Discovering ourselves through our ancestors

By Eileen Wingard

PORTLAND, Oregon –For the first time in its seven-year history, I was able to attend the opening program of  “A Journey Through the Generations” at the Oregon Jewish Museum in Portland. This is no ordinary exhibit. On view from April 23-May 7, it was created by fifth graders, twenty-two students from my daughter Harriet Wingard’s class at the Portland Jewish Academy.  As Harriet explains, “Each student rummaged through his family’s history to select an immigration story. They each interviewed a family member who remembered their subject’s story and filled in the gaps when memories were scarce.  Working with Portland artist, Lisa Kagan, the students created collages to retell their stories through narrative imagery. With paint and paper, photos, maps and original drawings, they crafted three panels, depicting their subject’s origins, journey and new home in America.

“The students also visited the Oregon Jewish Museum to learn about artifacts and what they revealed about people and cultures.  Each student selected an object to display,  one that held meaning for their family and had been passed down from generation to generation. The students then wrote about these objects.”

Inspired by the narratives of the immigrant ancestors, the young researchers wrote poetry and prose, learned about the past, and discovered a new lens through which to understand who they are in the present. The three panels and an accompanying poem were hung on the museum walls while the artifacts—everything from Kiddush cups to dolls and samovars– were displayed in glass cases.

The opening program had the twenty-two students seated on the stage in the compact auditorium of the Oregon Jewish Museum. The walls were lined with additional people as parents, grandparents and friends crowded the hall to enjoy the presentation.

The students read their poetry, shared their reflections on the meaning of the project, and sang songs. Accompanied by their music teacher, Kim Palumbis, on guitar, they sang Tumbalaleika and Oif’n Pripitchik in Yiddish as well as Those Were the Days and I Am Your Child in English.

One of the students, Zach, reflected, “This project is about finding your meaning and why you are here today.  It’s about discovering your ancestors, their story, and the sacrifices they made to get to America.”

Basia added, “This project is about going through old family files to find an immigration story, paint a lifetime, listening, and recording a memory for your own children.”

As a special surprise for me, Harriet participated in the project along with her students this year, using the life of her maternal great-grandmother, Dveira Markin, as her subject. She read her poem as part of the program and on the walls of the Portland Jewish Museum, with the panels and poetry of her students, were her poem and panels based on the life of my beloved grandmother.

Two grandmothers who are San Diego residents were represented in the exhibit. Shirley Siegel, grandmother of Leanne, flew up from San Diego to be present at the opening program. Her immigration story, coming to the United States from Mexico, was the subject of her granddaughter’s project. Shirley’s daughter, Elizabeth, attended the Hebrew Day School in San Ysidro. Now living in Portland, she is the proud mother of two PJA students.

Jacqueline Jacobs, grandmother of Olivia, was represented by her immigration story, coming from Chile. Her son, Kenneth, father of Olivia, grew up in San Diego and is now a physician in the Portland area.

A sample of the student poetry is the following by Abigail, about her maternal great-great-grandfather, Samuel Eisnitz:

 

                                                                                                         I WOULDN’T BE MYSELF WITHOUT YOU

I am from the beautiful town of Miskole, Hungary

            To the busy city of Portland, Oregon

From branches of cousins reaching all over the world,

            Sprouted from the roots of twelve siblings

            I am from policinta, a jam-filled crepe

To Kanihama rolls, with rice wrapped around Yellowtail

I am from Eisnitz Family meetings in a synagogue basement

                        To happy seders with friends

            I went from never having a Bar Mitzvah

To already marking my Bat Mitzvah date on the calendar

            I am from a land that didn’t accept me as a Jew

                        To living and earning freely as a Jew

                    I am the late 1800’s and the early 2000’s

I am from a poor, immigrant child in an urban, public school

To a modern girl, learning and flourishing in a private school

            I am from an unfair and unapologetic government

            To a free country, where dreams can come true

I am living the dream you set forth for your family long ago

My footprints exist

Because your feet dared to take you on the journey of a lifetime

I look in the mirror and see flashes of history in my face

I am part you, part them, and all me

I am the stories told at the table, in the synagogue basement,

And on the boats crossing the Atlantic

They live in my heart

I wouldn’t be myself without you.

Another, with a San Diego connection, is the following:

I Am the Present, They Are the Past

By Leanne

Subject: Shirley Segal, maternal grandmother

I am the present, they are the past

I am from my soul being lifted out of my body at the bottom of

the Black Sea

From running away from my beloved family

I am from Grandma to Bama and Grandpa to Bapa

I am from tamales to pizza

From the saddle on a horse to where the pepper trees grow

I am from the city of literature and humor and poets

I am from a spoonful of pinole; to sticky, caramel apples

I am from a dairy farm that was taken away

I am from sharing is caring

I was going to be Rose to Leanne and Vivian to Brianne

I am snow to sun to rain

I am from Russian cousins calling

From making dolls to making hosiery

I am from taking care of a tiger to keeping a fish

I am from giving kosher food to a Jewish man in the hospital

I am from moving to a new place, but keeping old traditions

I am the present, they are the past

Although Portland’s Jewish population is much smaller than San Diego’s, it boasts a wonderful Jewish museum housing archival material on Oregon’s Jewish population and featuring changing exhibits, including ones specifically organized by the museum staff. One such exhibit was of the photographs by the great Jewish composer, Ernest Bloch; another was an exhibit of Oregon Jewish sports figures. Judith Margles, the museum’s vivacious and dedicated director is the driving force behind its offerings. A regular array of readings, concerts and lectures also take place in the museum auditorium. The most unique exhibit, however, is probably the student exhibit from the Portland Jewish Academy.

As Harriet noted: “In an age of high-speed communication and at-your fingertips access, what threads of the past remain tangible? How can today’s younger generation, many of whom were born into a world of abundance, understand what it meant to savor a crust of bread, evade tyranny, or leave behind loved ones forever, in the hope of building a better future?”

“A Journey through Generations” helps her fifth grade students get closer to their families’ immigration experience and to the general history of the times. These youngsters develop a greater understanding of their families’ past, an appreciation of their fortunate present, and a narrative which they can pass on to future generations.

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Wingard is a freelance writer based in San Diego.  She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com