When Cholent Goes Bad

A blog post by Sr. Collections Manager, Jobi Zink

Some people would argue that all cholent* is bad. But some cholent is badder than others.

Genuine cholent recipe from our
Voices of Lombard Street exhibition

Take for example, the full, unopened can of cholent beans that was accessioned into our collection in 1992. This can of beans is probably more than 20 years old because, let’s face it, the can was probably in someone’s pantry cabinet for at least 2 years before they decided to give it to the Museum rather than to the Boy Scouts’ canned good drive.

In its early years, said can sat quietly on our collections shelves with various other kitchen-related items, including packaging from many garden variety Kosher foods, c. 1980s.

Then one day, Karen Falk, curator of the upcoming Chosen Food exhibition was perusing the collection for available artifacts. I can’t believe we have this in our collection. A full can? Who has a full can of cholent beans? she thought, holding the can in her gloved hand. Well, we have other, odder things in our collections, she shrugged.

Months went by and Karen continued collecting, planning and developing the exhibit. Then, during a routine inventory of items to be used in the exhibit, she noticed that the can would not sit flat on the shelf. That’s not right, she thought. Was it like that before? she wondered. Nope. The top and bottom lids were distended. Puffy. Ready to blow! Botulism?! Time to bring in the collections manager, Jobi Zink.

No need to panic, I told Karen. I know exactly how to handle this. (Thanks to Things That Go Bump in the Night: When Collections Strike Back, a session presented by Rosie Cook, Registrar (The Chemical Heritage Foundation and Museum), Anna Dhody, Curator (Mutter Museum) and Michael Leister, Director (Air Mobility Command Museum) at the 2010 MAAM Conference.)

It’s a simple 12 step program:

1) Confirm with the Collections Committee that the contents of a collections item potentially containing botulism should indeed be properly disposed of, while the container and its packaging should be saved if possible.

2) Gather the entire collections staff outside to the parking lot on a super-cold day to observe the event. Remind them to stand back to avoid splatter.

3) Charm the custodian into assisting with a very important collections project.

4) Have said custodian pierce the top of a can with a drill to relieve pressure.

5) Flip the can over and employ a standard can opener to open the bottom of the can, releasing 20 year old beans onto newspaper.

6) Discard contents. Preferably wrapped in layers of newspaper. Then industrial strength- plastic bags. Bury deep inside dumpster. Do not inhale. Do not attempt to touch with bare hands.

7) Without using the new kitchen sponge or Esther’s dish towels, wash the inside of the can thoroughly with a lot of soap and hot running water in the industrial sink.

8) Wash again.
9) Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

10) Contemplate ways to eliminate the odor. (oooh yeah, 20 year old beans smell much worse than you imagine!)

11) Do not store the item in your office. Do not store the item in your collections storage. Make sure you identify the can as part of the collection and not something to be recycled!!!!

12) Congratulate yourself on:

a. saving the collections from a potential explosion (… now about that nitrate film)
b. not poisoning yourself with botulism
c. writing an exciting blog post about a can of beans

*Cholent is a stew made of meat, vegetables (onions, carrots), and a variety of beans such as red kidney beans, white beans, cranberry beans, etc. Many people love cholent because it takes hours and hours (like 18 hours!) to make in a crockpot and is therefore Shomer Shabbes friendly.

The JMM at the Conservatory!

If you loved our Enterprising Emporiums exhibition about the historic downtown department stores, you wont want to miss the Winter Windowland display at the Rawlings Conservatory. Many of the photographs used from the JMM exhibition will be featured, along with hat boxes and our handsome text panels!

Sadie Stay…Just a little bit longer!

A blog post my marketing director Simone Ellin.

Don’t miss the JMM’s new traveling exhibition VOTE: The Life and Work of Sadie Jacobs Crockin 1879 – 1965. The new and original exhibition, curated by former JMM curator Barry Kessler will open this Sunday, December 12 from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. and will be on display in the JMM lobby until January 3, when it will move to the Women’s Heritage Center in Baltimore.

As JMM p/r and marketing director, I wish that Sadie could stay with us just a little bit longer… Folks’ schedules being what they are, compounded by the holiday season, makes me worry that some will miss the exhibition at its original home. But such is the life of a museum p/r person. It seems I’m always trying to promote exhibitions and programs early, but there’s always some glitch. Openings have to be scheduled around holidays, football games, weather, conflicting Jewish and secular events of all kinds, and dates are always changing. Even naming exhibitions can slow things down! Do you know how long it took the JMM staffers to agree on the name for the Sadie Crockin show? Actually, I take that back, not everyone is in agreement even now. I can’t create press kits without knowing the name of a show, the opening and closing dates, and all the information about the funders.

Items above will be on display ONLY at the JMM! Don't miss them!

I wish I’d had more time to let people know that this great show will be with us for a few precious weeks. Of course, people can see the exhibition at other local venues, but really – you should see it here! I hope you will join us for the opening reception this Sunday. You’ll learn that Sadie Jacobs Crockin was a really important and influential woman who made great strides in the early women’s rights movement, and in support of children. She led the Baltimore chapters of the League of Women Voters, as well as Hadassah. At the opening, admission to the Museum will be free, refreshments will be served, and you will be part of a special celebration in honor of the League of Women’s Voters 90th anniversary. Hope to see you there!

A quick sneak peek at the exhibit!
Don't forget to come and see it in all its glory this Sunday at the JMM!

Barry’s Blog

A blog by Dr. Barry Lever. Click the links below for earlier entries in this series.

Post One
Post Two
Post Three

The last blog recounted our research at the Edward C. Papenfuse Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Maryland. It was there, in the microfilm records of the Baltimore County Court’s marriage licenses that we first encountered the name of the “Minister- Ansell,” who two days subsequent to the issue of the marriage license officiated at the wedding that the Golombek Ketubah documents.

We also pointed out that the July 14, 1845 license No. 273 was granted to Wolf Solden and Teressa Habal. This revealed the bride’s English name and clarified the groom’s last name to begin with the letter “S,” rather than a “G”
as initially interpreted on the Golombek Ketubah.

Another very important issue however is raised by these few entries. The spelling of the groom’s name Solden on the marriage license differs from the last name he personally inscribed on his own ketubah. The Golombek Ketubah records the spelling of the groom’s name as Soldin, spelled with the letter “i” rather than with the letter, “e.”

This is a graphic example of how an individual’s name could move from its original spelling in the person’s native language to a different anglicized spelling, and even to a complete name change. Because of these spelling and translation anomalies it is often difficult to ascertain whether or not a researcher is tracking the same individual in the historical records.

The marriage license entry for the name of the Minister,”Ansell,” opened an opportunity to explore and clarify the role, if any, that this individual played within the hierarchy of the historic Lloyd Street Synagogue.

In a 1905, on the occasion of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation 75th Anniversary, Rabbi Adolf Gutmacher wrote the History of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation: Madison Avenue Temple.Author Rev. Dr. Adolf Guttmacher
Title page
The Madison Avenue Temple

According to this Baltimore Hebrew Congregational record the congregation occupied four locations prior to the dedication, on September 26, 1845, of its new building now known as “The Lloyd Street Synagogue.”

Lloyd Street Synagogue, c. 1864, 1997.71.1
Photo by D.R. Stiltz & Co. photographers.
Courtesy of the Ross J. Kelbaugh Collection.

Lloyd Street Synagogue today.

Participating in these dedicatory events was Rabbi Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia.

Rabbi Isaac Leeser

At the time, Leeser was a prominent rabbi who also served as editor of the Occident, one of the first Jewish journals published in the United States.

In the November 1845 issue of the Occident, Leeser describes in great detail those dedicatory events under the title of “Consecration of a Synagogue at Baltimore.”

Click the excerpt to read the full article.

From this we learn that the marriage license Minister, Ansell,” functions as Baltimore Hebrew Congregation’s Hazon or Cantor. This is also confirmed on page 33 of Rabbi Guttmacher’s book, History of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, where we also learn that Cantor Ansell first name began with the initial “A.”


Our next blog will continue the exploration of the lives and times as revealed through the Golombek Ketubah.

I want to thank my colleague, Deb Weiner, JMM Research Historian and Family History Coordinator, for bringing the website for the Occident to my attention.

Notes from a Webinar: Social Media and Collections

Last week Jobi got a chance to participate in 2 webinars, the first about Collections and Outreach, the second about Collections and Social Media. Rather than type up a report, we decided to give you a look at her notes - this way you can see why we need all those pencils! Just click on the note pages to enlarge enough to read.

Sneaking a peek at our collections manager Jobi Zink.
Her computer wasn't working so she decided to
confiscate my office instead! But I'm always happy to share.

There was plenty of lively, on-line discussion throughout the webinar.

Look at that concentration! She's a credit to us all.

Moonlighting: White Gloves Gang

Check out JMM collections manager Jobi Zink's guest post at the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museum's blog!

"As the conference wound down on Wednesday, the White Gloves Gang was gearing up for their big day. Comprised of registrars, collections managers, museum studies students, and art shippers, the White Gloves Gang gets its name from the distinguished (okay, distinguishing!) cotton garment routinely worn when handling art and artifacts..."

Barry's Blog

A blog post by Dr. Barry Lever - the first post in this series can be found here.

When one attends a contemporary hasanah, a Jewish wedding, the guests generally know the names of the bride, kalla, and the groom, hosan. One of the fascinating ketubah elements, however is that these legal documents only identify the bride and groom by their first names. These participants are linked for identification to their respective fathers, as the daughter of, bas …, or son of, bar … with the father’s name. However, no surnames are used.

An example of this is seen in the Golombek Ketubah, 2000.110.001*:

Close up of the English translation.

Here the hosan, groom is identified in the Aramaic original as rebbe Z’eev,* the son of, rebbe T’vi Hersh and the bride, Tirtzah the daughter of Y’cheel. *(Please note that the groom’s name, Z’eev was inadvertently omitted from this English translation.)

So if we are to continue our detective efforts to learn more about the lives and times of these individuals we need more information. Fortunately there is an additional clue within the Golombek Ketubah and possibly you have already discovered it?

To find this clue you will have to view the bottoms’ of the original scans, both of the Golombek Ketubah, and its corresponding transliterated Aramaic text both reproduced here.


Even though the signatures are written in an old style script they are the only feature of the document decipherable to an English reader. Unfortunately only the top two signatures are readily legible.

The first signature is that of “Wolff Golden, ha’chosen.” The English name, “Wolff” is a translation of the Hebrew name, Z’eev, previously noted in the document as the bridegroom.

The second legible script signature, “H. Habal,” appears to be a person of German origin because the two dots (..)over the second letter of his name. This “omlaut” is a typical diacritical Germanic language symbol that indicates the correct pronunciation of a word, in this case the person’s last name.

With these two names, the bridegroom’s given and surname name, “Wolff Goldin,” and the surname name of the witness, “Habel,” the exploration for additional clues about these individuals moves beyond the Golombek Ketubah.

Our detective efforts begin with the witness “H. Habal,” as it was not initially clear whether the bridegroom’s scripted last name began with the letter S, therefore making his name Soldin, or the letter G, making his last name, Goldin.

However, we quickly found the name, Harman Habel with the occupation of grocer listed in the 1845 and 1851 Matchett’s Baltimore City Directory, operating his store at 138 Orleans Street. His residence is also listed at the same location in the later directory.

1851 Matchett’s Baltimore City Directory

Interior page including the entry on H. Harman.

Close up on Habal Harman's entry.

Our search for more clues will resume with the November edition of Barry’s Blog! Enjoy the beautiful foliage of the new Fall season.

*A portion of the conservation of the item was made possible through the Betty & Leonard Golombek Philanthropic Fund. Gift of the children of Betty & Leonard Golombek in honor of their parents 50th anniversary.

Building Our Collections!

A blog post by Jobi Zink, senior collections manager.

Tuesday was our quarterly Collections Committee meeting. The Collections Committee is comprised of staff members, board member and lay leaders with expertise in conservation, local history, local Jewish history and library science.

As the collections manger, I compile the list of all of the donations that have come in since our last meeting. This is called the disposition list. Fortunately, I can generate a report from PastPerfect with just this information on it rather than hand typing the list myself. With the assistance of the donors who fill out biographical questionnaires and interns who do the data entry, I can also include basic background and biographical information with each donation. This provides context for many of the items and helps the Collections Committee make their decision.

The committee meets to discuss possible
donations to the Museum's collections.

The disposition list includes the staff’s recommendation for each batch. Items that are offered can be accessioned into our permanent collection or they can be designated for one of our non-accessioned collections: study, vertical files, genealogy, library, oral history or A/V. Items can be returned to the donor if they do not meet our collecting criteria or duplicate materials already in the collection.

Debate around the table can often be very...lively to say the least!

The Committee reviews each item that has been offered to the museum. They ask important questions – Does it duplicate anything in the collection? Is it in stable condition or does it require conservation? Do we need to collect and document every immigration story? Do we have enough space in storage for the item? – and make their argument for the disposition of the items. Usually the Committee is in agreement, but occasionally they do need to vote on whether the items should be accessioned or not.

Committee Chair Duke Zimmerman takes
a closer look at a small set of coins.

In addition to the Disposition List, the Committee also discusses deaccessions (permanently removing items from the collection), potential purchases, conservation and other issues that affect our collections and storage facilities.

Jobi herself, working hard to document
the committee's comments and decisions.

And in case you were wondering, the Committee did agree to accept the immigration documents from Lisa Sommer that I mentioned in my last blog post.

And in case you're wondering who took all these lovely photos: former intern Sara! You may remember Sara as the poor intern who had to have her wisdom teeth removed this summer, forcing her to miss the previous collections committee meetings (which for her was a major bummer!) Happily, Sara has decided to continue her work at the JMM through volunteering and was thus able to attend this quarter's meeting. And we're certainly glad to have her very capable help!