November 21, 2008
Enews November 2008
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.
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ANNUAL FAMILY DAY OF FUN ON CHRISTMAS DAY AT THE NMAJH
Jon Nelson's Rockin' Kids Review will rock the house at this year's annual "Being Jewish at Christmas" program of family fun at the National Museum of American Jewish History. "Being Jewish at Christmas," which features music, comedy, refreshments and more, will be held Thursday, Dec. 25, noon - 4 p.m.
Jon Nelson is a mainstay on the national children's music scene, both as a solo artist, and with his Jon Nelson's Rockin' Kids' Review. His unique performances for kids and their families are rooted in his love of rock & roll and his desire to teach children through fun and interactive music. Jon's Rockin Kids' Review treats audiences to a rip roaring, hand clapping, foot stomping, educational and interactive concert that every child, parent and grandparent will love.
Jon's fresh, exciting and innovative original songs have appeared on several nationally distributed compilation CDs, and his music is heard on radio stations in the United States and abroad. Joining Jon Nelson's Rockin' Kids' Review are returning BJAC entertainers Michael Rosman, whose amazing feats of all-ages comedy has been seen on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and who has performed numerous times in Atlantic City. Also returning is 2006 "Best of Philly" Party Entertainer Ken Fink from Wondergy, who fuels curiosity by making science fun and exciting. All children will receive a "goodie bag."
"Being Jewish at Christmas" is held at the National Museum of American Jewish History, Independence Mall East, 55 North 5th Street, from noon to 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person (children two and under admitted free). BJAC is free to Museum members and members of the military. Tickets are available only at the door. For more information call 215-923-3811 x 148.
"Being Jewish at Christmas" is made possible by the generous support of the Robert Saligman Jewish Heritage Fund.
MUSEUM SEEKS SUPPORT FOR ITS ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
A "prayer for the country" was written in 1789 by the Richmond, Virginia Jewish congregation following the ratification of the United States Constitution. The prayer said, in part (and pictured in Hebrew below):
We beseech thee O Lord to have the President of the United States ... and all U.S. Senators and Representatives ... grant them such a share of knowledge that will tend to the happiness of the people ... that they may wisely and successfully execute the trust committed to their care, that knowledge, religion, and piety, arts and sciences, may increase, and that agriculture and manufactures, trade and commerce, may flourish.
Supporters of the NMAJH's Annual Campaign have allowed the Museum to preserve and present important artifacts like the Richmond prayer and in so doing tell the inspiring story of the American Jewish experience. The Museum is now seeking gifts for its end-of-year Annual Campaign. Gifts to the Annual Campaign support the Museum's collections, educational programs reaching more than 5,000 school children each year, and public programs highlighting the opportunities and challenges one ethnic encounters when living in freedom.
Your support of our Annual Campaign is more important than ever, as the Museum continues to explore and celebrate how Jews have shaped America and how America has shaped the Jews. Your gift will come at an exciting time for the Museum. We are creating an expansive destination museum that will chronicle the American Jewish experience through intriguing exhibits, rare artifacts, interactive displays and an array of educational and cultural programs for adults and children alike.
To make a tax deductible gift to the Annual Campaign please visit the Annual Fund Donation Page. For more information on the Annual Campaign or the Museum's Capital Campaign, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement, at 215.923.3811 x 133 or by e-mail. The Museum is in the midst of a $150 million Capital Campaign for construction of the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building. Nearly $112 million has been raised to date for the Campaign.
MUSEUM SHOP OFFERS HANUKKAH DISCOUNTS
Light up your Hannukah nights with this hanukkiah and dreidel (pictured left) designed by George Gabriel, which can be found in the Museum Shop and online store. Born in Buenos Aires, Gabriel has been designing art and jewelry in metal and glass for more than 20 years. Working from his studio in West Haven, CT, Gabriel creates one of a kind hand-crafted pieces made of copper, brass and iron. The metals are melted together to create artwork symbolizing infinity - bonding the human, the divine, and the spirit. In this piece, the dreidel spins in its holder on the hanukkiah giving movement to the piece.
Gabriel's hanukkiah is only one of many Hanukkah related items being sold in the Museum Shop and its online store. Visit the Museum Shop to browse the collection or look at the items online at http://www.judaicashop.net/. For more information email Eva Schlanger or Elaine Silverman, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262. The Museum Shop is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m. All proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
EXHIBITION DISCUSSIONS ON VIEW
Short Film Shown in Exhibition
Visitors to the NMAJH can listen in as Senior Designer Jamie Rains and Creative Director Cybelle Jones of Gallagher & Associates, the new Museum's exhibition design firm, discuss plans for future exhibition spaces in the new Museum now being built.
"I would love it if every person would leave here [the new Museum] knowing that the NMAJH cares about what they are passionate about, what they think is important, what they think is an issue that needs to be dealt with," says Jones in the video, found in the Museum's changing exhibition, Shaping Space, Making Meaning.
The short video Designing An Exhibition For The NMAJH's New Home (pictured above) was created for Shaping Space, Making Meaning, which gives an insider's look at the process of developing a landmark exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life.Shaping Space, Making Meaning also has design sketches, computer-generated images, and interactive elements designed to get visitor feedback. The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum.
MUSEUM SPONSORS JEWISH BOXING FILMS FOR JEWISH FILM SERIES
Once again the Museum is supporting the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival by sponsoring movies that explore the American Jewish experience. The two films about Jewish boxers are being shown as part of the festival's Sports Weekend, which begins Dec. 7.
In Orthodox Stance directed by Jason Hutt, 24-year-old Russian immigrant Dmitriy Salita shows the world that the "Jewish boxer" can still pack in the punches. The boxing world has never before confronted a Sabbath-observing boxer, and Salita's rabbis and friends have never before rooted for one of their own. Orthodox Stance is a portrait of seemingly incompatible cultures and individuals working together to support Salita's rare and remarkable devotion to both Orthodox Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title. This film is in Hebrew, English, Russian and Spanish, with English subtitles.
Max Baer's Last Right Hook, directed by Avida Livny, is the fictional story of Yaakov Gendelmayer, an unlucky entrepreneur during World War II who comes up with a brilliant publicity stunt. He will arrange a fight in Palestine between Max Baer, a Jewish former heavyweight boxer and Schatzchneider, a German boxer. Under the assumption that Baer with win, Gendelmayer sees the flight as a perfect opportunity to raise Jewish morale and earn him enough money to move to the United States. The fight does not go as planned, and in order to uncover the truth about Max's "last right hook," Gendelmayer's son, Joe, travels to Israel sixty years later. Though this fight never took place, Livny's mockumentary shows viewers what could have happened had the story been true.
Speaking after the screening will be J.Russel Peltz, president of Peltz Boxing Promotions and an international Hall of Fame boxing promoter.Both films will be shown at the Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7. Orthodox Stance is at 2 p.m. and Max Baer's Last Right Hook is at 7 p.m.
The Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival screens some of the most acclaimed feature films and documentaries of the year, by some of the finest filmmakers from around the world including Brazil, Israel, France, Germany, Mexico and the USA. To purchase tickets to either showing please visit the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival website.
SPECIAL JPS BOOK OFFER FOR E-NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Jews created the first comic book, the first graphic novel, the first comic book convention, the first comic book specialty store, and they helped create the underground comics (or "Comix") movement of the late '60s and early '70s. The story of these comic book pioneers is told by Arie Kaplan in the Jewish Publication Society's, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books.This month, the Museum is teaming up with JPS to offer 10 copies of the book to E-Newsletter subscribers.
From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books tells how the creators of the most famous comic books, such as Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, and Batman, as well as the founders of MAD Magazine, brought a uniquely Jewish perspective to their work and to the comics industry as a whole.Over-sized and in full color, the book is filled with sidebars, cartoon bubbles, comic book graphics, original design sketches, and photographs.
Kaplan is a comedian, MAD Magazine writer, and author of the new comic book miniseries Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer. He is the author of Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! and has written for MTV, Cartoon Network, and PBS Kids. Kaplan lectures all over the country about comic books, comedians, and popular culture.
To receive a copy of From Krakow to Krypton, be one of the first 10 people to contact JPS at http://www.jewishpub.org/. Please put NMAJH E-Newsletter subscriber in the subject line and include your name and address in the body.
AWARD-WINNING PIANIST PERFORMS AT KIMMEL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
The Museum is teaming up with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts to offer E-Newsletter subscribers two pairs of free tickets to a Kimmel Center Presents performance of Daniel Barenboim on piano, Dec. 8.
For one night only, Grammy award-winning conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim returns to thrill audiences with an all-Liszt program-including selections from Années de pèlerinage (Deuxième Année: Italie) Légendes, and Paraphrases on Operas of Guiseppe Verdi for Piano Forte. The Chicago Sun-Times recently wrote, "Barenboim is one of the finest pianists before the public today."
Be one of the first two people to reply to the Public Relations Department at the Kimmel Center with the words, "NMAJH E-Newsletter subscriber" in the subject line for a chance at a pair of tickets. Daniel Barenboim will be performing Monday, December 8, 8 p.m. For ticket prices, please visit the Kimmel Center ticket page.
___________________________________
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
http://www.nmajh.org/
___________________________________
ANNUAL FAMILY DAY OF FUN ON CHRISTMAS DAY AT THE NMAJH
Jon Nelson's Rockin' Kids Review will rock the house at this year's annual "Being Jewish at Christmas" program of family fun at the National Museum of American Jewish History. "Being Jewish at Christmas," which features music, comedy, refreshments and more, will be held Thursday, Dec. 25, noon - 4 p.m.Jon Nelson is a mainstay on the national children's music scene, both as a solo artist, and with his Jon Nelson's Rockin' Kids' Review. His unique performances for kids and their families are rooted in his love of rock & roll and his desire to teach children through fun and interactive music. Jon's Rockin Kids' Review treats audiences to a rip roaring, hand clapping, foot stomping, educational and interactive concert that every child, parent and grandparent will love.
Jon's fresh, exciting and innovative original songs have appeared on several nationally distributed compilation CDs, and his music is heard on radio stations in the United States and abroad. Joining Jon Nelson's Rockin' Kids' Review are returning BJAC entertainers Michael Rosman, whose amazing feats of all-ages comedy has been seen on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and who has performed numerous times in Atlantic City. Also returning is 2006 "Best of Philly" Party Entertainer Ken Fink from Wondergy, who fuels curiosity by making science fun and exciting. All children will receive a "goodie bag."
"Being Jewish at Christmas" is held at the National Museum of American Jewish History, Independence Mall East, 55 North 5th Street, from noon to 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person (children two and under admitted free). BJAC is free to Museum members and members of the military. Tickets are available only at the door. For more information call 215-923-3811 x 148.
"Being Jewish at Christmas" is made possible by the generous support of the Robert Saligman Jewish Heritage Fund.
MUSEUM SEEKS SUPPORT FOR ITS ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
A "prayer for the country" was written in 1789 by the Richmond, Virginia Jewish congregation following the ratification of the United States Constitution. The prayer said, in part (and pictured in Hebrew below):We beseech thee O Lord to have the President of the United States ... and all U.S. Senators and Representatives ... grant them such a share of knowledge that will tend to the happiness of the people ... that they may wisely and successfully execute the trust committed to their care, that knowledge, religion, and piety, arts and sciences, may increase, and that agriculture and manufactures, trade and commerce, may flourish.
Supporters of the NMAJH's Annual Campaign have allowed the Museum to preserve and present important artifacts like the Richmond prayer and in so doing tell the inspiring story of the American Jewish experience. The Museum is now seeking gifts for its end-of-year Annual Campaign. Gifts to the Annual Campaign support the Museum's collections, educational programs reaching more than 5,000 school children each year, and public programs highlighting the opportunities and challenges one ethnic encounters when living in freedom.
Your support of our Annual Campaign is more important than ever, as the Museum continues to explore and celebrate how Jews have shaped America and how America has shaped the Jews. Your gift will come at an exciting time for the Museum. We are creating an expansive destination museum that will chronicle the American Jewish experience through intriguing exhibits, rare artifacts, interactive displays and an array of educational and cultural programs for adults and children alike.
To make a tax deductible gift to the Annual Campaign please visit the Annual Fund Donation Page. For more information on the Annual Campaign or the Museum's Capital Campaign, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement, at 215.923.3811 x 133 or by e-mail. The Museum is in the midst of a $150 million Capital Campaign for construction of the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building. Nearly $112 million has been raised to date for the Campaign.
MUSEUM SHOP OFFERS HANUKKAH DISCOUNTS
Light up your Hannukah nights with this hanukkiah and dreidel (pictured left) designed by George Gabriel, which can be found in the Museum Shop and online store. Born in Buenos Aires, Gabriel has been designing art and jewelry in metal and glass for more than 20 years. Working from his studio in West Haven, CT, Gabriel creates one of a kind hand-crafted pieces made of copper, brass and iron. The metals are melted together to create artwork symbolizing infinity - bonding the human, the divine, and the spirit. In this piece, the dreidel spins in its holder on the hanukkiah giving movement to the piece.Gabriel's hanukkiah is only one of many Hanukkah related items being sold in the Museum Shop and its online store. Visit the Museum Shop to browse the collection or look at the items online at http://www.judaicashop.net/. For more information email Eva Schlanger or Elaine Silverman, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262. The Museum Shop is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m. All proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
EXHIBITION DISCUSSIONS ON VIEW
Short Film Shown in Exhibition
Visitors to the NMAJH can listen in as Senior Designer Jamie Rains and Creative Director Cybelle Jones of Gallagher & Associates, the new Museum's exhibition design firm, discuss plans for future exhibition spaces in the new Museum now being built."I would love it if every person would leave here [the new Museum] knowing that the NMAJH cares about what they are passionate about, what they think is important, what they think is an issue that needs to be dealt with," says Jones in the video, found in the Museum's changing exhibition, Shaping Space, Making Meaning.
The short video Designing An Exhibition For The NMAJH's New Home (pictured above) was created for Shaping Space, Making Meaning, which gives an insider's look at the process of developing a landmark exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life.Shaping Space, Making Meaning also has design sketches, computer-generated images, and interactive elements designed to get visitor feedback. The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum.
MUSEUM SPONSORS JEWISH BOXING FILMS FOR JEWISH FILM SERIES
Once again the Museum is supporting the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival by sponsoring movies that explore the American Jewish experience. The two films about Jewish boxers are being shown as part of the festival's Sports Weekend, which begins Dec. 7.In Orthodox Stance directed by Jason Hutt, 24-year-old Russian immigrant Dmitriy Salita shows the world that the "Jewish boxer" can still pack in the punches. The boxing world has never before confronted a Sabbath-observing boxer, and Salita's rabbis and friends have never before rooted for one of their own. Orthodox Stance is a portrait of seemingly incompatible cultures and individuals working together to support Salita's rare and remarkable devotion to both Orthodox Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title. This film is in Hebrew, English, Russian and Spanish, with English subtitles.
Max Baer's Last Right Hook, directed by Avida Livny, is the fictional story of Yaakov Gendelmayer, an unlucky entrepreneur during World War II who comes up with a brilliant publicity stunt. He will arrange a fight in Palestine between Max Baer, a Jewish former heavyweight boxer and Schatzchneider, a German boxer. Under the assumption that Baer with win, Gendelmayer sees the flight as a perfect opportunity to raise Jewish morale and earn him enough money to move to the United States. The fight does not go as planned, and in order to uncover the truth about Max's "last right hook," Gendelmayer's son, Joe, travels to Israel sixty years later. Though this fight never took place, Livny's mockumentary shows viewers what could have happened had the story been true.Speaking after the screening will be J.Russel Peltz, president of Peltz Boxing Promotions and an international Hall of Fame boxing promoter.Both films will be shown at the Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7. Orthodox Stance is at 2 p.m. and Max Baer's Last Right Hook is at 7 p.m.
The Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival screens some of the most acclaimed feature films and documentaries of the year, by some of the finest filmmakers from around the world including Brazil, Israel, France, Germany, Mexico and the USA. To purchase tickets to either showing please visit the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival website.
SPECIAL JPS BOOK OFFER FOR E-NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Jews created the first comic book, the first graphic novel, the first comic book convention, the first comic book specialty store, and they helped create the underground comics (or "Comix") movement of the late '60s and early '70s. The story of these comic book pioneers is told by Arie Kaplan in the Jewish Publication Society's, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books.This month, the Museum is teaming up with JPS to offer 10 copies of the book to E-Newsletter subscribers.From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books tells how the creators of the most famous comic books, such as Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, and Batman, as well as the founders of MAD Magazine, brought a uniquely Jewish perspective to their work and to the comics industry as a whole.Over-sized and in full color, the book is filled with sidebars, cartoon bubbles, comic book graphics, original design sketches, and photographs.
Kaplan is a comedian, MAD Magazine writer, and author of the new comic book miniseries Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer. He is the author of Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! and has written for MTV, Cartoon Network, and PBS Kids. Kaplan lectures all over the country about comic books, comedians, and popular culture.
To receive a copy of From Krakow to Krypton, be one of the first 10 people to contact JPS at http://www.jewishpub.org/. Please put NMAJH E-Newsletter subscriber in the subject line and include your name and address in the body.
AWARD-WINNING PIANIST PERFORMS AT KIMMEL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
The Museum is teaming up with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts to offer E-Newsletter subscribers two pairs of free tickets to a Kimmel Center Presents performance of Daniel Barenboim on piano, Dec. 8.For one night only, Grammy award-winning conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim returns to thrill audiences with an all-Liszt program-including selections from Années de pèlerinage (Deuxième Année: Italie) Légendes, and Paraphrases on Operas of Guiseppe Verdi for Piano Forte. The Chicago Sun-Times recently wrote, "Barenboim is one of the finest pianists before the public today."
Be one of the first two people to reply to the Public Relations Department at the Kimmel Center with the words, "NMAJH E-Newsletter subscriber" in the subject line for a chance at a pair of tickets. Daniel Barenboim will be performing Monday, December 8, 8 p.m. For ticket prices, please visit the Kimmel Center ticket page.
___________________________________
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
http://www.nmajh.org/
posted by nmajh @ 11/21/2008 
