Joseph Feldman (artisan)

Joseph Feldman (1899–1978) was a Belarus-born Brazilian Jewish artisan, photographer, antiquarian, and maker of ritual Judaica. Active in Rio de Janeiro from the 1920s to the 1970s, he became known for producing handcrafted hanukiot (Hanukkah lamps) and other ceremonial objects that later formed the core of the Feldman Collection at the Jewish Museum of Rio de Janeiro.

Joseph Feldman was born in 1899 in Russia.^[5]

Although Feldman settled permanently in Rio de Janeiro in 1925, oral testimony from his wife indicates that he continued to travel to Poland during the interwar years. During one of these visits he met Esther Ita Cukierkorn in Warsaw, where she was then studying and working. Their meeting occurred through mutual acquaintances within the Jewish community.^[6]

Feldman worked in multiple trades throughout his life, including photography, small‑scale mining, antiquarian work, and metal craftsmanship.^[5]

According to the History page of the Rio de Janeiro Jewish Museum "one of the Museum's main attractions is the Feldman Collection, composed of 69 Hanukkah lamps and other objects made by artisan and collector Joseph Feldman (Russia, 1899 - Rio, 1978) - replicas of old European pieces."^[5]

According to Esther Ita Feldman’s 1988 oral history, her husband’s interest in Judaica was shaped in part by the ritual objects he encountered in her family home in Poland, including antique candlesticks and menorot. She recalled that he was fascinated by historical designs he saw in books and sought to reproduce them for contemporary Jewish households in Brazil.^[6]

Over the course of four decades, Feldman assembled a personal collection of over 400 chanukiot (Hanukkah lamps), each selected or crafted to reflect the cultural diversity of Jewish communities around the world. His goal was to use these ritual objects to narrate the history of the Jewish people through material form. The collection included Italian pieces with ornate detailing, Moroccan lamps with Arabesque motifs, and Polish examples inspired by folk art. The oldest item was a 14th-century triangular chanukiah in the Sicilian architectural style.^[7]

Musicologist Myrna Herzog, who married Feldman’s son Eliahu, later described him as “a passionate instruments collector,” crediting him with introducing her to rare historical instruments and the stories surrounding them.^[8]

Feldman’s lifelong passion for Jewish ritual art culminated in a private collection of over 400 chanukiot, assembled over 40 years. His aim was to preserve and showcase the stylistic and cultural variations of Hanukkah lamps across Jewish diasporas. The collection included pieces from Italy, Morocco, Poland, and other regions, with designs ranging from exuberant to minimalist. A 14th-century Sicilian triangular lamp was among the oldest in the collection. A portion of this collection—69 lamps—was later donated to the Jewish Museum of Rio de Janeiro, where it remains on permanent display.^[7][5]

Feldman was married to Esther Ita Feldman (1909–1999), a translator and editor who later became editor‑in‑chief of the Jewish weekly Aonde Vamos?.^[9] The couple had three sons, Guili Alexandre Feldman,^[6] Daniel Feldman,^[10] and Eliahu Feldman.^[11][12]

Feldman met his future wife, Esther Ita Cukierkorn, in Warsaw during one of his return trips to Poland in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Her testimony describes their introduction as having occurred through mutual acquaintances in the Jewish community. The couple later settled in Rio de Janeiro, where they raised their first son, Guili Alexandre Feldman, who had been born in Poland.^[6]

Joseph Feldman's son Daniel Feldman died in 1959, at the age of 19.^[10]

A memorial notice published in the Jornal do Brasil records the family's participation in the unveiling of Feldman's tombstone (“Descoberta da Matzeiva”) at the Cemitério Israelita de Vila Rosali, including his sons Eliahu Feldman and Guili Alexandre Feldman and their children.^[13]

Joseph Feldman died in Rio de Janeiro in 1978.^[5] He is buried in the Cemitério Israelita de Vila Rosali.^[14]

• Esther Ita Feldman
• Jewish Museum of Rio de Janeiro
• History of the Jews in Brazil
• Hanukkah lamp
• Eliahu Feldman
• Myrna Herzog