In addition to joining Zionist organizations and donating to the JNF, Chicagoans supported the Zionist cause by purchasing souvenirs and crafts from the Land of Israel. In the early decades of the 20th century, the Bezalel School in Jerusalem produced many of these popular handicrafts.

Boris Schatz, founder of the Bezalel School, is seen here exhibiting Bezalel crafts at the Jewish People’s Institute (JPI) on Chicago’s West Side. Such exhibits sought to raise money for the school and simultaneously raise international interest in a Jewish homeland in Palestine.