On Display: A 1920s Šeduva Jewish Community Chronicle

Protocols of the Jewish community (kehile) of Šeduva at the Lost Shtetl Museum. On loan from YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York.

Imagine that one artifact can open a window into the daily life of a small Jewish town in Lithuania a century ago – its worries, its joys, and all the little moments that made up everyday life.

On display at our museum is the record book of the Šeduva Jewish Community Council, written between 1920 and 1923.

At first glance, it looks like a simple book handwritten in Yiddish. But look closer, and you’ll find the heartbeat of a community:

• The search for a new rabbi.

• The need for a new kosher butcher.

• Notes about the Jewish school being so drafty “the wind blew right through the walls!”.

• Lists of donations from America and South Africa to help those in need.

• Even reports of people causing a stir at the synagogue!

This unique artifact has arrived from the Archives of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York, on loan for six months. It is a fitting coincidence that this year marks the centenary of YIVO, founded in Vilnius in 1925.

The original of this record book will be on display until mid-January, so make sure to stop by and see it.