The photographic essays below are meant to enhance the North African Jewish Manuscript Collection at the Yale University Library.  We recently purchased a collection of postcards recording Jewish life in Morocco in the early 20^th century.  This period overlaps with that of a large majority of manuscripts in Yale’s collection.  The postcards thus present a graphic image of the society from which the documents emerge.  They present cityscapes, rabbinic  figures, commercial life, women in the various modes of attire and more.  We have chosen to present two subjects that stand out in the collection:  depictions of women and depictions of the market place and commercial life.

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Photo essay of Jewish women of North Africa at the beginning of the 20^th century.  Almost all of the women are from Morocco.  The images are taken from a recently acquired collection of picture postcards of Jewish life in Morocco.  Most of the photographs appear to have been posed portraits. Please find a selection of photographs from the collection here: North African Women (Powerpoint) North African Women (PDF)

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The Jews depicted in this set of postcards made their living primarily as merchants and craftsmen.  They either did business on the street or in small store fronts in the market places of the cities and villages in which they lived.  The men who appear in the photos seem to have made a meager living which allowed them to barely get by. Those women who worked outside the home, were laundresses which kept them out of the marketplace and thus out of sight of strange men. Find the collection here: North African Professions (PDF), North African Professions (PowerPoint)

Title of a portfolio by the artist Mark Podwal.

42 archival pigment prints of acrylic, gouache and colored pencil works on paper exhibited at the Terezin Ghetto Museum from April to July 2014. Includes folio with the titles, Hebrew psalms and descriptions of the all the artworks.  Prints housed in an archival clamshell case imprinted with “ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US…” and the artist’s name. Edition limited to 60 numbered copies signed by the artist

According to the artist’s statement in the catalog accompanying the exhibit, “the paintings and drawings in this series are a disturbing reminder of how Europe’s extensive history of ‘Jew-hatred’ laid the groundwork for Terezin and Auschwitz.” Each image, depicting a tragedy or injustice in Jewish history from slavery in Egypt through the Holocaust is paired with a verse from Psalms. “The menorah in the first image, carried away by goose stepping Germans, appears again in the last image with the seven biblical fruits sprouting from its branches. A verse from Psalm 126, the psalm almost chosen as Israel’s national anthem, proclaims, ‘Those who plant with tears will harvest in joy.’ ”

See a selection from prints of Podwal’s work below:

Psalm 94:3– “How long will the wicked triumph?”
“Rabbinic sages say in the human heart are two impulses, good and evil. The wicked, influenced by the evil impulse, destroyed the Temple and exiled the Jews from their land. Against the evil impulse, the Torah is the great antidote.”

Psalm 60:6–“You give your loyal followers a banner around which to rally.”
“Every year, when the annual reading of the Torah concludes and begins anew the congregation says in Hebrew, ‘Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek’ meaning ‘Be strong, be strong, and may we strengthen one another.”

Psalm 122:6– “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may those you love You be at peace.”
“Though Jerusalem is called ‘City of Peace,’ no place has been fought over more.”

Psalm 13:3– “How long will I have troubling thoughts, sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy dominate me?”
“In both Christian and Muslim countries, it was common for laws to mandate that synagogues could not be taller than churches or mosques.”

Two new pieces in our collection:

Saul Gedaliah HarkavyVehu Sha’ul – DI Gelihene Hok. First Edition. Text in Hebrew and Yiddish. With supplement “Der Zeiger”—concerning the Rabbis of America who incessanty argue with each other.
An anti-assimilationist polemic, written in the form of a running commentary to the Song of Songs by a Mir and Volozhin-educated immigrant to Nashua, NH. The author holds up absolutely no hope for a Jewish future in America—only in the Land of Israel can Judaism be certain. “Having dwelt in this land (of America) for a number of years and having seen the disgraceful behavior of my people…I can no longer restrain myself and must make public what weighs so heavily on my heart.

Isak Lechter. In Land Fun Rasen Diskriminatziya (On Racism in America) Yiddish. Warsawm Yiddish Buch Verlag, 1953.