The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County

Welcome to the JHSFC

The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County provides historical and educational materials and information about the Jewish community of Fairfield County and serves the community through its membership and its archival resources.

↪Click HERE for Annual Membership.

JHSFC Mission Statement

The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County strives to build intergenerational community through sharing and preserving Jewish history, heritage, and culture. We tell the story of the human experience through Jewish eyes.

↪Click HERE to view our current newsletter
for our exciting 2022 programs.

For Memorial Day . . .

A Virtual Tour of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History

↪Click HERE to Enjoy the May Program
on the JHSFC YouTube Channel and Share!

Did you know that there is another national Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. besides the Holocaust Museum?

Did you know that Jewish Americans have played an important role in the defense of the United States since pre-Colonial times?

In our May 2, 2021 Featured Program, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Sheldon Goldberg, Ph.D., museum docent and historian, introduces a video tour of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History (NMAJMH) and answers questions.

The tour covers many hidden treasures of the museum, including The Hall of Heroes: American Jewish Recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Women in the Military, GIs Remember Liberating the Concentration Camps, and The Life and Career of Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy (1792–1862).

The program was co-sponsored by the Stamford Jewish War Veterans Fred Robbins Post 142.

Please visit the National Museum of American Jewish Military History website (NMAJMH) to learn more about this important resource.

You can also view the NMAJMH video tour separately from the JHSFC program at the NMAJMH YouTube channel.

Musings from my
"haunted" Hermitage

by Larry F. Ginsberg

Ring Magazine Cover

Hermitage Wire Service archive:
Pincus Silverberg

January 16, 1964: Ansonia's own Pinky Silverberg, former NBA World Flyweight Champion who was "robbed" of his title died today at age 59.

Silverberg was born on April 5, 1904 and held the Flyweight Title during 1927. He had 89 Official Bouts, won 33 (7 by KO), lost 33 (1 by KO to top contender Willie LaMorte in 1926), 15 draws, 6 no decisions and 2 no contests. He was the younger brother of the Professional Featherweight Herman "Kid Silvers".

He was known for fighting the top Flyweights and Bantamweights (when he was no longer able to make weight as a Flyweight) of his era including Dark Cloud Bradley, Kid Chocolate, Panama Al Brown and Midget Wolgast. He was survived by his wife and two children.

↪Click HERE to read
the rest of the story.

June Yiddish

A BISSEL YIDDISH
with Judy Altmann and Judy Liebeskind

Friday, June 3, 2022
10am
Zoom Meeting

Have you been invited to a destination wedding, perhaps in Mexico or on an island off the coast of Massachusetts? Or have you been invited to a wedding on Zoom?

Our next Bisselle Yiddish session will focus on marriage customs and practices in other times and places. Judy Altmann will describe to us (in Yiddish) her sister's wedding in Jasina, Czechoslovakia more than 80 years ago; Annette Bohrer will translate into English.

Jacob Waldman will describe to us (in Yiddish and English) the marriage customs and rituals in his Satmar community in Brooklyn today.

↪Click HERE to join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 822 7558 3102
Passcode: 231870

One tap mobile:
+16465588656,,82275583102#,,,,*231870# US (New York)

Archive News

The Archive will be open Tuesdays 10am-2pm
and by appointment.

Please feel free to contact the archive for an appointment. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

phone: (203) 359-2196
email: archives@jhsfc-ct.org

Discover the Archive

Have you ever wondered what we have been collecting for 40 years in our Archives?

Do you want to know about our exciting current projects?

Join us for a Virtual Discovery Tour of the JHSFC Archives.

↪Click HERE to view on the JHSFC YouTube Channel and Share!

From the Archives ...

A Ketubah: 1920's

by Jeff Bendremer

Click on image to enlarge

As we slide into spring, the number of weddings steadily increases topping out in June. When it comes to a traditional Jewish wedding, the Ketubah , or wedding contract, is an essential component. The formula of the Ketubah , reputedly dating back to Simeon ben Shetach, c. 140-60 BCE, outlines the rights, responsibilities and obligations of the groom in regard to the wife. Though it may look like Hebrew, traditionally the Ketubah is written in Aramaic, the lingua franca of Jews in the 1st century. Signed by the bride and groom as well as witnesses, it is read aloud during the wedding ceremony under a chuppah , a canopy held up by 4 poles. As always, the text v'hakol sharir v'kayam — "all of this is in force and validated," the legal formula validating a binding contract, can be found in large letter toward the end of the document.

This Ketubah is from the 1920's. Unlike some of the more fancy and artistic wedding contracts seen today and throughout history, this was a very modest example printed on inexpensive paper. As such, they can degrade over time if not properly conserved. You may have documents like this in your own family archive which may need attention so they can last through the generations.

To all our members

throughout the years

Avon Theatre Showing

(click on image to see poster)

Remembering the Family Store:
Stamford Circa 1940-1965
Avon Theatre
Private Premiere Sunday, June 12, 2022
Public showings will be available
Check Avon Theatre listings
of dates and time

For additional information
↪Click HERE to read
the New Jewish Voice article.

Making of Our Documentary - Remembering the Family Store: Stamford Circa 1940-1965 is now available to everyone on YouTube. You can see the amazing three-minute trailer and get a good idea of what the documentary will be like.

Discover (or re-discover) how the documentary originated, the personal connections of Lester Sharlach, Gail G. Trell, and Steve Karp, and hear how the award-winning filmmaker, Marge Costa, has created the production. Enjoy and please share with anyone you know who would like to see it.

↪Click HERE to Enjoy on the JHSFC YouTube Channel and Share!

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHTS

Judah Benjamin:
Counselor for the Confederacy
by James Traub
Presented by Bob Abrams
April 28, 2022

Young Lothar
An Underground Fugitive
in Nazi Berlin
by Larry Orbach and Viven Orbach-Smith
Presented by Vivien Orbach-Smith
April 24, 2022

↪Click HERE to view on YouTube

What's Your Story?

Bridging Yesterday and Tomorrow,
Will You Be Part of the Story?

The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County is one of the largest secular Jewish organizations in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

As we are approaching the United States Semiquincentennial and JHSFC 40+ year anniversary, we invite you to join us.

We need your help in telling your community's story so that we can together explore it further, preserve it and share it. Who were the first Jews in your community? Why did they come, what did they accomplish? How did the community change and grow? Who were and are the Jewish movers and shakers in the Jewish and overall community? What Jewish institutions were established? Through our archives in Fairfield County and our programs, library, traveling exhibit and oral/video history projects we discover and maintain our communities' collective memory dating back to the first recorded Jewish presence in our area in the late 1600's.

Help us capture your special story, so your community will be included in the greater story that is the Jewish story of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Diaries, emigration documents, household objects, legal documents, letters, obituaries, postcards, posters recipes, scrapbooks vintage clothing, photographs and film clips of family and community events . . .

For information contact JHSFC:
Phone: (203) 359-2196
Email: archives@jhsfc-ct.org