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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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
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!
by Jeff Bendremer
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.
(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.
↪Click HERE to Enjoy on the JHSFC YouTube Channel and Share!
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
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
The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County is a recipient agency of
United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien
and The Federation of Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County.
©2022 The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County