JMM Insights: Continuity and Change
In some ways this represented continuity. As Jonathan Sarna shared, the Star of David has its American origin here (and persisted even in the period when the building was St. John the Baptist Catholic Church). However, the survival of the edifice was ensured through constant change, from synagogue to church and back again, before becoming a historic site and destination.
This week we celebrate another moment of continuity and change. On Monday it was announced that the JMM Board’s Search Committee had secured a highly qualified candidate to serve as my successor.
Bryan Solomon Davis (Sol) will become just the fourth Executive Director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, effective January 1, 2021. Sol has been Executive Director of the Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center in Tucson, Arizona since 2015. Prior to that he served as Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, as well as the Director of Holocaust Education & Youth Education Coordinator, both at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies, and has been a lecturer at the University of Arizona since 2011.
The Search Committee was impressed with Sol’s creativity and passion. For Sol’s part, he was particularly drawn to the emphasis on social justice and activism that the job announcement underscored, and stated his belief that “situating the museum as a platform and catalyst for activating Jewish values into public spaces is critical to move the museum field beyond conventional practices.” I share the Board’s excitement about Sol bringing his leadership, creativity, and relationship-building skills to the JMM as we strive to grow the organization and engage greater audiences. I am pleased that there will be continuity but also cognizant of the benefits of change.
I hope you will join me in warmly welcoming Sol and his family into the JMM family.
~Marvin Pinkert, JMM Executive Director
Marvin’s words of continuity and change have us thinking about stories. Stories are passed down through families, across time through books and movies, all over the world through the internet. We use stories to create a sense of continuity between our past and our future. And we use stories to help us understand and enact change.
How a story is told can be the key to creating a memory that lasts a lifetime – or the linchpin that changes someone’s mind forever. There’s a reason both the exhibit and children’s book about the Lloyd Street Synagogue are named The Synagogue Speaks, why our mission says “things matter,” and we have a focus on documenting the first-person experiences of Maryland’s Jewish communities. Stories told in a person’s own words, through primary sources, and by the objects that were, as they say in Hamilton, “in the room where it happens” deliver powerful messages.
This film shares the story of Congregation Beth Israel (the only synagogue in Charlottesville, NC) and their journey to fighting back against hate after the tragic “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017. The creators call this film “a call to justice,” documenting the journey Charlottesville’s Jewish community took from self-reflection to communal action. At its core, the community found that standing up for themselves meant standing up for justice in the broader world.
We know the best stories are told by the creators themselves, which is why we are thrilled to be joined by filmmaker Alexandra Horowitz and Congregation Beth Israel’s Senior Rabbi, Thomas Gutherz. They will discuss the creation of Reawakening along with the challenges and rewards of sharing this particular story with the world.
You may remember the phenomenal Just Married! Wedding Stories from Jewish Maryland – The Live Show! (If you missed it, you can check out recordings of the stories told here.) Being able to not just collect these humorous, touching, sad, and meaningful tales, but to showcase them to our community to laugh, cry, and remember together embraces the core power of stories. So, of course, we’re doing it again!
This time, in honor of Jews in Space, we’re looking to share stories about “voyaging to the final frontier,” both literally and imaginatively! We hope you’ll submit your own stories about exploring, discovering, and dreaming about outer space so we help you share them with the world through Head in the Stars on Thursday, November 12. (You can also register for audience tickets now right here.)
If your lives over the past six months have been anything like ours, you’ve been experiencing stories wondrous and strange and banal and everything in-between as we navigate this pandemic.
We invite you to take a few moments and think about those stories – how will you share these experiences with friends and family? With younger generations?
Write some of them down. Or draw a picture that illustrates your experiences. Or maybe take a photo of something that will always remind you of this time in history. Most importantly, however you capture your stories, share them with us. Use this form or send them through email , or even put them in the mail.
However it works best for you, we would love you to share your stories with us.
Join writer and political strategist Ginna Green and clinical psychologist Dr. Harriette Wimms as they open this important series on the diversity of Jewish identity and experience. Register for this free virtual program here.
This program is the first in Jews of Color, Jewish Institutions, and Jewish Community in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter, a special partner series with Chizuk Amuno Congregation and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. You can view the full list of free virtual programs in the series here.