myfamilystoryjmm - Tumblr blog

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Gavin A. - “Custom Parking Garage” 

The parking garage is a 5 story parking garage with an elevator. Each family member is a car from their time. My great grandfather and grandfather owned it in downtown baltimore. The legal driving age was 16 but he worked as a valet parker at 14 years old and helped people for his dad which is the value of caring for people. This reminds me of the support of the parking garage privy to my family with love and memories. Like when my mom and grandmother first taught me how to cook.and when we learned to say prayers. and support the jewish community by singing prayers on holidays .

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Ellie B. - “The Berlins on the Beth El Bima” 

My project shows the bima of Beth El Congregation, in Baltimore MD. It emphasizes the importance of shalshelet hamesorah, when you pass down traditions through your family. That is what my family did with passing down the tradition of going to Beth El. This is where my dad had his bar mitzvah, my parents had their wedding, my twin sisters had their baby naming, I had my baby naming, and this past October my sisters and I had our B'not Mitzvah. When I am in Beth El I feel like I can see my family’s Jewish history and our Jewish future.

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Amanda P. - “The World and My Family” 

The theme I am doing is Jewish memory. For me, my family means everything to me. I want to find out everything about them and carry on with my family’s legacy. I hear stories about them and I feel like I am in their memories. Everything I hear will carry me to where I need to go in life and help me to find my own way, just like they did. My project shows how memories are passed on from one generation to another. My project is showing where my family is from and the progression of generations.

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Henni B. - “The Family Quilt” 

I focused on the theme of collective Jewish memory. I chose to do my project on that because I think it is important to remember your family’s Jewish past. For my project, I created a quilt with past and present pictures of my family. The significance of the quilt is to show that you should never forget your past and where you came from and that memories are very valuable. My project teaches that without knowing where you came from, you can’t really  know yourself. My project relates to Beit Hatfutsot’s mission to strengthen Jewish identity because you can understand a lot more about yourself just by knowing your Jewish past.

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Jacob B. - “Family History Project” 

For my project, I focused on the theme of a multi-faceted connection to Israel. This theme is important to my family because we are connected to Israel in many different ways. My great grandfather escaped the Holocaust and moved to Israel, my grandfather was born in Israel and served in the Israely army, and my grandmother met my grandfather in Israel and got married in Israel. To represent this, I made a slideshow with pictures of my family and explained how they connect to Israel. I think that my project should be displayed at the museum because it shows that there can be many ways that you connect to Israel, but they are all equally important and special.

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Micah B. - “Our Stories” 

I chose to do this project in the form of a video essay that tells stories about my family. . Stories are the building blocks of our religion; our most holy book, the Tanach, is made up almost completely of stories. Stories are passed through the generations, connecting families and friends. The stories of our family can shape who we are and it’s important to learn about them.

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Ava B. - “Sewing Through the Generations” 

My project shows everything my great grandparents went through, such as what they did when they got to America and what they needed to come to America for them to be legal immigrants. I focused on the theme of remembrance and love. This theme is important to me because I did not know a lot about my family and what they went through. Talking to everyone has been very interesting and I have learned so much about my family. I learned what it was like growing up, coming to America, and so much more. My project teaches my family history and that it is always good to remember what happened in the past. It also teaches me to hold on to what happened to my family.

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Shamir B. - “Fly”

At four, my grandfather and my great-grandfather planned a trip to visit family in Florida. When they got to the airport early, they took an earlier flight. The plane they were not on crashed, and no one survived. Their family had no idea they had survived until they walked through the door. Because they lived, we live, and as it says in the Talmud, "הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא" if you save a life, it is as if you saved a world (Sanhedrin 5:4). The portraits are people who would not be alive if my grandfather had died. Above is the earth with a plane made of the newspaper article about what happened. They just kept flying.

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Hailey C. - “Progress Toward Equality”

My project shows that just two generations ago, women couldn’t read from the Torah. In the middle of my project is the mechitza at the Western Wall. On the left side are all the men who have had a Bar Mitzvah. The right side is showing that women had to get creative with how they had B'not Mitzvah. On the women’s side are my grandmothers, my mother, and I, each having a Bat Mitzvah in a different, creative way, with all of the girls in her class or on top of Masada when she was much older… Wrapped around my project is my tallit. Women have come so far, from not having a Bat Mitzvah to wearing tallitot!

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Kayla D. - Jewish Family Star

My project is a Jewish star (also known as the star of David), which is a symbol for Israel. It also shows that my family is Jewish. My project has pictures of my relatives inside each space of the star. The theme of my project is Jewish spirituality and lifecycles; my family connects to Judaism through religious rituals like bnei mitzvah and baby namings. My project should be displayed in The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot because my project shows how a Jewish symbol can be given more meaning.

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Madelyn D. - “Around the World With My Family” 

My project connects to the idea of collective Jewish memory through the experience of leaving one homeland and coming to another. It shows where my family started from, traveled to and finally made it here. On my globe I have also placed a border of pictures of my family. This represents all of the borders they had to cross on their journey. Even though there were many challenges they faced, they still had the courage to cross the physical and emotional borders to come all the way here.This project reflects the Jewish people’s history because just like the Jews crossed the wilderness to get to Israel, my family left Lithuania and they traveled a long way to get to our new homeland. People can learn from my project about the immigration process after WWII when Jewish people were still hated all over the world.

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Sivan E. - “The Story Behind the Piano” 

My project what life was like for my grandmother growing up in  Israel. I chose to do a piano because my grandmother wanted to play piano but couldn’t afford to buy one, so her neighbor let her use his. She played on his piano for about 2 years but then he moved so she had to pay to use a different one. My grandmother’s stories teach that we shouldn’t take the things we have for granted.

[myfamilystoryjmm]

Ruben F. - “Helping Others”

My project is a representation of the value: treat others the way that you would like to be treated, or in Hebrew: וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ. This is the main value that my dad emphasized while raising both me and my older sister. My project should be displayed in The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot because it allows you to visualize that when you are nice to people they will be nice to you, but if you are mean to people then they will be mean to you back.

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Henry F. - “My Great-Great-Grandfather’s Shoe”

My project is about my great great grandfather. He was a shoemaker who came to the United States from Poland for a better life. I painted a shoe and put the front end on a map of the U.S and the back end on a map of Poland. My project should be shown in the Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot because it shows the life and hardships of a Jewish person. I think it is important to know about the lives of our ancestors and other family members because then you can honor them and remember their legacy.

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Tamar G. - “The Journey Home” 

My project is about my love for Israel and the love of my ancestors for this small, unique and beautiful country. I made a sculpture of earth and I pinned down all the places my great grandparents immigrated from to Israel; they could have gone to somewhere where they would have had an easier life but they chose the hard life of building the new land of the Jews, the land of Israel. I also added footsteps to the United States because I temporarily live there now. My project shows how Israel is my home and I love it.

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Shulamit G. - “The Five Houses in Cuba”

My project shows a memory my grandfather had that he told my mother about. My project contains five houses because when my grandfather was young, in his town of Nuevitas, Cuba there were only four other families that were Jewish. Inside the tiny door there are tiny papers with names of my family from my nuclear family to great grandparents (including close cousins). My project should be displayed in The Museum of the Jewish People because it shows an interesting story behind a little-known Jewish community.

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Shoshana G. - “The Ways of a Jewish Woman”

My project Is called “The Ways of a Jewish Woman.” It captures the beauty of God's mitzvot and how women can fulfill them. Fulfilling mitzvot is important to me because God has been looking out for me and my family and I want to repay my gratitude. To me, the most significant mitzvah I have chosen is wearing a tallit. A tallit is a prayer shawl worn by men and women. My tallit wraps me in strength and helps me feel God's presence. My project illustrates the beauty of being a Jewish woman and of following God's Mitzvot.