Home life, marriage, children focus of Jewish Heritage exhibit at Leatherby Libraries

The newest exhibition at the Leatherby Libraries – “Portrait of a People: A Jewish Heritage Exhibit” – opened on March 14 with a program and reception in the Doy and Dee Henley Reading Room.

The exhibition, which will be on display through Monday, May 21, on the first floor of Leatherby Libraries, features objects donated to the University of Michigan Library by Constance Harris and the late Theodore Harris of Beverly Hills, who in late 2003 and early 2004 gave the university their extraordinary collection of more than 2,000 Jewish heritage items.  The collection reflects contemporary and past Jewish life in an unusual assemblage of artwork, books, printed ephemera such as pamphlets and postcards, and objects of everyday and religious significance, including toys, dolls, serving dishes, menorahs and mezuzahs.

The exhibit also includes personal items from the Harris family, along with a New Year pop-up card contributed by Chapman’s Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives.    The exhibit is organized around three major themes: Ritual Objects in the Home, Love and Marriage, and Children’s Life.  Speakers at the opening reception included the donor, Constance Harris, along with Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz of Congregation B’nai Israel of Tustin and Julye Bidmead, Ph.D., assistant professor of religious studies.