February 11 – June 30, 2024
At the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, we provide a home for a bountiful collection of archival materials and artifacts. Our collection includes thousands of photographs, documents, films, oral histories, three-dimensional objects, and artworks — the physical objects that represent the Jews of Oregon.
Oregon Jews, A to Z highlights the most significant, poignant, whimsical, beautiful, and funniest objects in OJMCHE’s care. Taken together, these objects offer a vibrant portrait of the history and culture of Oregon Jews.
We invite you to explore the breadth and splendor of the museum collection through more than 100 objects, chosen for their storytelling power.
This exhibition is generously funded through the Alice and Paul Meyer Exhibition Fund of OJMCHE. Further support has been received through the Oregon Cultural Trust.
Image Above
Circumcision Set in the Form of a Sofa, 1890
Gift of Estate of Mira and Gustav Berger 2020.14.10
Some examples in this exhibition include
C is for Cup
Shaving Cup and Razor
Ceramic
Steel
Gift of Harriet and George Bodner, 2013.14.1 & 2
This everyday shaving cup takes on new meaning when we reflect on how recent immigrants with long beards were judged “foreign” by those who had arrived before them, as was Austrian-born Jacob Bodner when he arrived at Ellis Island in 1905. A family member presented him with this cup and razor along with the advice that he should shave.
G is for Gefilte Fish
Gefilte Fish making tools of Rivka Jacobson, c. 1900,
Aluminum and steel
Gift of Marje Jacobson
2011.40.1 and 2011.40.4
Gefilte fish (from the Yiddish for “stuffed fish”) is a dish made of ground freshwater fish such as whitefish or carp mixed with eggs, matzo meal, and seasonings before being shaped into balls or patties and poached in a fish broth. Gefilte fish originated in Central and Eastern Europe and followed immigrant Jews to the United States. Today it is a staple at the Passover seder.
Evelyn Leshgold’s Recipe for 3 pounds of Gefilte Fish
Gift of Evelyn Leshgold, 2013.61.1