My Journey to the Jewish Historical Society

My journey to the Jewish Historical Society began approximately two years ago when I opened my e-mail account one Friday morning and saw that I had gotten something called “Photo Friday.”  Being somewhat inquisitive, I opened it, and found pictures of people, events, and places, some of which brought back distant memories.

Moe Liss, Vice-President of the Historical Society, was responsible for adding my name, as well as others, to the weekly “Photo Friday” distribution list.  A few months later I opened my e-mails on a Friday, and looked at one of the photos in total disbelief.  I suddenly found myself staring at a photo of my father, George Oremland, serving glasses of what in all likelihood was spiked punch at a Passaic Hillel dinner, most likely taken in the 1950’s.  It was a picture I had never seen and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me!

Later that year, the Historical Society was moving their headquarters from the former Barnert Hospital in Paterson to Fair Lawn, and the same Moe Liss was recruiting volunteers to assist with that move.  How could I say ‘no’?  So, that’s how it all began.

For the next year or so, every Monday, I went to the office for a few hours, and sifted through boxes and boxes of documents, memorabilia, artifacts and almost anything else that one of our founders, Jerry Nathans, deemed worthy of saving.

And then, it happened again. In sorting through material from the Passaic synagogues, I came across an ad journal from ‘Chevra Thilim’, the shul my parents and grandparents belonged to. ‘Chevra Thilim,’ one of the first orthodox synagogues in Passaic, was founded in 1905 by a group of 20 men. By 1910, the congregation had grown considerably and, as a result, a site was chosen for their new home on Hope Avenue. That new site served the congregation for about 60 years until it was forced to close both due to a declining membership and the fact that the State of N.J. was planning on extending Route 21 through the east side of Passaic.

In going through that 1945 journal I found an ad placed there by my parents that also included my name.  (My younger brother Leonard hadn’t been born at that time.) I couldn’t believe my eyes; that’s because I had tears in them.

Why do I tell you this?  We have mountains of material, and quite possibly, in our archives, we have something from your family to unite you with your past.

There are quite a few ways you can assist us with our ongoing mission.  First and foremost, if you are not already a member, then there is no time like the present to join our Society. Quite possibly, you may have some memorabilia stored in your attic or basement that would be of interest to us as well as to our members.  We would love to hear from you if you can volunteer even a few hours every week to assist us in preserving the history of our local Jewish heritage.

Chuck Oremland, Recording Secretary, Executive Board member of the JHSNJ