This violin was a lifetime friend of Moshe Weinstein, the father of Violins of Hope luthier Amnon Weinstein. Born in a shtetl in Eastern Europe, Moshe fell in love with the sound of the violin as a young boy. When a klezmer troupe arrived in the shtetl to play at a rich man’s wedding, he was hypnotized by the sound of music, while all the other children gathered under the table to hide and steal sweets. After a few festive days, the troupe left — and so did Moshe, who followed the klezmer musicians out of town.

This lovely violin was originally made for a klezmer musician. The restoration work is dedicated to siblings Wolf and Bunia Rabinowitz, both gifted young violinists. They played multiple concerts in the Vilna ghetto during World War II, and were murdered with the last residents of the ghetto, most likely in the forest of Ponar, about 10 km outside the city.

Haftel was one of about 100 musicians gathered by Bronisław Huberman from all over Europe in 1936 and brought to Palestine. He was a distinguished violinist before the war and joined Huberman after he lost his job in a German orchestra. Huberman’s vision to create an all-Jewish orchestra in Palestine saved the lives of many musicians and their families.