Loaned by Mildred Rosenbaum

The lighting of candles plays an important role in Jewish life. Shabbat candles are lit and a blessing is recited before sunset. This ritual officially marks the beginning of Shabbat. And for Passover, once the house and the participants are ceremonially clean, the Passover Seder can begin. The woman of the house says a blessing and lights the Passover candles.

These heavy brass candlesticks have been a part of Mildred Rosenbaum's family for at least three generations. “They came to this country from Lithuania on the boat with my grandmother. She was married in 1892 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I was her oldest grandchild, and my mother gave them to me. We’ve used them for Sabbath and for all the Jewish holidays, and now, they really belong to my daughter.”