Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Area Attractions: National Museum of American Jewish History

The National Museum of American Jewish History(NMAJH) is pleased to announce a variety of programs and activities for all ages this season, from the special exhibition The Art of Rube Goldberg, to the onstage forum Antisemitism in America: Is Hate Speech Free Speech, to a film screening with live score. Guests can get in the holiday spirit at the Young Friends of NMAJH’s Cocktails and Candle Lighting Hanukkah celebration and the annual Being ___ at Christmas day of family fun. The Museum will be open and free on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and throughout the month of February.

The full list of winter programming follows. Ticket information for each event can be found on the Museum’s Calendar of Events, nmajh.org/calendar
The Art of Rube Goldberg
On view through January 21, 2019
The Art of Rube Goldberg is the first comprehensive retrospective exhibition of Rube Goldberg's work since the Smithsonian's 1970 celebration of the artist. It explores his varied career from his earliest published works and iconic Rube Goldberg machine invention drawings, to his Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoons, and more. Throughout his long career, Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) chronicled almost every salient aspect of modern American life. His work touched on everything from fashion and sports to gender, politics, and international affairs. This exhibition explores the artistry and wit that made Rube Goldberg one of the twentieth century's most celebrated and enduring cartoonists - and a household name. The Art of Rube Goldberg was conceived by Creighton Michael; developed in cooperation with Heirs of Rube Goldberg, LLC, NY, NY; and curated by Max Weintraub. Tour coordinated by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC. Major support provided by Bank of America. Learn more: nmajh.org/rube


Meet MI POLIN
Wednesday, December 5 at 2:00 PM
NMAJH is proud to welcome Helena Czernek and Aleksander Prugar from Warsaw, owners and designers of the MI POLIN cast bronze mezuzot. Join us for a very special presentation. Through video and conversation, learn their story and their process for finding, researching, and preserving mezuzah traces left behind on doorframes in WWII Poland.
Young Friends of NMAJH Present: Cocktails and Candle Lighting
Thursday, December 6, 7 – 10 PM
Join the Young Friends of NMAJH for their annual Hanukkah celebration filled with lights, latkes, and libations! Our event, which attracted 200+ guests last year, will feature a specialty cocktail, wine and beer, and Hanukkah-inspired hors d'oeuvres.
Antisemitism in America: is Hate Speech Free Speech?
Monday, December 10 at 6:00 PM
Free with advance registration. Made possible thanks to support from The Snider Foundation.
How do we fight antisemitism while protecting the Constitutional rights of all Americans? This is the central question our expert speakers will debate in this timely conversation.
Moderated by Jeff Rosen, President & CEO of the National Constitution Center, with panelists Brooke Goldstein, Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, and Greg Lukianoff, President & CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
Members’ Curator Tour
Tuesday, December 11 at 11:00 AM
Members at all levels are invited to attend a private, curator-led tour of The Art of Rube Goldberg with Dr. Josh Perelman, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation. Space is limited; RSVP tomembership@nmajh.org or 215-923-3811 ext.106.
Concert Screening: The Ancient Law
Wednesday, December 12
In partnership with the Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival and ld at NMAJH
Details and tickets available at PJFF.org
Renowned Klezmer fiddler Alicia Svigals and silent film pianist Donald Sosin return to NMAJH with an original score they will perform LIVE during a screening of The Ancient Law. One of the hottest tickets at the 68th Berlinale, Ewald André Dupont’s classic German silent film, The Ancient Law, tells the story of Baruch (Ernst Deutsch), the son of a rabbi in Galicia during the 1860s who catches the acting bug and leaves home against his father’s will to join a traveling theater troupe only to return to his family and life in the shtetl. Made during the mass migration of Eastern European Jews fleeing the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the film’s depiction of 19th century Jewish life in Europe is sympathetic to the Orthodox Jewish culture of Europe’s nascent refugee population while still highlighting the tension between tradition and modernity. Four years after its release, The Ancient Law served as the primary source material for The Jazz Singer (1927). Special thanks: The restoration of this lost masterpiece of German-Jewish cinema was made possible by a collaboration between the Deutsche Kinemathek and ARRI laboratory, together with ZDF and ARTE.

Being ____ at Christmas
Tuesday, December 25
Free for NMAJH Members, Children are $5, regular admission applies to all other admission types.
The Museum is open. The galleries are warm. All we need is you to get the party started. Join us for live music with returning favorite Emmy Award-wining Alex & the Kaleidoscope. Meet the "man behind the machine" in the special exhibition The Art of Rube Goldberg filled with educational fun for the whole family. Also enjoy Rube-themed crafts, face painting and balloon art from Bon Bon's Parties, classic films, story time, and more! Full schedule of activities is available online at NMAJH.org/Dec25. Sponsored by the Robert Saligman Jewish Heritage Fund.
MLK Day
Monday, January 21
The Museum is open and FREE as we honor the social justice legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. through family-friendly activities. Explore stories of American Jews as they fought discrimination and overcame adversity within the larger context of America’s ongoing struggles for religious, ethnic, and racial freedom. This is also the last day to see The Art of Rube Goldberg.Visit the NMAJH website for a complete schedule of activities.
Presidents’ Day
Monday, February 18
Join us for a special Family Day honoring our nation’s presidents. Explore an original letter written by George Washington to the Jewish community (on view at the Museum) and write your own letter to the president at the Freedom Family Presidential Corner. Join us for crafts and story time for children, teens, and adults of all abilities. You might meet George Washington himself, he promised to stop by and say hello. 
To view NMAJH’s full programs calendar and to register for events, visitNMAJH.org/calendar.
For high-res images for The Art of Rube Goldberg, click here.
For events-related images, click here.
SAVE THE DATE:
Sara Berman’s Closet, the Museum’s next special exhibition, opens April 5, 2019.

A powerful and intimate exploration of independence, identity, feminism, family, time, immigration, memory, joy, and courage, the art exhibition speaks to the universal pursuit of meaning and beauty, from the monumental to the mundane. Sara Berman’s daughter and grandson, celebrated artist Maira Kalman and curator Alex Kalman, have re-created Sara’s meticulous and quirky closet as an homage to stories everyday belongings represent. The Kalmans, who have been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and inThe New Yorker, are creating an outdoor installation of Sara’s closet on the Museum’s plaza facing Independence Mall, where it puts Sara’s story on par with the surrounding monuments to our country’s founding fathers. This exhibition will feature the Museum’s first-ever public art installation on the Museum’s Kimmel Plaza on the corner of 5th and Market Streets.
Accompanying the installation will be an original companion exhibition inside the Museum in the 5th floor gallery in which the Kalmans blend art, history, and memory to chronicle Sara’s journey from Belarus to Tel Aviv to NYC through original paintings, text, and ephemera.
About the National Museum of American Jewish History
The National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH), located on historic Independence Mall in Philadelphia, brings to life the more than 360-year history of Jews in America. Tracing the stories of how Jewish immigrants became Jewish Americans, the Museum invites visitors of all backgrounds to share their own stories and reflect on how their histories and identities shape and are shaped by the American experience. An open door for all, NMAJH honors the past and contributes to a better future by sharing the power of imagination and ideas, culture and community, leadership and service, in ways that turn inspiration into action.
NMAJH is located at 101 South Independence Mall East at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets in Philadelphia. Museum hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am - 5:30 pm. Museum admission is $15.00 for adults, $13.00 for senior citizens and youth, free for children 12 and under, Museum Members, and active military with ID; reduced prices available if purchased online. Connect with the Museum on FacebookInstagramTwitter, and Pinterest. For more information, visit NMAJH.org

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