Moses Receives Law on Mount Sinai, one of a series of silver sculptures by Jaacov Heller, currently on display at the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania.

Dolores Delin, curator and chairman of the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania guides nine young women from Saint Michaels of Pine Grove on a tour of the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania. Except for the leader, none of the group had any previous exposure to Judaism. They learned about Jewish traditions, holidays and the strong role that women play in the culture.

Gate to the Biblical Garden at the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania—at left is Rose of Shannon, to the right is a plow. The garden has spices, an ornamental olive tree and cedars of Lebanon. Note on the right gate post, a mezuzah—a case containing a scroll of Biblical passages.

Replica of a “grogger” crafted in a Concentration Camp. The grogger, a noisemaker used during the Purim festival to jeer Haman, a tormentor of Jews, was marked with one side marked “Cursed be Haman” and the reverse side marked “Cursed be Hitler.” Note the swastika carving in the body.

Photographs of Schuylkill County synagogues that once were active in Mahanoy City, Mount Carmel, Shenandoah, Fracksville and Shamokin.

Learn about the Jews of the Anthracite Region, visit an active synagogue, and stroll through a Biblical garden at the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania.

Pottsville

The Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania must be a great secret for neither the old timers of the Anthracite Region nor any of the Jews of Eastern Pennsylvania, who were asked, had ever heard of it. Rightly so because it exists much like the Jews in the Anthracite Region—quietly going about its business without being noticed.

The Museum occupies two rooms of the lower level of the Oheb Zedeck Synagogue Center, a congregation that traces its beginnings to 1856.

The Museum is free and open to the public by appointment. Today, nine young women from Saint Michaels of Pine Grove came to the Museum to gain cultural awareness. Except for its leader, none of the group had any previous exposure to Judaism.

Dolores Delin, curator and chairman of the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania, led the tour. She began in the permanent display room pointing to items and explaining their place in Jewish traditions and holidays.

Delin explained that candles are lit to signify the beginning of the Sabbath. She said the shofar, a ram’s horn, was an early form of mass communication. Blasts from the horn would signify the beginning of a holiday.

One memorable item was a replica of a grogger crafted in a Concentration Camp. The grogger, a noisemaker used during the Purim festival to jeer Haman—a tormentor of Jews, was on one side marked, “Cursed be Haman” and the reverse side marked, “Cursed be Hitler.

The room housing the rotating exhibits presented a “Bible in Silver” display of biblical subjects in silver sculptures by Jaacov Heller.

Over the years, the Jewish Museum has hosted exhibits on: Jewish cards, paintings and drawings by Russian Refusnick children, “In the footsteps of Columbus” – an inquiry as to whether Christopher Columbus was a Jew, a Jewish sports exhibit, a presentation of Jews in Hollywood films, artwork from Ursinus College, art focusing on abused women, and an exhibit and concert remembering Leonard Bernstein.

The Museum worked with Adeline Yates, wife of Representative Sidney Yates of Illinois to create tiles for the Holocaust Museum. The Museum gave unfinished ceramic tiles to schoolchildren in Schuylkill County social studies and art classes and asked each child to paint a scene dedicated to the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. The tiles were sent to the Holocaust Museum, fired and arranged to cover a wall.

In addition to the exhibits, a room has been set aside recreating the original turn of the century Oheb Zedeck Synagogue—using the benches and ark from the former synagogue building and additional decorations from other synagogues that once existed in the Anthracite Region.

There are photographs of those synagogues. They were in Mahanoy City, Mount Carmel, Shenandoah, Fracksville and Shamokin.

The main floor exhibits the first gift to the Museum, a torah—the Bible of the Jewish people, from Czechoslovakia. There is also a Katuba, a Jewish wedding contract, drawn in calligraphy and housed in a silver case.

Outside is a Biblical Garden. A Biblical Garden is a garden whose plantings were mentioned in the Bible. Planted in 1998, the trees, flowers, herbs and plants have matured. Summer is a wonderful time for viewing.

Quince bushes border the garden. Though apples are mentioned in many biblical translations, the apple is not native to the Middle East. The quince or pomegranate may have been the fruit of the Garden of Eden.

A walk through the Garden passes Jacobs Ladder, Roses of Shannon, and Lilies of the Valley. Herbs and spices abound—dill, thyme, oregano, coriander and sage.

There are plants for weaving like flax, for writing like reeds and papyrus, and for healing wounds like the gum tree. There are the classic trees of the Bible: cedars of Lebanon, olive and almond. The Biblical Garden is handicapped accessible.

The Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania is at the Oheb Zedeck Synagogue Center, 2300 Mahantongo Street Pottsville, PA. Telephone 570-622-5890 weekday mornings to make an appointment. The web site is : www.synagogue-museum.org.