(Jewish Group) Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month by Visiting These Sites
May is Jewish American Heritage Month and that means it is a great time to learn while exploring. I describe my own background as “Jewish lite” because while both my parents are Jewish and all my ancestors hail from Eastern Europe, growing up my household was more spiritual than religious. A handful of key traditions were passed down, but we didn’t often follow the standard rituals. This has left me drawn to heritage sites that can teach me & help inform my ever-evolving Jewish identity.
Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Berkley, CA
The Magnes isn’t located directly on Berkley’s campus, so don’t look for it there. It is on Allston Way about a 5-minute walk from the edge of campus. Be sure to plan your visit in advance because their schedule does follow the semester schedule (open during Fall and Spring semesters but closed during winter break and summer break.) Admission is always free. I suggest allowing 90 minutes to see the collection.
As the exhibits rotate, you’ll be rewarded with a wide array of mediums, including paintings, photography, and historical/sociological exhibits. During a recent visit, I viewed paintings by Ori Sherman, photographs by Roman Vishniac, and an exhibit detailing the Jewish influence around the world through history as related to transportation, fashion, music and more.
Perhaps my favorite exhibits though, were tied to research by Berkley students. Berkley is well-known for having a “gourmet ghetto” (collection of high-quality restaurants). The term led a Berkley student to research food and identity in daily life. The result was a collection of kitchen items, linens and tableware used in Jewish rituals on display. A second exhibit was about Jewish identity in all corners of one’s life. To illustrate this a doctoral student put together a display of household items such as menorahs, torah arks, furniture, kitchenware and more.
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