Lost Mural Project

01/27/2025

Today on Holocaust Remembrance Day we commemorate the lives of 6 million Jews, and millions of others, who were killed in the Holocaust.

11/13/2024

Ohavi Zedek Synagogue and the Lost Mural Project will host a concert featuring saxophonist Marty Fogel and his quintet, Thread of Blue. You can purchase tickets here! https://ohavizedek.shulcloud.com/form/marty-fogel-thread-of-blue-2024.html

The Lost Mural Project expresses its appreciation to the following sponsors of this musical performance: Michael & Marjorie Lipson; Frank & Ducky Donath

08/13/2024

Join us on Sunday August 18 for a pair of tours highlighting Burlington's Immigrant Community through the eyes of its Jewish newcomers:

At 9:30 take our Walking Tour of Burlington’s Little Jerusalem
In the 1880s, a group of families from Kovno, Lithuania, escaped persecution by emigrating to the United States. They settled in Burlington, surrounded by a landscape that reminded them of home.They were the original families of Burlington's Jewish community, and for decades they preserved the Yiddish language and orthodox religious traditions in one compact Burlington neighborhood. That history will be presented through a walking tour led by Aaron Goldberg and Jeff Potash, historians and archivists of Burlington’s Jewish life and culture. The tour will start at the George Little Park on North Winooski Avenue & Archibald Street. It will be rain or shine, so dress accordingly.

At 11:00 take our Little Jerusalem/Lost Shul Tour
We will reassemble at Ohavi Zedek Synagogue (188 North Prospect Street) and join Aaron and Jeff to explore Burlington’s Jewish-Lithuanian immigrant history and the Lost Shul Mural, a unique example of the lost genre of painted wooden synagogue wall murals. Through photos and surveys, participants will understand how a village and its culture was transplanted from Lithuania and lovingly sustained here in Burlington.

11/28/2023

The Lost Mural's story resonates across time and culture. Thank you for helping us connect with visitors around the globe and across our community. Please support us again today: https://www.lostmural.org/make-a-donation

10/20/2023

"In the summer of 1974, before his first year at Brandeis, Aaron Goldberg '79 stopped by a popular carpet shop in his hometown, Burlington, Vermont, to pick up a rug for his dorm room.

He spotted an old, faded mural on a wall inside the shop that seemed completely out of place. It depicted a series of traditional Jewish religious themes and symbols: a pair of lions symbolizing the biblical tribe of Judah, flanking the tablets of the Ten Commandments; a crown with ribbons inscribed with Hebrew words; and above it all, a sun emanating golden rays.

Goldberg had an inkling that the painting might be a forgotten relic of the city's Jewish immigrant past. ..."

In the summer of 1974, before his first year at Brandeis, Aaron Goldberg '79 stopped by a popular carpet shop in his hometown, Burlington, Vermont, to pick up a rug for his dorm room.

09/12/2023

As this season of renewal dawns, remember our loved ones, their courage, and their journeys. Help us celebrate the colors of our traditions and perpetuate a vital window showcasing artistic, cultural, and immigrant freedom: the Lost Mural.

May the new year be blessed with art, freedom, peace, sustenance, and wonder.

Please consider making a gift today. https://www.lostmural.org/make-a-donation

04/05/2023

Wishing a Happy Passover to all of those who celebrate.

03/23/2023

We love to give tours of the mural. Last fall, we were honored to host more than 20 members of Temple Beth Israel, Plattsburgh, NY. They shared on their website: We met "Jews from all over Vermont, ate some yummy delicacies (blintzes, rugalach, Israeli salad), and were treated to an absolute piece of Judaic art marvel: the Lost Mural Project."

To make an appointment to see the mural for individuals or groups, please submit a request here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd9dSZzhD5ELnkBQg1D0YPIpuXGbFl7W2UmuXp6J2ku-1F5Ww/viewform

02/22/2023

The Lost Mural Project partnered with the Burlington High School English/Civics 9th Grade teachers for a memorable educational event, held Feb. 14 and 15.

The 240 BHS 9th grade humanities students visited the Lost Mural as part of the school's "Resistance Day of Learning Field Trip." The students toured the Lost Mural and listened to speakers who shared their experiences as minorities and refugees and their journeys to Vermont. The speakers discussed actions taken in the face of cultural erasure of their own heritage.

Speakers included: the Rev. Dr. Arnold. O. Thomas, pastor, Good Shepard Lutheran Church, Jericho, moderator of Racism in America Forums, first Black denominational leader in Vermont; Gordana Pobric, BHS Teacher from Bosnia; Migmar Tsering, musician from Tibet; Noor Bulle, BHS Teacher from Somalia and BHS Class of 2008; Jeff Potash, co-founder & director, Lost Mural Project, BHS Class of 1972; Aaron Goldberg, co-founder, director & president, Lost Mural Project, BHS Class of 1974.

The students also viewed artistic and historical objects and listened to music imbued with tradition and ritual that symbolized
the survival of community traditions. Like the Lost Mural itself, these collective objects and music have survived despite the ravages of war, genocide, and intentional acts of destruction meant to erase people's collective and community members.

The Lost Mural Project offers its heartfelt appreciation to those who have created this program, a partnership designed and implemented by the BHS Teachers and the Lost Mural Project.
2023 has been designated by the Lost Mural Project as the year of expanding its educational mission within the State of Vermont and worldwide.

Donations can be made to support the educational mission of the Lost Mural Project: https://www.lostmural.org/donate

01/27/2023

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” - Elie Wiesel

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

This quote from Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and author of acclaimed memoir, "Night," was on four posters, hanging in a Pennsylvania school. The principal told the librarian THIS MONTH to remove them for violating a policy banning educators from "advocacy activities."

After a social media outcry, the school district reversed the decision, issuing a statement that said: “The district apologizes for any hurt or concerns this has caused, particularly for those in the Jewish community.”

This alarming story, record-breaking number of antisemitic incidents, and surveys showing “worrying lack of basic Holocaust knowledge” only serve to emphasize the essential work of organizations around the globe dedicated to education related to the Holocaust.

The Lost Mural is committed to this vital and important work, too. The mural is a rare survivor of a folk-art form, once prevalent in wooden shuls across Eastern Europe, that was nearly obliterated during the Holocaust. Our educational mission is to act -- to interpret the mural in cultural and historic context, expanding knowledge and understanding.

“Action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all,” Wiesel said in his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

12/18/2022

Happy Hanukkah! This is a lovely video created several years ago when the Lost Mural Project was in the early stages of moving and restoring the mural. As we pause to reflect on the completion of the restoration this year, this seems like an appropriate moment to share this message again.