Badge of "Gordonia", a Zionist Labor Youth Organization founded in Poland in 1925. Obverse: flowering tree with pick and shovel flanking at bottom. Reverse: screw plate closure.
Ceremonial laver with lions head spout (spout appears to be a later addition). Associated deep basin has flaring rim surmounted by s-scroll handles and arched back bearing engraved inscription.
This traveling wardrobe belonged to Yiddish theater star Dina Halpern, and is a relic of a time when plays by Sholem Aleichem, S. Ansky, as well as Yiddish translations of Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Wilder were performed on Chicago’s old West Side.
Dina Halpern was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1909. As a child, she performed as a dancer then joined the Warsaw Yiddish Art Theatre, headed by her great-aunt, Esther Rachel Kaminska.
This monumental Hanukkah lamp was created for synagogue use, modeled after a biblical menorah of pure gold. It was used at the White House Hanukkah celebration in 2003.
This shrine for the Torah, said to be the work of 100 students, is a shining example of Bezalel School craftsmanship and a centerpiece of Spertus Institute’s collection.
For centuries, silversmithing in Yemen was a Jewish-dominated craft. Yemeni-Jewish craftsmen created beautiful silver pieces characterized by elaborate granulation and filigree decoration, for Muslim and Jewish clients alike.
The Spertus Institute collection contains many examples of delicate silver jewelry and
