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Our lives consist of a series of relationships between ourselves and those who enter into our existence at any given moment. Some are fleeting, leaving little impact beyond a shared laugh or class project. Others linger a while longer, passing affections and friendships through time and distance. For the most part, we count ourselves fortunate to establish bonds of fellowship with a few special persons that last a lifetime. But, for most of us, the single most enduring presence throughout all our relationships is that of our family. Kinship is more than simply being related - it is a shared history, shared values and beliefs, shared joys and sorrows - a joining of lives that transcends generations and boundaries.
These assembled photographs strengthen the importance of family among Jewish women of Saint John - mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters, and sisters. Despite changing perceptions of a woman's role in Judaism and in society at large, these bonds endure through the years and between the generations.