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October 2019
Open House New York
Open House New York is the city’s largest architecture and design event! The Museum is free all day for self-guided visitors or guided tours. Hourly tours with expert docents will tell the story of our home, the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, and its 20-year, $20 million restoration. Completed in 2007, the meticulous restoration reversed decades of neglect and decay, uncovering fascinating history and raising preservation questions along the way. Tours will also explore the main sanctuary’s newest installation – a…
Opening Reception for “Pressed: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward”
For more than 120 years, the Forward has given an eager American Jewish audience a unique mix of news, culture and opinion. Published on the Lower East Side beginning in 1897, this Yiddish-language newspaper had a circulation of more than 275,000 in its heyday. Now a digital-only publication appearing in both English and Yiddish, the Forward maintains a vast archive tracing the history of the printed publication and the stories it covered. Pressed dives into this archive, presenting a selection…
Joseph: Interpretations through the Ages
In this series with expert teacher Regina Stein, you will examine the variety of ways in which the story of Joseph, presented in Genesis 37-50, has been interpreted in post-Biblical Jewish literature (such as the Apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls), by the classical rabbis, as well as by Christians and Muslims. In what ways do their interpretations promote their own agendas? How can a single Biblical character come to be understood in so many different ways? You’ll gain a…
Outsiders Book Club
In honor of the Year of the Woman – celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage – this book club celebrates stories of women as outsiders. The protagonists of these novels, short stories and memoirs find themselves on the margins of society – as activists encountering political, sexual or social opposition, or minorities struggling to understand a new culture. Through reading benchmarks, thoughtful questions and group discussions, you’ll unpack women-centric narratives and themes. Each month, you skilled group leader Lucy…
Arches, Balconies & Columns: The ABCs of Architecture
What makes a building beautiful and functional? There’s no better place to figure that out than in the eclectic 19th-century synagogue in which the Museum makes its home. Guided by a Center for Architectue Design Educator, families will explore the dizzying array of architectural styles and design details in our building that come together to form a beautiful and unique whole. Plus, budding builders will have a chance to make their own architectural masterpieces. Recommended for children in grades 2-5…
From Beame to Bloomberg: Jews in City Government
Jews have been living in New York City since 1653. Since then, they have contributed to the growth of the city’s vibrancy and culture in myriad arenas. This course will profile Jewish politicians and their time in office, from New York’s first Jewish mayor, Abraham Became, and the fiscal crisis of the 1970’s to the economic recovery of the Koch era and the boom-times of Michael Bloomberg. You’ll explore other prominent personalities and their careers including House of Representative members…
Medieval Jewish Thinkers in their Historical Contexts
Jews, Muslims, and Christians asked many of the same questions in the Middle Ages: What is God? What are religious truths and what are our best sources for knowing them? What does God want from us? What is evil and where does it come from? How should we live a good life? This course will explore three of the major medieval Jewish thinkers—Saadia Gaon, Judah Halevi, and Maimonides—as we compare their answers to some of these questions in the context…
Designing Tenements and Temples: The Herter Brothers
Tenements are commonplace in many New York neighborhoods, but they’re poorly understood. But through new research and fieldwork, Zachary Violette’s has uncovered surprising facts and narratives about the city’s tenement builders. In his recent book The Decorated Tenement: How Immigrant Builders and Architects Transformed the Slum in the Gilded Age, Violette uses decorative ornamentation as a way to reconsider the role of tenement architects (many of whom had deep roots in immigrant communities) in improving housing for the poor. In this talk,…
November 2019
All-of-a-Kind Family Walking Tour
School’s out for Election Day, and we’ve got your day-off plan: a Lower East Side walking tour for families inspired by the children’s classic All-of- a-Kind Family. Join us as we follow in the footsteps of Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie, the beloved sisters depicted in Sydney Taylor’s book. We’ll stroll through the streets and into the story to visit the spots where the children played, prayed and purchased pickles. Recommended for children five and up and their adult…
Metropolitan Klezmer concert
Now celebrating their 25th year together, Metropolitan Klezmer brings eclectic exuberance to Yiddish musical genres from all over the map. Performing vibrant versions of gems from wedding dance, trance, folk, swing and tango styles, as well as soundtrack material from vintage Yiddish films, this octet re-invents tradition with irreverence, respect, and joy. This special performance will also feature a rarely heard repertoire including balladry of the Triangle Fire, a Yiddish-rooted Soviet animation score, and a gorgeous range of imaginative original…
