On 7 May 2006, the Ontario Jewish Archives and Beth Tzedec Congregation’s Reuben and Helene Dennis Museum held the first ever Toronto Jewish “Roadshow”. This collaborative initiative was held at Beth Tzedec Congregation. Approximately 100 people showed up for the event.

The full-day affair started off with a keynote address given by Jonathan Greenstein, Judaica expert and author from New York City. Mr. Greenstein owns an auction house in New York that specializes in Judaica, particularly silver and bronze objects. His presentation focused on these types of objects and was illustrated by a slide show.

This was followed by three workshops which included the preservation and collection of Judaica (Dorion Liebgott and Sharon Berlin), the preservation of family photographs and documents (Ellen Scheinberg and Lisa Singer) and the care of ephemera and posters (Barbara Rusch and Jerry Faivish). Participants found the sessions to be extremely interesting and informative.

The final event held in the afternoon was the “Roadshow.” Those who attended brought objects and items to be evaluated by the experts. The experts included Jonathan Greenstein as well as others who assessed the various textual records, photographs, ephemera, posters and Judaica. There were also two translators present, who were able to provide translations for documents in languages such as Yiddish, Polish and Russian.

The participants were called up one-at-a-time to reveal their treasures to the assigned expert. The expert evaluated the item and provided the individual with an idea of when the item or object may have been created, where it was produced, how it was used, and in most cases, its estimated value. It was remarkable that so many people brought in candle sticks, menorahs and spice boxes. It seemed as if those were the typical items brought over from Europe by immigrants who fled the pogroms. Although most of these items were valued at under $2,000, there were several unique pieces that received considerable attention by Mr. Greenstein, such as the sefer torah brought in by Barbara Rusch. In contrast, several individuals were provided with bad news by Mr. Greenstein -- that their pieces were modern fakes and worth far less than they thought.

While there was a mix of good news and bad, everyone seemed to enjoy the day’s activities and learned a great deal about collecting and preserving their treasures in the process. The event was videotaped and the program planners are hoping to find someone to air it on a cable network this year.