Preserving a lost religious world
July 1, 2021
These silver Judaica items tell a story of a lost religious world. They survived the Holocaust and post-war communism, and were smuggled out from Hungary to Australia, one by one, in the 1980s.
Passover and modern day slavery
March 11, 2021
Passover and modern day slavery Every Pesach or Passover, Jews throughout the world are commanded to tell the story of their emancipation from slavery in ancient Egypt. However, while retelling …
International Migrants Day: Waves of Jewish migration to Australia
December 17, 2020
International Migrants Day: Waves of Jewish migration to Australia The waves of Jewish migration to Australia before and after World War II have been turning points in the history of …
Synagogues and memory
July 10, 2020
Synagogues and memory When synagogues were forced to close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Jewish communities felt distressed; not necessarily at the knowledge that they couldn’t attend, but …
A wedding in Theresienstadt
May 19, 2020
This is a story about the wedding of Otto Ehrmann and Elfi Felixova in Theresienstadt in 1943, before the young couple was to learn of their fates.
Out of Egypt
April 22, 2020
For the Jews of Egypt in the mid-twentieth century, the Passover story was not just a mythical story. This was their story. As a Sephardi Jewish girl born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1939, this was also my story.
Wash your hands!
April 7, 2020
Wash your hands! Handwashing is front and centre of media messaging right now, so we would like to explore the Jewish religious fixation on the frequent ritual washing of one’s …
A Sephardi Seder Tradition
April 7, 2020
A Sephardi Seder Tradition The rituals of Pesach, or Passover, are observed and interpreted in different ways by different Jewish communities from across the world. In anticipation of the Sydney …
Celebrating one of the strong women in the Purim story
March 6, 2020
Celebrating one of the strong women in the Purim story On International Women’s Day, and on the eve of Purim, we look at one of the powerful women in the …
The beginnings of the Museum building
October 25, 2019
The beginnings of the Museum building Did you know that the building in which the Sydney Jewish Museum is housed has an interesting history of its own before it became …
The origins of the ‘scapegoat’
October 8, 2019
The origins of the ‘scapegoat’ Did you know the history of the word ‘scapegoat’? It was first coined in the 16th century to describe the ritual animals that the Jewish …
The many meanings of the festival of Shavuot
June 6, 2019
The many meanings of the festival of Shavuot The festival of Shavuot begins at sundown this Saturday, 8 June, and ends at sundown on Monday 10 June. Whilst a short …
Music personalities: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator
May 24, 2019
Music personalities: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator This blog piece is the second of the series of conversations between our Curator of Collections Shannon Biederman and …
Music technologies: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator
May 23, 2019
Music technologies: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator Our Curator of Collections Shannon Biederman sat down with Assistant Curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, …
“This year in Jerusalem”
April 9, 2019
This green-glazed ceramic Pesach Seder plate on display in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s Holocaust exhibition was given to Samuel Steif whilst he was in the Föhrenwald Displaced Persons Camp in …
A milestone worth celebrating and collecting
January 14, 2019
A milestone worth celebrating and collecting A boy’s bar mitzvah and a girl’s bat mitzvah are rites of passage by Jewish law, and milestones in every young Jewish person’s life. …
10th of Tevet
December 18, 2018
10th of Tevet Today, the 18th of December 2018, is the 10th of Tevet in the Hebrew calendar. This fast day commemorates the siege on Jerusalem by the Babylonian armies …
Chanukah Greetings
November 29, 2018
Chanukah Greetings Chanukah is a time when we remember the attempted suppression of Jewish culture and celebrate Jewish resistance and resilience. Chanukah of 1945 was the first time that Jewish refugees, …
Anzac Day – A day of remembrance
April 24, 2018
Anzac Day – A day of remembrance Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, that honours those who served and died in wars and conflicts. …
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