congregation shari eli was a south philadelphia immigrant synagogue that opened its doors in 1918. by the 1980s, membership slacked off and the congregation would soon be closing its doors. people moved out of the neighborhood and they didn't need the big sin nothing anymore. someone from the congregation called our museum and asked if we would like to go in and see their torah arc, which our curators did in 1984. they entered the synagogue and saw a monumental hand carved, hand painted torah arc that had been maid by these immigrants in south philadelphia 70 years earlier. we salvaged the entire tora torah arc. part is on display now, including these lions that were up near the ceiling. we think that a lot of the carving was done by people who were carving care zell animals. you can see that kind of in the face of the lion. in this era, we look at the american experience of world war ii and the holocaust. jewish leaders were faced with a dilemma. should they boycott germany and rally in the streets and make lots of noise? or should they quietly work behind the scenes to come to a

congregation shari eli was a south philadelphia immigrant synagogue that opened its doors in 1918.the 1980s, membership slacked off and the congregation would soon be closing its doors. people moved out of the neighborhood and they didn't need the big sin nothing anymore. someone from the congregation called our museum and asked if we would like to go in and see their torah arc, which our curators did in 1984. they entered the synagogue and saw a monumental hand carved, hand painted torah arc that had been maid by these immigrants in south philadelphia 70 years earlier. we salvaged the entire tora torah arc. part is on display now, including these lions that were up near the ceiling. we think that a lot of the carving was done by people who were carving care zell animals. you can see that kind of in the face of the lion. in this era, we look at the american experience of world war ii and the holocaust. jewish leaders were faced with a dilemma. should they boycott germany and rally in the streets and make lots of noise? or should they quietly work behind the scenes to come to a dipl