NMAJH E-newsletter
May 21, 2008
Enews May 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.
___________________________________
1. WE'RE ON THE MALL, GIVE US A CALL
Visitors to the National Museum of American Jewish History now being constructed on Independence Mall will experience 350 years of American Jewish history, explained Dr. Jonathan Sarna, chief historian of the Museum. Through the stories told in the exhibition now being planned, he said visitors will understand how Jews changed America and how America changed the Jews.
Sarna's explanation of what visitors will find in the new exhibition comes courtesy of Guide by Cell, a new service installed by the Museum that allows people to receive updates on plans for the New Museum. By calling 215.525.1685, visitors can hear from Sarna and other individuals involved with creating the new Museum, including Museum Director/CEO Gwen Goodman and James Polshek, the Museum's architect. After calling the number, visitors can select who they would like to listen to, and have the opportunity to provide feedback.
The messages are changed periodically as the project proceeds so callers can receive new information on the Museum plans if they call every-so-often. The number also appears on signage at the construction site (pictured) so that curious pedestrians and drivers can learn about the project. The Museum is constructing a new 100,000-square-foot, five-story building on Independence Mall that will stand directly across from the Liberty Bell, two blocks south of the National Constitution Center, and one block north of the birthplace of American liberty, Independence Hall.
For more information on how to support the Museum, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement at 215.923.3811 x 133.
2. JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH CONTINUES WITH IDENTITY TALK
Free May 22 Program Explores Aspects of Jewish Identity in the 21st Century
"Jewish Peoplehood in the 21st Century and Beyond," a free panel discussion on Jewish identity, is being presented by the Museum as part of Jewish American Heritage Month on Thursday, May 22, 6:00 p.m.
The program will be moderated by Dr. Rebecca T. Alpert, associate professor of religion and women's studies at Temple University, and feature a group of presenters representing the complexity of American Jewry. Panelists include Rabbi Jon Konheim, a member of the Conservative Movement's Rabbinical Assembly and the Reform Movement's Central Conference of American Rabbis; Andre Key, a graduate fellow at the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University; Hanna Lau, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania and a curatorial intern at NMAJH; and Danielle Selber, an undergraduate student at Gratz College majoring in contemporary Jewish studies.
Among the topics that will be explored will be the ethnic diversity of Jews in America today and its implications for Jewish identity. Presenters will also address the personal and communal challenges multicultural Jews face as Jews and Americans. "Jewish Peoplehood in the 21st Century and Beyond" begins at 6:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served after the program. To RSVP, call 215.923.3811 x 142.
People attending the panel discussion are encouraged to bring a kosher canned/non-perishable item which will be donated to the Mitzvah Food Project.
This program is being held in conjunction with "Shaping Space, Making Meaning," the changing exhibition at the Museum, and American Jewish Heritage Month. Information on JAHM can be found at http://www.jewishheritage.us/. Refreshments will be provided by Kaplan's New Model Bakery.
3. VISITORS ANSWER QUESTIONS ON AMERICAN JEWISH ISSUES
The verdict is in, and it's a split decision regarding the question "Is personal heritage more important than fitting into mainstream society?"
"If being Jewish is a large part of who you are, you shouldn't change yourself just to fit into mainstream society," said a recent visitor from Clinton, N.J. to the Museum's changing exhibition, "Shaping Space, Making Meaning," where the provocative question was asked. Another visitor, from San Francisco, took the opposite tack, writing, "No. Getting oneself far apart from the general culture is a recipe for unhappiness."
Visitors to the exhibition are participating in a lively debate at the Museum by being asked to contribute their thoughts to issues being discussed in the American Jewish community, such as the one about personal heritage, as well as ones about antisemitism and American support for Israel.
In addition, the exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to learn how a museum creates a major exhibition and at the same time allows them to offer feedback through interactive experiences to the design team working on the new Museum. Other interactive elements in the exhibition include touch screens to engage visitors in a conversation about the Museum's major themes of freedom, immigration, and religious tolerance, and a short quiz to help the Museum learn about its audiences' knowledge of American Jewish history. The exhibition design team uses the answers to these questions to give them a sense of the trends that can be discerned.
In addition to the interactive elements, "Shaping Space, Making Meaning" has design sketches, computer-generated images, video and text that offer an insider's look at the process of developing a landmark exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life. The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum under construction and scheduled to open in 2010.
4. WHY TOUR WITHOUT THE J-TOUR?
Jewish Tours of Philadelphia Offered by Museum
A number of Philadelphia's earliest Jewish settlers lived on Elfreth's Alley, an approximately 300 year old historic still inhabited neighborhood. David Salisbury Franks, a controversial officer in the Continental Army is buried in Christ Church Burial Ground in historic Philadelphia. The history of Elfreth's Alley's early Jewish community and the life of Franks are among the many fascinating stories that groups will hear during the Museum's J-tours.
On the J-tour, groups explore the Colonial Jewish experience with a seasoned guide who tells the story of Philadelphia's Jewish community and the role that Jewish pioneers played in this city as well as in our emerging nation from Colonial times until now. The J-tour also explores how Jewish Philadelphians collaborated with the rest of their diverse community and contributed to the founding, maintenance and growth of the country.
"We designed the tour to be interactive," said Robert Levin, the Museum's education director. "As the tour meanders through the Old City historic district, we want participants to ask questions and engage in discussions about what it meant to be a Jew back then, and what it means to be one now."
The J-tour begins and ends at the Museum. Depending on the time a group has, the J-tour stops at such significant sites as the Statue, Religious Liberty (pictured above), Elfreth's Alley, Christ Church and Cemetery, Franklin Court, as well as other historic places where Jewish connections and contributions are highlighted.
To schedule a J-tour, please call the Museum Education Department at least six weeks in advance of the desired tour date at 215.923.5984 or fill out a group tour request form located online at our website.
5. KETUBAHS FEATURED AT MUSEUM SHOP
Wedding season is here. Visit the Museum Shop, or the Museum Shop's online store, to browse its extensive array of ketubahs such as the one pictured below, "Bashert! Meant to Be," by Michelle Rummel, premier designer, fine artist and owner of Shell Artistree LLC.
Rummel creates wedding products contemporary in design that offer a fresh creative vision.
Well known for her clean style, an artist's eye for color, texture and form, Rummel enjoys a loyal following for her award-winning fine art, which can often be found exhibited at juried shows, as well as in personal and corporate art collections around the world.
This ketubah is only one of a variety of ketubahs being sold at the Museum Shop and its online store.
In addition to ketubahs, the Museum Shop carries Judaica from a variety of artists. Visit the Museum Shop to browse the large assortment of items in all price ranges. For more information contact Museum Shop Managers , 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.
6. AMERICAN JEWISH PLAY OPENS IN MAY WITH READER DISCOUNT OFFER
The NMAJH and Interact Theatre Company are joining together to offer E-newsletter subscribers a special offer of $18.00 tickets to see "House, Divided," a challenging and timely examination of family, faith and politics, running at The Adrienne theatre from May 23 though June 22.
The play tells the story of the Goldstein family of Philadelphia, torn apart when older brother Louis decides to embrace Jewish Orthodoxy and move to Israel during the height of the Vietnam War. Betrayed and bewildered, his younger brother Douglas builds a life around peace activism. More than 20 later, Louis, now a retired officer of the Israeli army and Douglas, a senior director with Amnesty International, are divided by familial wounds and opposing religious and political beliefs. The brothers are forced to re-engage with one another when their sons make surprising life decisions of their own.
Loebell is a four-time recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, and a 2006 recipient of a new play commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. He teaches playwriting and dramaturgy at Arcadia University.
"House, Divided" is being performed at The Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia.
The $18.00 discount offer is only for performances taking place from Thursday, May 29 through Sunday, June 8. Purchase by phone by calling InterAct Theatre Company's Box Office at 215.568.8079 and mentioning that you are an NMAJH E-newsletter subscriber. Discount tickets are also available by ordering online at www.InterActTheatre.org, by entering promo code "NMAJH18" at check-out. The offer is not applicable toward previously purchased tickets, cannot be combined with any other offers, and is subject to availability.
Founded in 1988, InterAct is now celebrating it's 20th anniversary. Its aim is to educate, as well as entertain its audiences, by producing world-class, thought-provoking productions, and by using theatre as a tool to foster positive social change in the school, the workplace and the community. Through its artistic and educational programs, InterAct seeks to make a significant contribution to the cultural life of Philadelphia and to the American theatre.
___________________________________
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
___________________________________
1. WE'RE ON THE MALL, GIVE US A CALL
Visitors to the National Museum of American Jewish History now being constructed on Independence Mall will experience 350 years of American Jewish history, explained Dr. Jonathan Sarna, chief historian of the Museum. Through the stories told in the exhibition now being planned, he said visitors will understand how Jews changed America and how America changed the Jews.
Sarna's explanation of what visitors will find in the new exhibition comes courtesy of Guide by Cell, a new service installed by the Museum that allows people to receive updates on plans for the New Museum. By calling 215.525.1685, visitors can hear from Sarna and other individuals involved with creating the new Museum, including Museum Director/CEO Gwen Goodman and James Polshek, the Museum's architect. After calling the number, visitors can select who they would like to listen to, and have the opportunity to provide feedback.
The messages are changed periodically as the project proceeds so callers can receive new information on the Museum plans if they call every-so-often. The number also appears on signage at the construction site (pictured) so that curious pedestrians and drivers can learn about the project. The Museum is constructing a new 100,000-square-foot, five-story building on Independence Mall that will stand directly across from the Liberty Bell, two blocks south of the National Constitution Center, and one block north of the birthplace of American liberty, Independence Hall.
For more information on how to support the Museum, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement at 215.923.3811 x 133.
2. JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH CONTINUES WITH IDENTITY TALK
Free May 22 Program Explores Aspects of Jewish Identity in the 21st Century
"Jewish Peoplehood in the 21st Century and Beyond," a free panel discussion on Jewish identity, is being presented by the Museum as part of Jewish American Heritage Month on Thursday, May 22, 6:00 p.m.The program will be moderated by Dr. Rebecca T. Alpert, associate professor of religion and women's studies at Temple University, and feature a group of presenters representing the complexity of American Jewry. Panelists include Rabbi Jon Konheim, a member of the Conservative Movement's Rabbinical Assembly and the Reform Movement's Central Conference of American Rabbis; Andre Key, a graduate fellow at the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University; Hanna Lau, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania and a curatorial intern at NMAJH; and Danielle Selber, an undergraduate student at Gratz College majoring in contemporary Jewish studies.
Among the topics that will be explored will be the ethnic diversity of Jews in America today and its implications for Jewish identity. Presenters will also address the personal and communal challenges multicultural Jews face as Jews and Americans. "Jewish Peoplehood in the 21st Century and Beyond" begins at 6:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served after the program. To RSVP, call 215.923.3811 x 142.
People attending the panel discussion are encouraged to bring a kosher canned/non-perishable item which will be donated to the Mitzvah Food Project.
This program is being held in conjunction with "Shaping Space, Making Meaning," the changing exhibition at the Museum, and American Jewish Heritage Month. Information on JAHM can be found at http://www.jewishheritage.us/. Refreshments will be provided by Kaplan's New Model Bakery.
3. VISITORS ANSWER QUESTIONS ON AMERICAN JEWISH ISSUES
The verdict is in, and it's a split decision regarding the question "Is personal heritage more important than fitting into mainstream society?"
"If being Jewish is a large part of who you are, you shouldn't change yourself just to fit into mainstream society," said a recent visitor from Clinton, N.J. to the Museum's changing exhibition, "Shaping Space, Making Meaning," where the provocative question was asked. Another visitor, from San Francisco, took the opposite tack, writing, "No. Getting oneself far apart from the general culture is a recipe for unhappiness."Visitors to the exhibition are participating in a lively debate at the Museum by being asked to contribute their thoughts to issues being discussed in the American Jewish community, such as the one about personal heritage, as well as ones about antisemitism and American support for Israel.
In addition to the interactive elements, "Shaping Space, Making Meaning" has design sketches, computer-generated images, video and text that offer an insider's look at the process of developing a landmark exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life. The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum under construction and scheduled to open in 2010.
4. WHY TOUR WITHOUT THE J-TOUR?
Jewish Tours of Philadelphia Offered by Museum
A number of Philadelphia's earliest Jewish settlers lived on Elfreth's Alley, an approximately 300 year old historic still inhabited neighborhood. David Salisbury Franks, a controversial officer in the Continental Army is buried in Christ Church Burial Ground in historic Philadelphia. The history of Elfreth's Alley's early Jewish community and the life of Franks are among the many fascinating stories that groups will hear during the Museum's J-tours.On the J-tour, groups explore the Colonial Jewish experience with a seasoned guide who tells the story of Philadelphia's Jewish community and the role that Jewish pioneers played in this city as well as in our emerging nation from Colonial times until now. The J-tour also explores how Jewish Philadelphians collaborated with the rest of their diverse community and contributed to the founding, maintenance and growth of the country.
"We designed the tour to be interactive," said Robert Levin, the Museum's education director. "As the tour meanders through the Old City historic district, we want participants to ask questions and engage in discussions about what it meant to be a Jew back then, and what it means to be one now."
The J-tour begins and ends at the Museum. Depending on the time a group has, the J-tour stops at such significant sites as the Statue, Religious Liberty (pictured above), Elfreth's Alley, Christ Church and Cemetery, Franklin Court, as well as other historic places where Jewish connections and contributions are highlighted.
To schedule a J-tour, please call the Museum Education Department at least six weeks in advance of the desired tour date at 215.923.5984 or fill out a group tour request form located online at our website.
5. KETUBAHS FEATURED AT MUSEUM SHOP
Wedding season is here. Visit the Museum Shop, or the Museum Shop's online store, to browse its extensive array of ketubahs such as the one pictured below, "Bashert! Meant to Be," by Michelle Rummel, premier designer, fine artist and owner of Shell Artistree LLC.Rummel creates wedding products contemporary in design that offer a fresh creative vision.
Well known for her clean style, an artist's eye for color, texture and form, Rummel enjoys a loyal following for her award-winning fine art, which can often be found exhibited at juried shows, as well as in personal and corporate art collections around the world.
This ketubah is only one of a variety of ketubahs being sold at the Museum Shop and its online store.
In addition to ketubahs, the Museum Shop carries Judaica from a variety of artists. Visit the Museum Shop to browse the large assortment of items in all price ranges. For more information contact Museum Shop Managers , 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.
6. AMERICAN JEWISH PLAY OPENS IN MAY WITH READER DISCOUNT OFFER
The NMAJH and Interact Theatre Company are joining together to offer E-newsletter subscribers a special offer of $18.00 tickets to see "House, Divided," a challenging and timely examination of family, faith and politics, running at The Adrienne theatre from May 23 though June 22.The play tells the story of the Goldstein family of Philadelphia, torn apart when older brother Louis decides to embrace Jewish Orthodoxy and move to Israel during the height of the Vietnam War. Betrayed and bewildered, his younger brother Douglas builds a life around peace activism. More than 20 later, Louis, now a retired officer of the Israeli army and Douglas, a senior director with Amnesty International, are divided by familial wounds and opposing religious and political beliefs. The brothers are forced to re-engage with one another when their sons make surprising life decisions of their own.
Loebell is a four-time recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, and a 2006 recipient of a new play commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. He teaches playwriting and dramaturgy at Arcadia University.
"House, Divided" is being performed at The Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia.The $18.00 discount offer is only for performances taking place from Thursday, May 29 through Sunday, June 8. Purchase by phone by calling InterAct Theatre Company's Box Office at 215.568.8079 and mentioning that you are an NMAJH E-newsletter subscriber. Discount tickets are also available by ordering online at www.InterActTheatre.org, by entering promo code "NMAJH18" at check-out. The offer is not applicable toward previously purchased tickets, cannot be combined with any other offers, and is subject to availability.
Founded in 1988, InterAct is now celebrating it's 20th anniversary. Its aim is to educate, as well as entertain its audiences, by producing world-class, thought-provoking productions, and by using theatre as a tool to foster positive social change in the school, the workplace and the community. Through its artistic and educational programs, InterAct seeks to make a significant contribution to the cultural life of Philadelphia and to the American theatre.
___________________________________
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 @ 5/21/2008 
