Queens Bet Din Gittin / Rabbi Faber Records. 1947-1994 (bulk 1974-1992)

This is a collection of the records of Rabbi Salamon Faber, Chair of the Queens Bet Din or Rabbinic Court, concerning the gittin (plural of get, Jewish religious divorces) that the Queens Bet Din granted between 1947 and 1992. These records include Rabbi’s Faber’s personal notes about the gittin, correspondence with the husband and wife and with any other concerned parties, copies of civil and religious marriage and divorce documents, divorce contracts signed by the husband, and copies of conversion certificates.

Albert and Maya Einstein Teacups.

Two cups and two saucers used for chocolate. The Einstein children's portraits are emblazoned on these delicate teacups, presumably by their parents, as these come from the family collection.

The Cabbage Field.

The painting represents a figure bending over to attend the plants in a cabbage field, probably the artist's summer house in Wannsee outside Berlin, where he did most of his work after 1922.

Portrait of Benjamin Liebermann

This large ambitious painting is one of Liebermann's earliest. His uncle, the Geheime Kommerzienrat (Privy Councillor) Benjamin Liebermann (1847-1935), is elderly and slim, but erect and proudly wearing his honorary business medals, has his left hand on his hip, while his right hand rests on the back of a red velvet chair. He is wearing long sideburns and whiskers. The background is plain. The style is tight and painstaking, but already exhibits Liebermann's preference for visible, impasto brushstrokes. The emphasis is on the face, with no attempt at idealization of the akward, but strong features. The colors are mainly black and brown.

Portrait of a Woman.

A lady about 30 to 40 years old, dressed in a white dress is shown holding two roses up to her left shoulder in her right hand.

Portrait of a Man

A bust view of a man about 30 - 40 years, wearing a black coat and three-cornered hat, a wig, lace shirt front and cuffs. He is shown against a light blue sky with a suggestion of mountains on his right and cypress trees on the left. He is shaven and his attire modern, but his tricorn hat - no no longer fashionable among Christians in the late 18th century- is the mark of an observant Jew.

Portrait of an Old Lady

This waist-length frontal representation shows an old lady with crossed arms wearing a lace bonnet and a white cape over a red dress against a plain greenish background. Her hands seem to be unfinished. The white gouache is applied so as to give the painting textural interest.

Portrait of an old Man

Bust of Rabbi with luxuriant white beard wearing a plain black coat and tall black cap. The background is dark-gray. The hair and beard are exquisite, obtained with very fine brushes and textured use of white paint. The psychological study of the face is also unusually high quality.

Portrait of Samuel Mayer Ehrenberg ( 1773 - 1853 ).

This painting is in dedication " in honor of Meyer Ehrenberg by his students" as stated on a scroll held by the sitter. The scroll is dated October 7, 1820 and is followed by a list of names in two columns: (M.Ehrenberg, P.Ehrenberg, B. Ehrenberg, M.Imanuel M.Balke, B.Meier, L.Franck, M. Cohen, W.Fraenkel, M. Chohns, P.Goldschmidt, J.Lippoa, A. Nathan, M.Kramer, J.Fraenkel, M.Goldschmidt.) Ehrenberg was the founder of the first modern Jewish Day School in Germany, at Wolfenbuettel. Ehrenberg was the great-grandfather of the Jewish Theologian Franz Rosenzweig.

Portrait of Mathilde Wiener Monasch (?) d.1864.

Mrs. Monasch is shown as a young woman wearing a gray translucent shawl and a lace bonnet with ornate flaps coming down over the ears. Some of her black hair is showing. She is shown in a 3/4 view; the eyes are lustrous, the corners of the mouth are raised in a half smile. On backing of original frame: "Zum Andencken von Ihren Schwiegersohn, J. Wollstein d. 20th February 1839" (In memory of your son-in-law J. Wollstein Feb 20th, 1839).

Portrait of Max Boehm ( 1871-1944 ).

The model is seated, facing the viewer and looking straight at him. He is wearing a business suit and holding a cigar. The pose is relaxed abd the color tonalities warm, with the yellow background dominant. Heavy impasto is used for face and hands. Neg. 37599 Signed upper right, also dated

Jewish Girl.

The sitter is Ulla Goldstein, daughter of Harvard Neurologist & psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein, cousin of Mrs. Edith Tietz ( archives Goldstein, Kurt)

Portrait of Heinrich Stahl (1868-1942 ).

H.Stahl was the last president of the Jewish Community in Berlin. He is seated in a chair with wooden arm supports. He seems a small man, an impression emphasized by a large expanse of plain, tan background. The facial expression is tense, with deeply furrowed brows.

David Frischmann (1859-1922) and Chaim Nachman Bialik(1873-1934) in conversation.

( 1862-1945 ) b. Odessa. Pasternak was a prominent Moscow artist, who emigrated to Berlin in 1921, the same year as the Hebrew poet Bialik.

Portrait of Elkan Reutlinger (1767-1818).

This is a half-length view of a dandyish, youthfull man, depcited against a distant landscape. The composition is well coordianted.