s dad): Saba was Bulgarian. His family was kept safe during the Holocaust, along with all the other Bulgarian Jews, thanks to the king who managed to keep the Germans out throughout the war. At the age of 15, he was sent to, essentially, go found the country of Israel. He fought in the Palmach (fighting force for independence) and settled down in Kibbutz Hazorea, where he met my safta. Like my safta and many founders of the nation, he changed his name (but only his last name -from Rubesa to Reuveni). This was actually a bit of a controversial decision, as many Bulgarian Jews didn’t change their names and didn’t stop speaking Bulgarian (another common practice was to stop speaking any other language but Hebrew), as they were proud of their countries (something that many Jews could not claim to be after the Holocaust).
- Grandma (Dad’s mom): This story is rather shaky, and I don’t have many details. Here’s what I know. My grandma’s family was Belgian/German (both), and they moved to America at some point in the early twentieth century or late nineteenth century. I really do not know which. We have a chest and medicine cabinet from one of these immigrants (the only immigrant?) named Anna Klein.
- Anonymous: Yes, my great grandfather left a shtetl in Russia to come to the US, and another great grandfather left a small town in Lithuania to come to Canada. Other people from that part of my family left to go to Israel to escape the Holocaust, and the ones who stayed were murdered.
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Non-Jewish Respondents
Do you have a specific religious object that has been present throughout your life that reflects your family’s diaspora? If you have not moved much (undergone diaspora), do you still have an object that embodies and symbolizes home for you, and does this object have anything to do with your Jewish identity (if applicable)?
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- Sam Gaul: My family does not really have any such object, especially not one with a religious connotation.
- Anonymous: Icons from the orthodox church reflect my family’s migration from Russia to the United States. They symbolize my family’s connection to our native country and to the traditions that past generations have held onto. These objects do not relate to a Jewish identity.
Do you have an object that has been passed down throughout your (Jewish) ancestry?
- Sam Gaul: No.
- Anonymous: No. I do not have any objects that were passed down throughout a Jewish ancestry, but I do have objects such as a schoolgirl plaid skirt that was inherited from my great grandmother from when she went to first grade.
How have these objects been preserved?
- Sam Gaul: N/A
- Anonymous: We keep the icons on a table near the bed and the skirt in a special compartment inside a closet.
How does your cultural/religious viewpoint affect the way you engage with material objects (religious or not)?
- Sam Gaul: Absolutely, this is something I have experienced a lot throughout this class, especially when looking at objects with a religious connotation.
- Anonymous: I tend to value some objects more than others and that reflects itself in the way that I approach and handle them. I would not ever use hasty movements when handling the objects and instead hold them with care.
Have you or anyone in your family experienced a diaspora? Could you explain this story? (You can use the term “diaspora” as loosely or as literally as you like.)
- Sam Gaul: In a looser usage of the term, my father experienced a sort of diaspora (more so a migration), as he moved from Charlotte, NC to the Eastern part of the state where he has now lived the majority of his life. He grew up in Charlotte but moved to Greenville to attend East Carolina University. While attending graduate school there, he met my mother who was born in a small town nearby. They have lived in that small town since.
- Anonymous: My family moved from Russia to the United States when my mother married an American. I have since grown up in the U.S. while the rest of our extended family lives in Russia. I sometimes feel disconnected from my family, but we reconnect through Skype (especially on birthdays and major holidays).