After returning from a study abroad program in Israel, Grace Stewart joined the Houston Jewish History Archive (HJHA) intern team in early September, 2021. Grace is interested in Christian-Jewish relations, and she felt that working for the HJHA would be a great opportunity to learn more about the Jewish community and culture in Houston and at Rice. In her work, she has noted how much of an impact the Jewish community has had on Houston yet how little that impact is discussed.  Grace’s main role at the HJHA is to review interview transcripts for spelling and grammar mistakes so the text ..read more

By Austin W. Cox, HJHA Intern. This semester has been filled with quite a bit of changes. As we began to reopen campus and have in person events, one thing remained the same, Archive Thusdays! Here at the HJHA we wanted to share some of our favorite spotlights of the semester! For the actual posts please visit our instagram page: @ricejewishstudies. On December 2nd, the HJHA wished the community a happy Hanukkah! This program from a December1915 Congregation at Beth Israel Houston Hanukkah Dance came to us in the scrapbooks of William Max Nathan ’16, a member of the first graduating clas ..read more

By Austin W. Cox, HJHA Intern. During the Covid-19 pandemic, staff and volunteers at the HJHA have been working incredibly hard to document this pandemic’s effects on the Jewish community. We have been posting on Instagram and Facebook every Thursday to showcase some of the new additions to the archive to our followers. We plan on continuing this every Thursday so make sure to follow us to keep up with them! Our last two Archive Thursdays are as follows: The World War II service flag (pictured below) was the centerpiece of our March 11th post and is located in Fondren Library along with many o ..read more

By Amanda Lopatin, HJHA Intern The RMC (Rice Memorial Center) is the hub of campus life for Rice students, featuring Coffeehouse, the campus bookstore, Willy’s Pub, and now, an HJHA exhibit!  The exhibit, entitled “Bagels and BBQ: A Taste of Texas Jewish Life,” includes a variety of artifacts from the 1910s to the 1970s, highlighting a range of different aspects of private and public Jewish life.  Included in the display case are deli menus, bar mitzvah photos, cookbooks, and even a commemorative T-shirt from a synagogue barbecue. For many Rice students, this exhibit exposed them to ..read more

By Katie Webber, HJHA Intern Over the past few weeks I’ve been sorting through a box we’ve recently acquired from Beth Yeshurun. This collection is special because it is the remaining pieces from Beth El Synagogue, a synagogue which later joined with Adath Yeshurun to become Beth Yeshurun, now the largest Conservative synagogue in the United States. This box has included some amazing materials from Beth El, specifically from the late 30’s and early 40’s with an extensive collection of letters from active duty service members serving in World War II. However, the pieces which have been the most ..read more

By Emma Siegel, HJHA Intern Passover is a holiday about acknowledgment of the other and subsequent redemption. During Passover we recite this passuk: “A wandering Aramean was my father [’arami ’oved avi]; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous” (Deuteronomy 26:5). These words serve as a reminder that the Jewish people’s concern for others should stem from the historical experience of their own people. The Seder is a time not only to reflect on the story of the Jewish people as oppressed and redeemed, but also ..read more

 By Amanda Lopatin, HJHA Intern When I asked Sherry Merfish to tell me her title, she wasn’t sure what to say, and after talking with her for an hour, I understand why. Sherry is a Jewish woman from San Antonio, a mother, an attorney, and a feminist. Sherry told me that the title that best encompasses all of her roles is “activist,” and I agree. Last month, I sat down with Sherry to interview her about her archives, which Sherry generously donated to Rice University and the HJHA.  Beginning in the 1980s, Sherry led a nationwide campaign against the term “JAP,” or “Jewish American Pri ..read more

By Katie Webber, HJHA Intern An important part of the function of memory is to collectively share the past with one another. History does not live within the pages of books, but in the stories we tell to one another. None of these stories may necessarily be “true,” but all are approximations of our understandings of people and events. When we come together to share this history we are in fact creating history and creating collective memory. As I have worked in the archives for the past few weeks, I’ve thought about how we remember and create the most intimate of histories. Eulogies encapsulate ..read more

After a winter break hiatus, the HJHA blog is back with an announcement… We now have brochures! Designed and created in collaboration with Rice University’s Office of Public Affairs, these brochures describe the HJHA’s story and mission and highlight some of the types of materials we are looking to collect. The HJHA team will be dispersing our brochures around Houston in the coming weeks to spread the word about the archive. To make sure that your synagogue, community center, or business receives a stack of brochures, please reach out to Dr. Furman at jf36@rice.edu ..read more

Chanukah (or is that Hanuk(k)ah?) is on our minds this week, as many of us light the candles each night, gather with friends and family to eat latkes and spin dreidels, and exchange gifts.  Unlike most Jewish holidays, Chanukah’s central rituals are performed at home, not in synagogue.  This distinction necessitated the publication of how-to guides, so that American Jews could faithfully observe Chanukah each night without the watchful presence of a rabbi or cantor to lead them. One such guide, Congregation Beth Israel’s “Hanukah at Home,” aimed to instruct Jewish Houstonians from Te ..read more