Preservation project seeks Jewish relics
Rice scholar looking to collect history from Meyerland, Galveston
A few days after Hurricane Harvey, while Houstonians were cleaning their yards and homes, one Rice University scholar was wading through 5 feet of water and rushing to protect documents and memories of Houston’s Jewish history.
Joshua Furman, a postdoctoral fellow in Jewish studies at Rice, and his wife, who was seven months’ pregnant, strapped masks to their faces, slapped on gloves and went to work at the United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston in the Braeswood area.
“We pulled out the history of the synagogue one book at a time,” the 37-year-old said.
These memories are now housed in the Houston Jewish History Archive in Fondren Library at Rice University, and Furman wants the Jewish families of Houston to help donate items to the archive.
On Sunday, Furman told about 30 people at Congregation Shaar Hashalom synagogue in Houston that he is looking for donated photos, yearbooks and diplomas from
San Jacinto High School from the 1960s. At the time, the high school had such a large Jewish population that Furman said it was nicknamed “San Jewcinto.”
Furman is also looking for Meyerland history, Galveston history and Houston synagogue histories for the archive.
Sharon Mendelson, a Clear Lake resident, has been a member of Shaar Hashalom synagogue since 1975. Her husband, Jerry, got a job in Channelview, and the couple and their two sons moved from New Jersey.
“The only way I would come from the East Coast would be if there was a synagogue that I could bring my two sons to so they could grow up in a Jewish community,” she said.
Mendelson, 75, said she’s always loved history, but her husband’s life experiences have made her more interested in preserving Jewish memories.
Her husband was born in Poland but escaped during World War II, she said. He went to Russia and Uzbekistan and finally to the U.S. when he was 10 or 11.
“He can’t find his Jewish history,” she said, which his why she believes it’s so important to preserve it.
Stuart Federow, rabbi of Shaar Hashalom for 24 years, said the synagogue’s attic has been used for storage for decades, but he has no idea what’s up there. He hopes to rediscover things from previous generations and donate documents to the archive.
He said a large part of Judaism is remembering and archiving the past. .
“We know who we are because of our past,” Federow said.