Memories and awe at the R.I. Jewish Museum’s open house

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The Rhode Island Jewish Museum, in collaboration with West Bay Chabad, hosted a two-day Hanukkah Pop Up Store and Open House during the last week of November.  

 

Volunteers diligently converted the book-laden Talmud study room into a freshly-painted, spacious, all-purpose gallery.  The room was then filled with tables holding unique creations by local artists, including Naomi Geller Lipsky, Joe Shansky, Ely Greenhut, Aaron Rubenstein, and Roberta Schneider of the Women’s Association of the Jewish Seniors Agency. Also displayed for sale were a variety of Hanukkah-related items.

In addition, guided tours of the museum, at 24 Douglas Ave., Providence, were provided by volunteers from the community and by Providence College students who were taking a course about nonprofit organizations. 

While the store was popular, it was the historically preserved building that left the visitors awestruck. Many had memories of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, which now houses the museum. Two people discovered that each had grandparents who had lived in the same two-family house across the street from the synagogue more than 60 years ago. While they didn’t know each other, they did know the grandparents! 

An uncle riding in a car being driven by his nephew abruptly told him to stop because he saw from the street that the building was open.  His nephew said, “Another day,” as they had missed the turn, but the uncle insisted, “Oh no, I need to go into that building now!” Having lived in the neighborhood as a child, he recalled the building from years ago. 

Another visitor, Glen McCauley, related that when he was 10 years old, though he was not Jewish, he had a dear friend, Harvey Minkin, who invited him to the synagogue, and he had never forgotten the visit.    

Steve Blazar proudly proclaimed that a table cover on the bimah in the downstairs sanctuary was monogrammed with his grandparents’ names.  

Teo Sonmemschein, who now lives in Colorado, came in with his buddy, who still lives in the neighborhood. With a wide grin, Sonmemschein reminisced about becoming a Bar Mitzvah at Sons of Jacob over 60 years ago.  He and his friend walked around the entire building, inspecting all the memorials, furnishings and murals, and marveling that it was all still there. 

Another guest could not stop talking about the floor tiles in the bathrooms, insisting they needed to “stay where it laid” to maintain the integrity of the historical building. 

Others were stunned by the ceiling and wall murals, painted and facilitated by Samuel Shore, as well as the sparkling chandelier and countless memorial plaques on walls throughout the halls.   Each person reiterated that “without a doubt,” the building had to be protected, preserved and renovated. 

When Deb Kaplan entered with her husband, son and daughter-in-law, she literally gasped at her time travel-experience; her parents, Anna and Albert Yuloff, were married in the shul.  She went on to say, “this was the shtetl shul for all the Russian immigrants who settled in the Douglas Avenue/Smith Hill neighborhood.”  

These are just a fraction of the memories that were related at the event, which was attended by about 60 people, and the Rhode Island Jewish Museum invites others to share their memories by sending an email to rhodeislandjewishmuseum@gmail.com.

The museum, founded in 2016, is on the register of National Historic Places and the Providence Preservation Society’s 2016 Most Endangered Properties List. The museum will be open to the public on Dec. 31 from 1 to 3 p.m. Guided tours will be available. For more information, go to www.rhodeislandjewishmuseum.org.

SHELLEY PARNESS is vice president of the Rhode Island Jewish Museum, a tax exempt 501 (C) (3) nonprofit organization.