May 22, 2007
Enews May 2007
Greeetings!
Welcome to the electronic newsletter of the National Museum of American Jewish History. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed of exhibitions, programs and other activities of the NMAJH, the only Museum in the country exclusively presenting educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore and celebrate the history of the Jews in America.
___________________________________
1. MUSEUM RECEIVES APPROVAL FOR NEW BUILDING
The NMAJH recently received important community support as it prepares for the groundbreaking and building of its new Museum at the corner of 5th and Market streets on Independence Mall.
Before the project could move forward, there were hurdles to clear, not the least of which was an endorsement from the Philadelphia Art Commission. In March, the Philadelphia Art Commission unanimously gave approval for the Museum.
After the vote, Commission Chairman William Wilson, president of Synterra Ltd., a leading landscape and land-planning firm, said, "I think that the design you have will bring a sense of real life to that particular block. It adds good urban value to the city, and we look forward to it being built and coming to fruition."
In addition, the Museum, pictured in this nighttime view, went before the Old City Civic Association and its Developments Committee, which supported the project. Said Richard Thom, an architect and urban planner and the chair of the civic association's Developments Committee for thirteen years, "It is a fine addition to the Mall, a step up in terms of architecture on the Mall, and a sterling replacement for what is there now. It will bring light and life to the Mall."
The Philadelphia Business Journal recently ran a story about the plans for the new Museum which can be read by clicking Page 1 and Page 2.
For information on how to support the new Museum, contact Director of Institutional Advancement Irv Hurwitz at 215.923.3811 x 133.
2. HEBREW NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTED AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM
Promotional Artifacts on View
If a baseball fan was to stand in line at a concession stand at a game and order a kosher hot dog in 1904, he would have to wait more than 35 years to be handed his meal. It was not until the 1940s that Hebrew National, the well-known manufacturer of kosher franks and other meats, began to expand its customer base by creating products for supermarkets and wider distribution.
The company opened for business in 1905 as the Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, Inc. on New York's Lower East Side. Isadore Pinckowitz (later Pines), a Romanian immigrant butcher, purchased the factory in 1928.
A Hebrew National promotional matchbook and button, pictured above, bearing the recognizable slogan, "We Answer to a Higher Authority" from an advertising campaign that began in 1965, is one of the many food-related artifacts on view in the Museum's temporary exhibition, Forshpeis! A Taste of the Peter H. Schweitzer Collection of Jewish Americana.
The Forshpeis! exhibition reveals aspects of American Jewish life by looking at food in a range of settings, including in the kitchen and at the deli. Forshpeis! also explores, through the Schweitzer Collection, the role food played in helping immigrant Jews adjust to life in the United States and illustrates how Jewish foods, like American Jews themselves, have become a part of the American mainstream.
To schedule a visit to the exhibition and Museum, call the Education Department at 215.923.5984 or email Johanna Moss. The Education Department webpage also has more information about Education Department programs and booking tours.
A slideshow of artifacts from Forshpeis! can be seen on the Museum's Myspace site. Forshpeis is Yiddish for appetizer.
The Forshpeis! exhibition was made possible in part through the generous support of the Independence Foundation, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. The Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
3. STOP AND SHOP WITH POP BEFORE JUNE 17
Father's Day Sale at Museum Shop
As Father's Day approaches every year, the question of what to buy dad weighs heavily on the minds of wives and daughters wanting to get it "just right" this time. Why not stop by the Museum shop and get the father in your life something meaningful, and something that he will be able to use for many years to come?
Although Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are not until September, there is nothing wrong with sprucing your dad up ahead of time, and a new tallit, like the one pictured above, would be perfect for the job. The Museum Shop offers a varied selection of tallitot that can be accented with the Shop's collection of tallit clips, and kippot - ceremonial items a father or grandfather needs for the holidays. These items are designed by various contemporary artists in celebration of their personal commitment to Jewish value and ideals.
This year, the Museum Shop is making these gifts more affordable for E-newsletter subscribers who bring their fathers to shop. Visitors who come to the shop with their dads receive a 20 percent discount on the tallitot, tallit clips, and kippot.
In addition to those objects, also available for Father's Day, celebrated on June 17, are kiddish cups, books, and other Judaica that make great holiday gifts. To receive the discount, bring dad, print out the E-newsletter and present it at the Museum Shop when making a purchase and bring dad.
Visit the Museum Shop to browse the large assortment of items in all price ranges. For more information contact Eva@judaicashop.net or Elaine@nmajh.org, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262.
The Museum Shop is open Mondays-Thursdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fridays 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and Sundays 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
4. LOCAL WOMAN WINS SCHUSTERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION AWARD
Inspired by her Taglit-birthright israel trip to Israel, Rebecca Ennen began her rise in the Jewish community, leading to her being named a winner of a prestigious Charlie Award, given by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
Following her January 2006 trip to Israel, the Swarthmore College graduate, theater director and dramaturg used her training to develop an innovative set of national workshops to teach Jewish leaders how to lead synagogue services in more creative and engaging ways. She plans to lead the first workshop in June.
Ennen also serves on the Religious Life Committee of the recently-founded Reconstructionist congregation Kol Tzedek-the first synagogue to operate in West Philadelphia in decades. She also coordinates a series of open, revolving Friday night and third-meal Shabbat dinners as a resource to Jews in the community.
For her accomplishments, Ennen became one of only 30 individuals to date to receive the award, now in its fourth year, and one of only two winners from the United States selected for the 2007 award. The Charlie Award, named for philanthropist Charles Schusterman, annually recognizes the achievements and vision of birthright israel alumni from around the world. Other recipients over the years have been from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Israel, Russia, Spain, the USA, and the Ukraine.
Taglit-birthright israel provides the gift of first-time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Operating on the belief that it is every Jewish person's birthright to visit Israel, Taglit-birthright israel has taken more than 120,000 young adults from 51 countries to Israel for the first time on its trips.
The Museum is the 14th birthright israel Alumni Association in the country and the only BRIAA site based in a Museum.
Ennen said she took the birthright israel trip because "I didn't feel connected to Israel, but it wasn't because I didn't feel Jewish, I very much felt like an American Jew, and I wanted to feel out my relationship with Israel by going there." Now the award-winning activist will be returning to Israel in July to receive her award. Over the course of an eight-day program, Charlie Award winners take part in intensive programming and training sessions and also a ceremony where the "Charlies" will be given out.
"Charlies" are birthright israel alumni who have carefully been selected as individuals who proactively create positive change in the world, wherever and whenever they can, simply because they have skills, vision, and a deep connection to the Jewish people. They are individuals, who following their Birthright experience, demonstrated active involvement in their local or international Jewish community, serving as organizers, activists, or visionaries.
The award is given through The Center for Leadership Initiatives, an organization offering leadership development programs to current and emerging Jewish leaders.
The Museum's Taglit-birthright israel post programming coordinator can be reached at 215.923.3811 x 140 . Young people who have gone on the trip or are interested in learning more about post-trip events are encouraged to contact the Taglit-birthright israel Alumni Association at 215.923.3811 x 140, philly@birthrightisrael.com, or phillybirthright.com
5. MIKVEH ISRAEL OBJECTS "CHOSEN" FOR ROSENBACH EXHIBITION
Bringing together nearly 60 rare and important Hebrew books, scrolls, and objects that date from the 11th to the 18th century, the Rosenbach Museum & Library presents Chosen: Philadelphia's Great Hebraica., The exhibition draws artifacts from seven Philadelphia area institutions including Congregation Mikveh Israel, which shares it location with the Museum. The NMAJH and the Rosenbach are offering free tickets to the exhibition to the first 10 E-newsletter subscribers to reply to the email address at the bottom of this article. Chosen runs through August 26, 2007.
On view from historic Congregation Mikveh Israel are a 19th-century Torah scroll from Germany, and a pair of rimmonim (the ornaments of the Torah scroll, pictured) possibly from 1771-1772 made for the synagogue by Myer Myers, a prominent silversmith of that time. Other objects visitors will find are the first prayer book printed in Hebrew, the oldest nearly complete Passover haggadah in existence, and illustrated texts such as the Scroll of Esther, including one miniature scroll never before seen by the public.
The exhibition reveals the untold stories buried within the objects, as well as those of their producers, owners, and the many Jewish cultures and other influences that brought them into existence. Visitors will also be able to view writing in a diversity of languages from Chaldean to Yiddish and learn how the form of Hebrew texts changed with the travels of Jewish populations across geography and time.
The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, and is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Wednesday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for children under five. For more information, call 215.732.1600 or visit the Rosenbach's website.
To receive a free pass to Chosen, be one of the first 10 E-newsletter subscribers to reply to info@rosenbach.org. State in the email that you are a NMAJH E-newsletter subscriber and provide your mailing address.
6. YAVNEH ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE AT DISCOUNT TO SUBSCRIBERS
Concert an Opportunity to Hear Works of American Jewish Composers
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was born in 1895 in Florence, Italy, into a Sephardic family whose roots in Tuscany went back 400 years. By 1939, his music was banned and Fascist persecution of Italian Jews was on the rise. After immigrating to the United States, he found work as a composer of classical guitar as well as for the film industry. Castelnuovo-Tedesco found inspiration for some of his music in the Bible, and one of his works, Naomi and Ruth, a short cantata for women's voices and soprano soloist, based on the first chapter or the Book of Ruth, will be performed as part of the Yavneh Ensemble's June 3 concert, 49 Days: Music of the Omer Season.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco's composition will be featured along with the work of other American Jewish composers and arrangers and will include music for Passover, Yom HaShoah, Yom Ha-atzmaut, Lag BaOmer, Yom Yerushalayim, and Shavuot, as well as a medley of Yiddish workers' songs for May Day. Featured soloists are Ilana Davidson and Hazzan Howard K. Glantz. The concert is a presentation of the Hebraic Arts Chamber Series at Adath Jeshurun, 7763 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.
The Yavneh Ensemble is a mixed chorus consisting of professional and experienced amateur singers which performs Jewish and Judaic-based choral music.
The first five subscribers to the E-newsletters to email tickets@yavnehensemble.org will receive two free tickets to the concert. All other E-newsletter subscribers will receive a $2 discount. Write NMAJH Concert offer in the subject line of the email to be eligible for the free tickets. To receive the discount, bring this story to the concert or mention it when calling Yavne Ensemble for tickets.
For more information about Yavneh Ensemble and concert or to purchase tickets, visit www.yavnehensemble.org.
___________________________________
On April 24, 1881 Hebrew Union College moved into its first permanent home, and in so doing, created the first separate building devoted to Jewish learning in America when it bought and occupied a remodeled mansion on West Sixth Street in downtown Cincinnati.
National Museum of American Jewish History
Independence Mall East
55 North 5th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2197
Tel: 215.923.3811 Fax: 215.923.0763
www.nmajh.org
Welcome to the electronic newsletter of the National Museum of American Jewish History. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed of exhibitions, programs and other activities of the NMAJH, the only Museum in the country exclusively presenting educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore and celebrate the history of the Jews in America.
___________________________________
1. MUSEUM RECEIVES APPROVAL FOR NEW BUILDING
The NMAJH recently received important community support as it prepares for the groundbreaking and building of its new Museum at the corner of 5th and Market streets on Independence Mall.
Before the project could move forward, there were hurdles to clear, not the least of which was an endorsement from the Philadelphia Art Commission. In March, the Philadelphia Art Commission unanimously gave approval for the Museum.
After the vote, Commission Chairman William Wilson, president of Synterra Ltd., a leading landscape and land-planning firm, said, "I think that the design you have will bring a sense of real life to that particular block. It adds good urban value to the city, and we look forward to it being built and coming to fruition."
In addition, the Museum, pictured in this nighttime view, went before the Old City Civic Association and its Developments Committee, which supported the project. Said Richard Thom, an architect and urban planner and the chair of the civic association's Developments Committee for thirteen years, "It is a fine addition to the Mall, a step up in terms of architecture on the Mall, and a sterling replacement for what is there now. It will bring light and life to the Mall."
The Philadelphia Business Journal recently ran a story about the plans for the new Museum which can be read by clicking Page 1 and Page 2.
For information on how to support the new Museum, contact Director of Institutional Advancement Irv Hurwitz at 215.923.3811 x 133.
2. HEBREW NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTED AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM
Promotional Artifacts on View
If a baseball fan was to stand in line at a concession stand at a game and order a kosher hot dog in 1904, he would have to wait more than 35 years to be handed his meal. It was not until the 1940s that Hebrew National, the well-known manufacturer of kosher franks and other meats, began to expand its customer base by creating products for supermarkets and wider distribution.
The company opened for business in 1905 as the Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, Inc. on New York's Lower East Side. Isadore Pinckowitz (later Pines), a Romanian immigrant butcher, purchased the factory in 1928.
A Hebrew National promotional matchbook and button, pictured above, bearing the recognizable slogan, "We Answer to a Higher Authority" from an advertising campaign that began in 1965, is one of the many food-related artifacts on view in the Museum's temporary exhibition, Forshpeis! A Taste of the Peter H. Schweitzer Collection of Jewish Americana.
The Forshpeis! exhibition reveals aspects of American Jewish life by looking at food in a range of settings, including in the kitchen and at the deli. Forshpeis! also explores, through the Schweitzer Collection, the role food played in helping immigrant Jews adjust to life in the United States and illustrates how Jewish foods, like American Jews themselves, have become a part of the American mainstream.
To schedule a visit to the exhibition and Museum, call the Education Department at 215.923.5984 or email Johanna Moss. The Education Department webpage also has more information about Education Department programs and booking tours.
A slideshow of artifacts from Forshpeis! can be seen on the Museum's Myspace site. Forshpeis is Yiddish for appetizer.
The Forshpeis! exhibition was made possible in part through the generous support of the Independence Foundation, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. The Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
3. STOP AND SHOP WITH POP BEFORE JUNE 17
Father's Day Sale at Museum Shop
As Father's Day approaches every year, the question of what to buy dad weighs heavily on the minds of wives and daughters wanting to get it "just right" this time. Why not stop by the Museum shop and get the father in your life something meaningful, and something that he will be able to use for many years to come?
Although Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are not until September, there is nothing wrong with sprucing your dad up ahead of time, and a new tallit, like the one pictured above, would be perfect for the job. The Museum Shop offers a varied selection of tallitot that can be accented with the Shop's collection of tallit clips, and kippot - ceremonial items a father or grandfather needs for the holidays. These items are designed by various contemporary artists in celebration of their personal commitment to Jewish value and ideals.
This year, the Museum Shop is making these gifts more affordable for E-newsletter subscribers who bring their fathers to shop. Visitors who come to the shop with their dads receive a 20 percent discount on the tallitot, tallit clips, and kippot.
In addition to those objects, also available for Father's Day, celebrated on June 17, are kiddish cups, books, and other Judaica that make great holiday gifts. To receive the discount, bring dad, print out the E-newsletter and present it at the Museum Shop when making a purchase and bring dad.
Visit the Museum Shop to browse the large assortment of items in all price ranges. For more information contact Eva@judaicashop.net or Elaine@nmajh.org, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262.
The Museum Shop is open Mondays-Thursdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fridays 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and Sundays 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
4. LOCAL WOMAN WINS SCHUSTERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION AWARD
Inspired by her Taglit-birthright israel trip to Israel, Rebecca Ennen began her rise in the Jewish community, leading to her being named a winner of a prestigious Charlie Award, given by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
Following her January 2006 trip to Israel, the Swarthmore College graduate, theater director and dramaturg used her training to develop an innovative set of national workshops to teach Jewish leaders how to lead synagogue services in more creative and engaging ways. She plans to lead the first workshop in June.
Ennen also serves on the Religious Life Committee of the recently-founded Reconstructionist congregation Kol Tzedek-the first synagogue to operate in West Philadelphia in decades. She also coordinates a series of open, revolving Friday night and third-meal Shabbat dinners as a resource to Jews in the community.
For her accomplishments, Ennen became one of only 30 individuals to date to receive the award, now in its fourth year, and one of only two winners from the United States selected for the 2007 award. The Charlie Award, named for philanthropist Charles Schusterman, annually recognizes the achievements and vision of birthright israel alumni from around the world. Other recipients over the years have been from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Israel, Russia, Spain, the USA, and the Ukraine.
Taglit-birthright israel provides the gift of first-time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Operating on the belief that it is every Jewish person's birthright to visit Israel, Taglit-birthright israel has taken more than 120,000 young adults from 51 countries to Israel for the first time on its trips.
The Museum is the 14th birthright israel Alumni Association in the country and the only BRIAA site based in a Museum.
Ennen said she took the birthright israel trip because "I didn't feel connected to Israel, but it wasn't because I didn't feel Jewish, I very much felt like an American Jew, and I wanted to feel out my relationship with Israel by going there." Now the award-winning activist will be returning to Israel in July to receive her award. Over the course of an eight-day program, Charlie Award winners take part in intensive programming and training sessions and also a ceremony where the "Charlies" will be given out.
"Charlies" are birthright israel alumni who have carefully been selected as individuals who proactively create positive change in the world, wherever and whenever they can, simply because they have skills, vision, and a deep connection to the Jewish people. They are individuals, who following their Birthright experience, demonstrated active involvement in their local or international Jewish community, serving as organizers, activists, or visionaries.
The award is given through The Center for Leadership Initiatives, an organization offering leadership development programs to current and emerging Jewish leaders.
The Museum's Taglit-birthright israel post programming coordinator can be reached at 215.923.3811 x 140 . Young people who have gone on the trip or are interested in learning more about post-trip events are encouraged to contact the Taglit-birthright israel Alumni Association at 215.923.3811 x 140, philly@birthrightisrael.com, or phillybirthright.com
5. MIKVEH ISRAEL OBJECTS "CHOSEN" FOR ROSENBACH EXHIBITION
Bringing together nearly 60 rare and important Hebrew books, scrolls, and objects that date from the 11th to the 18th century, the Rosenbach Museum & Library presents Chosen: Philadelphia's Great Hebraica., The exhibition draws artifacts from seven Philadelphia area institutions including Congregation Mikveh Israel, which shares it location with the Museum. The NMAJH and the Rosenbach are offering free tickets to the exhibition to the first 10 E-newsletter subscribers to reply to the email address at the bottom of this article. Chosen runs through August 26, 2007.
On view from historic Congregation Mikveh Israel are a 19th-century Torah scroll from Germany, and a pair of rimmonim (the ornaments of the Torah scroll, pictured) possibly from 1771-1772 made for the synagogue by Myer Myers, a prominent silversmith of that time. Other objects visitors will find are the first prayer book printed in Hebrew, the oldest nearly complete Passover haggadah in existence, and illustrated texts such as the Scroll of Esther, including one miniature scroll never before seen by the public.
The exhibition reveals the untold stories buried within the objects, as well as those of their producers, owners, and the many Jewish cultures and other influences that brought them into existence. Visitors will also be able to view writing in a diversity of languages from Chaldean to Yiddish and learn how the form of Hebrew texts changed with the travels of Jewish populations across geography and time.
The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, and is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Wednesday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for children under five. For more information, call 215.732.1600 or visit the Rosenbach's website.
To receive a free pass to Chosen, be one of the first 10 E-newsletter subscribers to reply to info@rosenbach.org. State in the email that you are a NMAJH E-newsletter subscriber and provide your mailing address.
6. YAVNEH ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE AT DISCOUNT TO SUBSCRIBERS
Concert an Opportunity to Hear Works of American Jewish Composers
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was born in 1895 in Florence, Italy, into a Sephardic family whose roots in Tuscany went back 400 years. By 1939, his music was banned and Fascist persecution of Italian Jews was on the rise. After immigrating to the United States, he found work as a composer of classical guitar as well as for the film industry. Castelnuovo-Tedesco found inspiration for some of his music in the Bible, and one of his works, Naomi and Ruth, a short cantata for women's voices and soprano soloist, based on the first chapter or the Book of Ruth, will be performed as part of the Yavneh Ensemble's June 3 concert, 49 Days: Music of the Omer Season.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco's composition will be featured along with the work of other American Jewish composers and arrangers and will include music for Passover, Yom HaShoah, Yom Ha-atzmaut, Lag BaOmer, Yom Yerushalayim, and Shavuot, as well as a medley of Yiddish workers' songs for May Day. Featured soloists are Ilana Davidson and Hazzan Howard K. Glantz. The concert is a presentation of the Hebraic Arts Chamber Series at Adath Jeshurun, 7763 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.
The Yavneh Ensemble is a mixed chorus consisting of professional and experienced amateur singers which performs Jewish and Judaic-based choral music.
The first five subscribers to the E-newsletters to email tickets@yavnehensemble.org will receive two free tickets to the concert. All other E-newsletter subscribers will receive a $2 discount. Write NMAJH Concert offer in the subject line of the email to be eligible for the free tickets. To receive the discount, bring this story to the concert or mention it when calling Yavne Ensemble for tickets.
For more information about Yavneh Ensemble and concert or to purchase tickets, visit www.yavnehensemble.org.
___________________________________
On April 24, 1881 Hebrew Union College moved into its first permanent home, and in so doing, created the first separate building devoted to Jewish learning in America when it bought and occupied a remodeled mansion on West Sixth Street in downtown Cincinnati.
National Museum of American Jewish History
Independence Mall East
55 North 5th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2197
Tel: 215.923.3811 Fax: 215.923.0763
www.nmajh.org
posted by nmajh @ 5/22/2007 
