Oct 30, 2024
Jeannie Weiner
Originally published on: thejewishnews.com
The community is invited to attend the exhibit’s dedication at Adat Shalom on Friday night, Nov. 22, prior to religious services.
Longtime Metro Detroiters Dr. Harry and Rachel (Ray) (z”l) Maisel met and married in South Africa more than 75 years ago. When Ray, Harry’s beloved wife, passed away in 2014, Harry protected her interesting collection of textiles from the ancient Jewish city of Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan), where Ray’s family, including prominent local rabbis, called home.
Ray’s family journeyed from Bukhara to Jerusalem to London (where Ray was born) and then to South Africa. Accompanying the family was a unique collection of colorful Bukharian silk and cotton robes, leather boots, kippot, shawls, scarves and embroidered tallit corners.
At the time of Dr. Maisel’s 90th birthday, he began to search for a home for this beautiful and cherished textile collection. It is now housed with JHSM (Jewish Historical Society of Michigan).
JHSM Executive Director Catherine Cangany, Ph.D., said she is “thrilled JHSM can steward this exquisite and unusual collection. Most Jewish historical societies and museums do not have Bukharian dress among their holdings.”
JHSM and Dr. Maisel developed a plan with Adat Shalom Synagogue, where Harry served as president and Ray was the first woman to lead the ritual committee, to create a permanent installation of pieces from the Ray Maisel Bukharian Jewish textile collection. An old telephone booth in the synagogue lobby was transformed into a lighted display case. A nearby wall outlines a short history of Bukharian Jews and their location on the Silk Road.
Rabbi Blair Nosanwisch said the congregation feels “fortunate that Dr. Harry Maisel, in loving memory of his wife, has founded an exhibit to celebrate the particular culture of the Bukharian Jewish community. Bukharian Jews are Mizrahi Jews, and the majority have emigrated to Israel or the United States.”
The community is invited to attend the exhibit’s dedication at Adat Shalom on Friday night, Nov. 22, prior to religious services. The dedication is part of a weekend of events highlighting Bukharian Jews, including a talk by scholar-in-residence Ruben Shimonov, an educator based in Detroit by way of Uzbekistan. Shimonov will speak on “Global Jewish Diversity” and the role of Hebrew, Persian and Arabic script in Bukharian Jewish life.
“We hope that the Ray Maisel z”l Bukharian Jewish textile exhibit will facilitate learning about global Jewish diversity for many years to come,” Nosanwisch said.