American stamp collectors spent more than $1 billion on their hobby in 2006, but the money tells only part of the story.

In fact, it is the stories told by individual postage stamps that transform the hobby from a mere investment of time and interest into an obsession. For collectors of Israeli and Jewish-themed postage stamps, every sticky rectangle provides a perspective on Jewish culture and history, from celebrations of Zionist milestones to glimpses of Jewish societies that no longer exist.

"The stamps are very interesting," said Nathan Zankel of Edison, treasurer and cofounder of the Central New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Israel Philatelists. "They really tell the culture and history of the Holy Land from when it was Palestine under the Ottoman Empire before 1918 through the British Mandate until 1948 and now as the State of Israel."

Chapter president Gary Theodore of Long Branch said stamp collecting has opened up a world of knowledge for him.

"When I watch Jeopardy, I get asked all the time, 'How do you know that and I don't?'" said Theodore at a recent meeting of the group. "It's easy; I'm a stamp collector."

The chapter meets monthly at Congregation B'nai Tikvah in North Brunswick, drawing members from across the state, from Burlington to Essex counties. Founded in the 1970s as an affiliate of the New York-based Society of Israel Philatelists, the organization has sister chapters in Europe, South America, Mexico, and South Africa.

The central Jersey group will get a chance to show off members' collections May 25-27 during NOJEX, the 44th annual stamp exhibition of the Northern New Jersey Federated Stamp Clubs, Inc.

Educational programs will accompany the exhibition, which will be held at the Meadowlands Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus. About one third of its space will be devoted to the stamps of Israel and the Holy Land.

Among the exhibits will be those on the Holocaust, Israel's War of Independence, the pre-independence period – including postage of the British mandatory period and British military mail – and Judaica.

Six or seven Holy Land stamp dealers are expected to take part. And as one of four sponsoring clubs and host for the Israeli section, the central Jersey chapter will sponsor a kosher Shabbat dinner and oneg Shabbat on Friday night.

The group, which held meetings at the YM-YWHA of Raritan Valley in Highland Park from its inception until the Y closed last year, meets the second Tuesday of the month. Collectors specializing in Palestine stamps also meet for their own study group the last Monday of the month at B'nai Tikvah.

Such face-to-face meetings are becoming more rare in the stamp world, thanks to the rise of eBay and other Web sites devoted to the buying, selling, and trading of collectibles. The computer has proven both a bane and a boon to enthusiasts.

"Computers can really help you with research, but they make it very easy to produce copies and counterfeits," said Theodore.

Zankel, whose family moved to Highland Park in 1939, noted that computers have also been responsible for a decline in stamp collectors as young people spend more time pursuing other interests on-line.

"I grew up before computers, when we all had hobbies," he said. "People collected things – cigar bands, stamps, coins."

Like many other Israeli stamp enthusiasts, Zankel is a collector of other stamps as well, in his case, stamps of New Brunswick from colonial times through 1900.

Theodore and another chapter member, Sid Morginstin of Bordentown, are two of only about eight Holy Land stamp dealers in North America.

Morginstin said he acquired his business, Negev Holyland Stamp Auctions, from a British dealer he met at an exhibition.

Morginstin's early interest in stamp collecting was fueled by relatives living in Israel, including an older sister who made aliya in 1958 and used to write to her relatives in the United States. Collecting Israeli stamps "was easy for me," said Morginstin, "because half my family is in Israel."

Chapter members collect stamps on various aspects of Judaica and have an international array of postage documents with images of synagogues, Jewish historical figures and sites, and holiday celebrations from around the world. Their collections include stamps issued by formerly communist Eastern European countries, where governmental anti-Semitism was commonplace.

Phil Schreiberg of Highland Park said he started collecting in the 1940s as a child when a neighbor from Europe began giving him stamps. The newest trend in Judaica, he said, are personalized stamps made for bar and bat mitzva invitations. At a recent meeting, he passed around several newly acquired invitations bearing stamps with photos of the b'nei mitzva, a soccer ball with the bar mitzva boy's name, and those with specially made designs.

The club maintains an account with the Israeli Postal Agency in North America through which members can purchase new-issue stamps.

"Just like the United States Post Office, new stamps are issued periodically by the Israeli postal system, about six times a year," said Zankel.

---