Come Visit Us at the Jewish Health, Weath & Lifestyle Expo!

The Jewish Museum of Maryland will have a table at the Jewish Health, Wealth & Lifestyle Expo this Sunday, November 15th. Held at the Hilton in Pikesville from Noon to 5:00pm, we hope to see you there!

Check out www.jewishbusinessconnection.com to find out more!

Spring Semester Internship Announcements

Spring semester internships can begin as early as January 15, 2010

LIBRARY INTERN

The Jewish Museum of Maryland seeks a qualified graduate intern to assist in the Library department. The Library Intern will be responsible for entering a backlog of library materials into Past Perfect, conducting a full shelf read in the open stacks, and assisting with new acquisitions.

Interested students should be working toward a degree in history, art history, material culture, Jewish studies, museum studies, or library science. Previous museum or library experience is not required. The internship is 12 weeks long and requires a minimum of 8 hours/week. This internship can be used for academic credit.

Please send a cover letter, resume, availability and list of three references to Ms. Rachel Kassman, Photo Archivist and Librarian, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore MD 21202 or to rkassman@jewishmuseummd.org. Please include “Library Intern” in your subject line. Applications will be reviewed as received.

JMM PHOTO INTERN

The Jewish Museum of Maryland seeks a qualified intern to assist in the photo archives. The Photo Intern will be responsible for processing, cataloging and digitizing the photographic collections of the museum. The photo intern may also be asked to assist with other collections tasks such as photographing objects, exhibition de-installation, exhibition installation, and photographing museum events.

Interested students should be working toward a degree in history, art history, material culture, Jewish studies, museum studies, photography or library science. Previous museum or library experience is not required. The internship is 12 weeks long and requires a minimum of 8 hours/week. This internship can be used for academic credit.

Please send a cover letter, resume, availability and list of three references to Ms. Rachel Kassman, Photo Archivist and Librarian, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore MD 21202 or to rkassman@jewishmuseummd.org. Please include “JMM Photo Intern” in your subject line. Applications will be reviewed as received.

BHU ARCHIVES INTERN

The Jewish Museum of Maryland seeks 1-2 qualified graduate interns to assist in the processing of the Baltimore Hebrew University archive collection.

Interested students should be working toward a degree in archival science, library science or history with an archives concentration. Equivalent experience outside an academic environment may be substituted. Previous museum or library experience is not required. The internship is 12 weeks long and requires a minimum of 10 hours/week. There is a small stipend available for these internship, dependent on number of hours worked. This internship can also be used for academic credit.

Please send a cover letter, resume, availability and list of three references to Ms. Jennifer Vess, Acting Archivist, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore MD 21202 or to jvess@jewishmuseummd.org. Please include “BHU Archives Intern” in your subject line. Applications will be reviewed as received.

BHU PHOTO INTERN

The Jewish Museum of Maryland seeks a qualified intern to assist in the processing of the Baltimore Hebrew University photograph collection. The BHU photo intern will be primarily responsible for cataloging the photograph collection into Past Perfect and scanning images, as time permits.

Interested students should be working toward a degree in history, art history, material culture, Jewish studies, museum studies, or library science. Previous museum or library experience is not required. The internship is 12 weeks long and requires a minimum of 8 hours/week. There is a small stipend available for this internship, dependent on number of hours worked. This internship can also be used for academic credit.

Please send a cover letter, resume, availability and list of three references to Ms. Rachel Kassman, Photo Archivist and Librarian, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore MD 21202 or to rkassman@jewishmuseummd.org. Please include “BHU Photo Intern” in your subject line. Applications will be reviewed as received.

EXHIBITION INTERN

The Jewish Museum of Maryland seeks a qualified intern to assist in the Collections and Exhibitions department to work on an upcoming exhibition, Chosen Food: Cuisine, Culture and Jewish Identity. The exhibition intern will be responsible for visual and newspaper research for exhibition development, conducting and/or transcribing oral histories, cataloging new donations and loans, data entry, gallery preparation, and artifact handling.

Interested students should be working toward a degree in history, art history, material culture, Jewish studies, museum studies, or archival science. Previous museum or gallery experience is not required. The internship is 12 weeks long and requires a minimum of 8 hours/week. This internship can be used for academic credit.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, availability and list of three references to Ms. Karen Falk, Curator, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore MD 21202 or to kfalk@jewishmuseummd.org. Please include “Exhibition Intern” in your subject line. Applications reviewed as received.

COLLECTIONS INTERN

The Jewish Museum of Maryland seeks a qualified intern to assist in the Collections and Exhibitions department to work on general collections management projects. Tasks include, but are not limited to: cataloging new donations and loans, processing archival collections, object photography, data entry, digitizing photographic collections, artifact handling, and conducting and/or transcribing oral histories.

Interested students should be working toward a degree in history, art history, material culture, Jewish studies, museum studies, or archival science. Previous museum or gallery experience is not required. The internship is 12 weeks long and requires a minimum of 8 hours/week. This internship can be used for academic credit.

Please send a cover letter, resume, availability and list of three references to Ms. Jobi Zink, Sr. Collections Manager, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore MD 21202 or to jzink@jewishmuseummd.org. Please include “Collections Intern” in your subject line. Applications reviewed as received.

New Feature: JMM Weekly Report 11.06.09

JMM Weekly Report
From the Desk of Avi Decter, Executive Director
November 6, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,

This has been an eventful, productive week at the Museum. On Sunday, the JMM welcomed the Baltimore Chapter of Brandeis Women for a private program with noted scholar Dr. Melvin Urofsky, who has just published Louis D. Brandeis: A Life. Following his morning lecture, Dr. Urofsky spoke at a public program and book-signing. On Monday, the Lloyd Street Synagogue Steering Committee, chaired by JMM Trustee Lee Rosenberg, held its final Phase 2 progress meeting, marking the conclusion of our $1 million restoration project. Also on Monday, we held our quarterly Board meeting, with a lively discussion about budgets. On Tuesday, the Museum sponsored the Herbert and Irma Risch Memorial Program at Patterson Park Charter School (more below). And so on. Here are some other highlights of the week that was:


GIFTS: I am delighted to report that the Herbert Bearman Foundation (Drs. Sheldon and Arlene Bearman, Trustees) have committed $18,000 to support the re-dedication of Lloyd Street Synagogue, the kick-off event in our 50th Anniversary programming, and to provide General Operating Support. We are very appreciative of the Bearman Family's continuing generous support and encouragement.


PROGRAMS: On Monday and Tuesday, the JMM hosted patrons Frank and Helen Risch during their recent visit to Baltimore. On Monday, the Risches participated in a class at Patterson High School and met with the students who are sharing the stories of their journeys to America with other students. The JMM is working with storyteller Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff and intern Tamara Filipovic on this educational initiative. On Tuesday, three student storytellers from Somalia, Uzbekistan, and Togo shared their stories of immigration at an assembly of 160 students and 30 invited guests at Patterson Park Charter School, one of the JMM's Museum-School partners. The Herbert B. and Irma B. Risch Memorial Program Coming to America - Then and Now featured Student Immigration Stories and a presentation of the Leo V. Berger Immigrant's Trunk. The Risch Memorial Program is funded through the generous support of the Frank & Helen Risch Philanthropic Fund at THE ASSOCIATED. This was a wonderful event


The Museum's October 29th program at the Park Heights JCC, Finding Refuge: The Holocaust and Latin America, was an enlightening and enjoyable program. The group of 43 participants, who included Holocaust survivors, area teachers, members of the Baltimore Jewish Council's Hispanic Dialogue, and the Latino Providers Network, listened intently as speaker Christina Chavarria from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) explained Latin America's unique role in Holocaust history: notoriously sheltering fleeing Nazi criminals and, more significantly, accepting Jewish refugees from Hitler's Europe. Jewish refugees and their lives in Latin America represent a new focus by the USHMM. As a result of this gathering, Christina was also able to collect family names, contributing to the USHMM's research and Registry of Survivors. A follow up program, featuring a trip to the USHMM, is planned for spring 2010. The program was moderated by Lois Rosenfeld of The American Jewish Committee.


On Friday, the JCC and JMM partnered for a Tot Shabbat Program geared for downtown families of very young children. Participants listened to a Shabbat Story, sang and danced to Shabbat songs and finished the morning with juice and challah for snack. These Tot Shabbat programs are part of the JCC's program, "JCC Beyond the Borders" funded by the The Jacob & Hilda Blaustein Fund for the Enrichment of Jewish Education. Also on Friday, B'nai Israel Young Adults will hold a Shabbat dinner in our lobby.


COLLECTIONS: The oral history archive of the Museum received a gift of two hours of tapes about Ner Israel Yeshiva in the 1970's when it was located on Garrison Boulevard. The interview of Jonathan Zylberman, a former Ner Israel student, was conducted and recorded by JMM special Project Consultant Dr. Barry S. Lever.


Collections volunteer Debbie Farthing photographed all of the cases, bases, vitrines, and platforms in the Museum. These images have been added to the database to further assist us in tracking our exhibition display materials. The collections staff held a lively meeting on Wednesday to discuss the library collecting policy. On Thursday the collections staff discussed their budget with Susan Press. Both meetings were very helpful and have made us more aware of how we can improve our collections spending and oversight.


EDUCATION: On Tuesday, Mother Mary Lange (Baltimore City Catholic School) brought around 35 middle school students to tour the Museum and listen to survivor Vera Kestenberg discuss her life in Hungary. On Thursday, Running Brook Elementary (Howard County Public School) brought 46 3rd graders to listen to the Leo V. Berger Immigrant's Trunk and tour the Museum. At a Wednesday session, seventh grade students at Chizuk Amuno's Kreiger-Schecter Day School, engaged Dr. Barry S. Lever, JMM Special Project Consultant, in an oral history interview to develop skills necessary to conduct successful oral histories of their own family members.


The Education Department met with JMM docents to discuss plans for the upcoming Synagogue Speaks exhibition in the Lloyd Street Synagogue. We also discussed ways of improving current tours for adult and student groups. Many thanks to Ilene Cohen for arranging the meeting and for our dedicated volunteer docents who attended.


STAFF ACTIVITIES: Thursday, Jobi Zink led a training session on Past Perfect for Mindy Glaser McShane, Heather Besch, and Jessica Levine. Jobi also began posting advertisements for winter and spring interns this week and interviewed one candidate.


Anita Kassof and Deb Weiner are completing the exhibition script for our new Core Exhibition, The Synagogue Speaks. Curator Karen Falk has been working on our Jewish foodways show, our projected Judaica exhibition, and a retrospective exhibition of work by artist Nancy Patz. Program Director Ilene Dackman-Alon with Harriet Lynn to discuss programming for the 50th anniversary year of the JMM. Deb Weiner, Rachel Kassman, and I reviewed layouts for our next issue of Generations magazine, and I sent in my final edits for a book review that will appear in American Jewish History.


All in all, a very exciting week for the Museum and the communities we serve. Best wishes for a peaceful Sabbath and lovely fall weekend to one and all.

Avi

Lloyd Street Synagogue and LEGOs?

Is the historic Lloyd Street Synagogue (1845) related to LEGOs ^®? You decide!



Photo courtesy of board member Duke Zimmerman.

Waah!

Jobi is SO SAD! Why so sad Jobi?

I miss the interns! And it’s not just because I need someone to flip my desk calendar (time has frozen since August 19^th),

to file my closed-out loan folders (a nice big pile is mounting – see the pencil pup for reference!), and to make phone calls to lenders about retrieving their materials!

I miss all of their energy and enthusiasm; their delight as they discover fun, interesting (and sometimes bizarre) items in the collection; the pencil competitions; conversations at the picnic tables outside…

Sure, interns take a lot of time and work: staff has to train them to be the little collection managers/curators/educators of tomorrow. We need to answer questions that often seem self explanatory (but only until we realize we’ve been doing our job for years and it really ISN’T that obvious!), try and arrange for cool field trips and remember to bring in the occasional snack. But interns help us be more efficient, more productive and better behaved (we have to set a good example you know!).

Who is going to scan that photo for the next issue of Generations magazine? Who is going to help put together the packets for the board retreat? Who will run downstairs and complete object measurements? Who will eat all of these delicious cupcakes…?

My piles have grown, the data entry is mounting, and there are projects just itching to be worked on. Bottom line: we need a few hardy interns to brave Baltimore’s winter weather (and welcome in the spring!) in our collections and exhibition department. If you can get to the museum 1 or 2 times per week we want you! Work for class credit, to build up volunteer hours or simply for the joy of getting to pick your own awesome pencil from the cup on my desk!

Interested? (And why wouldn’t you be!?!) Send me, Jobi Zink, Senior Collections Manager and official Intern wrangler, an email at jzink@jewishmuseummd.org, and let’s talk!

Student Immigration Stories

The Baltimore Jewish Times recently. wrote a great story about our student immigration stories program. Check it out here!

One more day to eat in the Sukkah!

Tomorrow, Friday - from 11 - 2pm - will be the last day that the sukkah at B'nai Israel Synagogue will be open during the week for people to enjoy for lunch. Please visit www.jewishdowntown.org for more information. Visiting is free but please bring your own lunch. Additionally, it is the last day that the Chabad sukkah at Power Plant, 601 E Pratt St (on the right side of the Hard Rock Cafe) will be open. Please visit http://www.chabaddowntown.net for additional information.