What We Carry With Us

Ages 18+

Watch the Passover story, retold through modern-day refugees and descendants in a “show and tell” of precious objects they carry with them on their journey to freedom.

Hands holding a key chain

We’ve partnered with Citizen Film to explore connections between the ancient Jewish people’s escape from Egypt and their journey through the desert, and the experience of modern-day refugees and their descendants. Listen to people tell their story and hear how they preserve memories and traditions of their past while building a future together in California.

While all the stories below tell a modern version of the Passover story, the objects and stories of Richard, Elizabeth, Gerda, Kurt, Luke and Sarah, also share a special significance with Yom Hashoah, the Jewish holiday honoring those people who perished in the Holocaust. Learn more about Yom Hashoah and the opportunities to honor Holocaust victims and survivors that we have available to our community from April 6 – 9 this year along with other ongoing resources.

Video Collection

BATINAH’S SILVER KEYCHAIN

GERDA PHILIPSBORN’S SONG

 

SHAHEER’S AFGHAN SUIT

KURT REINER’S DIAGRAMS

 

RICHARD BUXBAUM’S BOWL

MADIHAH’S 50 RUPEE NOTE

 

ZANDER’S MAGIC SHOES

ELIZABETH ROSNER’S SUITCASE

 

LUKE’S TATTOO

SARAH’S TATTOO

Discussion Guide

Using our video haggadah and discussion guide below, bring these stories to your seder table and imagine what objects you would carry with you if you were forced to flee your home.

Program Sponsors

This project is supported in part by awards from the San Francisco Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

What We Carry with Us is produced in association with Mapping Diasporas, a research and teaching project supported by Digital Humanities at UC Berkeley and led by Prof. Francesco Spagnolo, Curator of UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.

Children sitting on the floor having a good time and smiling at the camera
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