Celebrating immigrants through a uniquely American story.

Shanah tova! The Museum/virtual offices remain closed today in observance of the Jewish New Year. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year.   Image: Rosh Hashanah postcard National Museum of American Jewish History, 1982.3.8 Mr. & Mrs. Paul Schimmel Purchase Fund

<strong>Conversation and Concert with Nani Noam Vazana</strong> Wednesday, September 30 at 1 pm ET via Facebook Live and NMAJH website Free, with suggested $5 donation. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/3582093318470195/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook RSVP encouraged</a>. Registration not required. In partnership with <a href="http://jewsinallhues.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jews in ALL Hues</a> <p style="font-size: 120%;">Celebrate and explore the music of the world's first original Ladino (Judeo Spanish) artist, <strong>Nani Noam Vazana</strong>. Nani will sit down virtually with NMAJH public programs manager and musician, Dan Samuels, to talk about her upbringing, her Moroccan roots, musical influences, favorite collaborators, and what drives her passion for creating original Ladino music.</p> <p style="font-size: 120%;">Nani is an acclaimed international singer, composer, pianist and trombonist. Now celebrating her fourth album <em>Ke Haber</em> (<em>What's New</em>) and her first UK tour, Nani's current work captures the spirit of an endangered language and culture, propels it into the 21st century with socially pertinent lyrics, and celebrates migration, gender and identity, from a strong, female perspective.</p> <p style="font-size: 120%;">Read more about Nani in <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/an-israeli-singer-in-amsterdam-creates-the-worlds-first-ladino-pop-album/#gs.fp9m40" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this article.</a></p> &nbsp; <p style="font-size: 120%;">Ways to watch: Look for the LIVE post on the <a href="http://nmajh.org/facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Museum's Facebook page</a> at 1pm ET. You do not need a Facebook account to view the program.</p> <p style="font-size: 120%;">Beginning at 1pm EST, this program will also be available on the <a href="https://nmajh.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Museum's website NMAJH.org</a> via a pop-up message on the homepage. Please note that audience Q&amp;A is only available on Facebook during the live program.</p> &nbsp; <strong>About the series: </strong> This series launched in June 2020 explores music from varied Jewish traditions and diverse cultures, from the historic and traditional to the contemporary and reimagined. Through conversations, performances, videos, audio, and audience Q&amp;A, this series will use music to better understand the complex, culturally diverse communities which make up the Jewish People, and our nation. <strong>More about Nani Noam Vazana</strong> Nani Noam Vazana is an acclaimed international singer, composer, pianist and trombonist. She brings a breath of fresh air into the world music landscape with her hypnotizing vocals, often compared to Mercedes Sosa and Nina Simone, and her timeless compositions, which blend Middle Eastern music, North African beats, and the Sephardic traditional song. The cultural backgrounds of her fellow musicians – Pablo Dominguez (son of Chano Doinguez) on guitar and Ayoze de Alejandro on percussion - range, like the Ladino language itself, from all around the globe: the Iberian peninsula, Israel and The Canary Islands. For 2020 she is booked to play on major stages: the Richmond Folk Festival USA (main stage), the Montana Folk Festival USA (main stage), representing Israel at the HUE Festival Vietnam, the Manchester Jazz Festival UK and 34 more dates around the world. In 2019, she performed at the Kennedy Center USA, Jodhpur RIFF festival India, represented the Netherlands at the EU Music Festival in Vietnam, won the SENA Album Award and an Arts Council England Commission Award. The Dutch NPO network released a mini documentary about Nani’s musical work in 2018. Nani also composed music for BBC and NPO documentaries. Nani is the chairwoman of the Amsterdam Artist Collective, CEO at <em>Why DIY Music</em> and at <em>Nova Productions</em>, and is a frequent collaborator, including with the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra and South-African cellist Abel Selaocoe.

Time and tickets coming soon. We're so excited to announce that <strong>Mayim Bialik</strong>, the talented actress, neuroscientist, and author will be joining us for a livestream conversation the evening of October 6. We can't wait! Mark your calendars, details to follow. Oh, and it will be free for NMAJH Members! <strong>About Mayim:</strong> Mayim Hoya Bialik is best known for portraying Bette Midler as a child in “Beaches” as well as her subsequent lead role as Blossom Russo in the early-1990s NBC television sitcom “Blossom.” Bialik most recently appeared regularly on the #1 comedy in America, CBS' “The Big Bang Theory,” playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler, a role for which she has been a four-time nominee for an Emmy and two-time winner of the Critics’ Choice Award. She will star in an upcoming multi-camera sitcom, “Call Me Kat,” airing on FOX in Fall 2020. Bialik earned a B.S. from UCLA in 2000 in Neuroscience and Hebrew &amp; Jewish Studies, and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, also from UCLA, in 2007. Her book about Attachment Parenting, <em>Beyond the Sling</em>, was published in March 2012 (Simon and Schuster). Her vegan cookbook, <em>Mayim’s Vegan Table</em>, was published by Da Capo Press in Spring of 2014. Bialik also has two <em>New York Times</em> bestsellers with <em>Girling Up: How to be Strong, Smart and Spectacular</em> (Philomel Books 2017) and <em>Boying Up: How to be Brave, Bold and Brilliant</em> (Philomel Books 2018). 📸: Storm Santos

<strong>Critical Conversation Starters: Charlottesville and the Case Against White Supremacy</strong> <strong>Thursday, October 8 2020 at 8 pm ET (5pm PT / 7pm CT) </strong> <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XiEudHRqQei9uG1I26vTRg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click here to register</a>. Registration is Required to Access the Zoom Session. This program is free and open to the public <strong>About the program: </strong> Three years ago, neo-Nazis and white supremacists descended on Charlottesville, VA for a weekend of violence. This violence was no accident — rather, it was the result of months of planning. And it served as a harbinger of the cycle of extremist terror that has followed. Integrity First for America (IFA), in partnership with a world-class legal team, is uniquely taking on the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups at the center of this violent movement, holding them accountable in federal court for the violence they brought to Charlottesville in 2017. IFA’s lawsuit details how these extremists conspired online to orchestrate a weekend of violence, which resulted in Heather Heyer’s death and extensive injuries. It provides a tangible way to take action against the white supremacy and extremism that’s poisoning this country and has the potential to bankrupt and dismantle the leaders and hate groups at the center of this movement — which is key, given their disturbing connections to the broader cycle of violence. Taking on, and taking down, these violent extremists is all the more critical as we see them try to exploit recent protests to spread disinformation, hate, fear, and violence. Join IFA Executive Director <strong>Amy Spitalnick</strong> for an overview of this landmark case and the fight against white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, and other forms of hate. <strong>Program Partners &amp; Suggested Donations</strong> <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwji44LZtOvrAhVrhXIEHTvQCgYQFjAAegQIARAD&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fjewishmuseummilwaukee.org%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw10UqWNl8rlPa6Tg8LTsFy2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jewish Museum Milwaukee</a> is proud to partner with <a href="https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Integrity First for America</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiP_YX-tOvrAhXLmHIEHVRuAhUQFjAAegQIARAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holocaustmuseumla.org%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw2D1UGo8veA5CuEUd1Z81vX" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Holocaust Museum LA</a>, and <a href="https://nmajh.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Museum of American Jewish History</a> to provide this meaningful program. Please consider donating to support the work of these organizations. All donations will be shared. <em>All donations will be split between JMM, HMLA, NMAJH (50/25/25) after donation made to IFA. </em><a href="https://app.mobilecause.com/f/16lb/n?vid=1ex4a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DONATE HERE</a> Sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Image: Flowers and a photo of car-ramming victim Heather Heyer lie at a makeshift memorial on Aug. 13. Justin Ide—Reuters. https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/