Museum Memberships Are a Good Bar And Bat Mitzvah Gift
For a year, Sasha Phillips had studied hard for her December 19 bat mitzvah, learning her torah portion and haftorah, practicing the prayers, preparing her speech. And then, on the weekend of the big day, a fierce storm hit the East Coast, including her hometown of Blue Bell, PA.
Thankfully, the bat mitzvah weekend went off without a hitch and Sasha "did an incredible job," according to her proud mother, Marla, adding that the family was delighted Sasha's bat mitzvah honored her uncle Abraham who perished in the Holocaust and was never able to be a bar mitzvah.
Searching for a unique way to thank Sasha's rabbi, Joshua Kalev, her cantor, Elizabeth Shammash, and family friend and tutor Rhona Fromm, Marla and Doron Phillips bought each of them a Founding Membership to the National Museum of American Jewish History.
"I thought it would be something special and heartwarming to get them memberships, to be a part of something that represents Jewish history," Marla said.
More than 5,000 people have joined the growing list of people who have supported the Founding Membership campaign of the Museum. By making a Founding Membership gift, individuals will support what will be an iconic institution on Independence Mall, as well as a leading national education and cultural center. The Phillips, too, have also become Founding Members. "It's a part of our family's heritage and we want to support the Museum," she said.
Founding Memberships may be purchased for your family or others with a gift of $54. Founding Members who make a minimum gift of $90 will receive a limited edition print depicting world-renowned architect James Polshek's design for the new Museum. Founding Members will be able to participate in the Museum's opening celebrations and to visit the NMAJH free whenever they choose throughout the membership term. Their names will also be permanently listed in the Museum.
The new Museum is scheduled to open in November 2010. Visit the Museum's website for information on becoming a Founding Member and about the benefits provided at each level of donation, or call the Development Office at 215.923.3811 x 104
For information on ways to participate in the Museum's Capital Campaign, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's Director of Institutional Advancement, at 215.923.3811 x 133.
Visitors Invited to Preview Interactive Exhibits Developed for New Museum
Beginning April 14, visitors will be offered the rare opportunity to help the Museum test out two interactive exhibits. Finished versions of each will be installed in the Museum's new building on Philadelphia's Independence Mall, set to open in November of 2010. On display will be "It's Your Story," a video recording booth that invites visitors to tell their own stories, share family histories, and react to some of the new Museum's central themes. Nearby is the "Contemporary Issues Forum," a unique multimedia installation that allows visitors to participate in a vigorous discussion about some of the most important issues facing the American Jewish community and the world today.
"We are very pleased that we can offer these Museum experiences to visitors prior to the opening of our new building. There is immense interest in our new Museum and these exhibits will allow visitors a small taste of the kinds of interactive experiences they will be able to enjoy as part of our core exhibition," said Michael Rosenzweig, NMAJH president and CEO.
"The experiences of the participants with these exhibits will, in turn, help us hone them so that they offer the best possible experience for visitors in our new Museum," he added.
The "It's Your Story" booth will be able to accommodate up to four visitors at one time who will be prompted, through a series of questions, to share personal and family stories as well as reflect on the major themes represented in the new Museum.
In the new Museum, after visitors record their stories, they will be available through a web link that they can share with their friends and family. In addition, every video will be preserved by the museum and a selection will be accessible to anyone who visits the Museum.
Visitors to the Contemporary Issues Forum will be asked to respond to such provocative questions such as "Is intermarriage a threat to the American Jewish community?" "Does antisemitism exist in the United States?" and "Should religion play a role in American politics?"
In addition, people's opinions, their handwriting, and their physical image, will be projected into the space. This projection will allow other visitors to see how other participants voted. "This custom-made technology will fill the exhibit with the dissent, passion and dialogue that embodies the American Jewish and American experience," said Dr. Josh Perelman, the Museum's historian and deputy director of programming. "It's a level of engagement rarely found in public institutions."
Both exhibits will be installed in the second floor of the new Museum. The theme of the second floor is "Choices and Challenges of Freedom" and explores American Jewish history from the 1940s to the present day.
Finishes Are Next Step in Construction Glass guardrails have been placed on the atrium stairs.
Paint is being applied on the fourth and fifth floors and carpeting has been laid on the fifth floor and tiles in other areas.
These finishing touches are bringing the Museum building steps closer to completion, with the opening scheduled for November 2010.
Later this month, wall-sized murals will be installed throughout the Museum's fourth floor galleries. Titled "Foundations of Freedom," the Museum's fourth floor spans 1654 through the 1880s and will explore the beginnings of the American Jewish community, its growth, and the ways in which Jews, by choice and by necessity, innovated, adapted, experimented, argued and confronted the endless possibilities and tradeoffs involved in building new lives. "This floor explores how freedom was sought, tested, and expanded in a new nation," according to Dr. Josh Perelman, the Museum's historian and deputy director of programming.
The murals will have graphics, images and text and will complement the artifacts and interactive exhibits that will convey the early chapters of American Jewish history, he said.
For an up-to-date picture of the construction site that refreshes every 15 minutes, view our Museum-Cam. To see additional photos of the Museum's construction like those above, click here.
Exhibition Will Tell Story of Jewish Effort in World War I; Museum Seeks Artifacts
Confronted with the need to send more male troops abroad, in 1918 the Secretary of the Navy approved allowing women to enroll in the United States Marine Corps to perform clerical duties. Corporal Eva Davidson, one of 300 women to enlist that year, served in the Marines' payroll office.
For her services, Davidson received a World War I Victory Medal. The medal will be on display in the new Museum in the section of the third floor that discusses World War I.
Through posters and other artifacts, this gallery will feature the considerable support American Jews lent to the war effort, including providing four-to-five percent of the American armed forces and creating organizations like the Jewish Welfare Board. While the war had a significant impact on Jews' patriotism, it also found them witnessing the destruction of their old European homes and the suffering of European relatives.
Other artifacts that will be on display are military service items, draft records, orders, Irving Berlin's uniform, and a belt issued by the Jewish Welfare Board, all offering a window into the experience of Jewish soldiers.
The Museum is currently seeking artifacts related to Jewish experiences serving in recent wars and artifacts related to Jewish womens' military experiences in any war.
The premise of NMAJH collecting is that history affects all people and that everyone has valuable stories to tell. The wide variety of artifacts in the collection vividly evokes the diversity of the American Jewish experience.
If you have an object you would like the Museum to consider for donation, please contact Rebecca Levine, the Museum's associate registrar, at rlevine@nmajh.org or at 215.923.3811 x 138.
Museum Shop Packing On Discounts
The Museum Shop, like the Museum, will be moving to the new building opening November of this year. During the next few months shoppers will receive at least 20 percent off almost every item as the shop gets ready for the change.
The Museum Shop carries Judaica from a variety of artists in an array of styles. Items for every major Jewish holiday adorn the shelves as do childrens' toys, ceremonial and religious books, tallitot, kippot, a variety of hand crafted Jewelry and much more.
The sale does not apply to ketubot and silver ceremonial items.
Shop in person or browse items online at www.judaicashop.net. For more information e-mail Eva Schlanger or Elaine Silverman, 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.
Museum Sponsors American-Jewish Films by Emerging Filmmakers
Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival Continues
Once again, the Museum is sponsoring films that explore the American Jewish experience in the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival. These films that will end the festival are being shown as part of the festival's "New Filmmakers Weekend" series running May 1 though May 3.
The first film that the Museum is sponsoring, "HAG: The Story of the Hasidic Actors' Guild," was directed by Yisrael "Izzi" Lifschutz (pictured at right). Lifschutz established the Hasidic Actors' Guild, where he trained actors, dancers, and musicians to portray Hasidim on film more accurately and sympathetically. The problem occurs when Lifschutz alienates both friends and filmmakers by "HAG-ing" the spotlight.
Screening with "HAG" is a short film called "B-2247: A Granddaughter's Understanding." In this touching short documentary, director Sara Greenberg travels with her survivor grandparents to witness the world they lived in. Greenberg created this film as a younger generation's testament to the need to remember.
Both filmmakers will be in attendance and will receive awards for their efforts on stage prior to the screenings.
Opening night of "New Filmmakers Weekend" (Saturday, May 1, 8 p.m.) features special guest Andrew Kosove, producer of the Oscar-nominated film "The Blind Side," and "The Book of Eli."
For descriptions of the rest of the films in the series, times, and speakers, visit the PJFF website. All films will be shown at the Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia.
To purchase tickets to either showing, please visit the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival website.Janis Ian Concert Tickets Offered
The National Museum of American Jewish History is teaming up with Grammy winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian to provide two E-Newsletter subscribers each with a pair of tickets to her upcoming performance at the Sellersville Theatre. Ian is also offering two additional subscribers a copy of her autobiography "Society's Child" along with her CD, "The Best of Janis Ian - The Autobiography Collection."
Ian burst onto the scene at 15 with her controversial saga of interracial love "Society's Child," which topped the charts. Her hit single "At Seventeen," which sold more than a million copies, soon followed, and earned Ian her first two Grammy Awards - and then a platinum number one album, "Between the Lines." Janis' music also appears in several films and TV shows. Considered a "musician's musician," Janis' songs have been recorded by the likes of Bette Midler, Glen Campbell, Vanilla Fudge, Cher, Joan Baez and Etta James.
The Sellersville Theatre performance is Friday, April 23 at
8 p.m.
The first four subscribers to e-mail enews@nmajh.org will receive either a pair of tickets to the performance or a CD/autobiography set. Please specify which promotion is preferred in the subject line. Include a mailing address and name in the body of the e-mail.
Tickets to the show are available on the Sellersville Theatre website.
Only winners will be notified.
