The Cemetery Project
The matzeva,
or gravestone, is often the source of important genealogical
information to those who are searching for information about
their ancestors. Please visit this exhibition and search for
the surnames or towns that you are interested in learning more
about. Also, the Society Gates exhibition displays photographs
and lists the names of the many society officers and members
who once ably served their landsleit. These landsmanshaftn
would provide their members with various forms of assistance,
one of which was to provide plots for their eventual burial.
The gates described stand at the entrance to some of the more
than 10,000 society burial plots that grace the New York-New
Jersey landscape. |
Living in America
The American experience
for millions of Jews was one fraught with
great
hardships. Many came to countries
such as the United
States with little money in hand
and were
forced to find what work they could
in order
to
survive, even if it meant working long hours in unsafe
conditions for low wages. Many tried to save what money they
could in order to pay for the passage of other family
members still living in Europe who also wished to emigrate.
At the same time, the new immigrants were forced to acclimate themselves to a culture that was
very
foreign to them, while at the same
time trying to maintain their Jewish identity
and their
value system.
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