The Contemporary Jewish Museum – To launch a network of museum educators who will collaborate on curricula and support public schools in teaching about Jewish culture, identity, and history in kindergarten through 5th grade.

What is the role of the Jewish museum educator in the public school space?

Jewish museums are trusted public-facing institutions supporting public school teachers and administrators in teaching Jewish culture and stories. Antisemitism has been on the rise and an important way to fight antisemitism is sharing connections to Jewish people. Yet in public school spaces, particularly in elementary school grades, teachers rarely integrate teaching about Jewish people in the classroom. Often it falls on Jewish students (and their families) to hold the weight of representing Judaism, while many are also targeted about their Jewish identity. Jewish museums serve a key role, offering museum visit experiences as well as extensive curricular resources for the classroom, and even in-school and virtual programs for teaching Jewish culture, and its global diversity.

Can you share an example of the kind of lesson that museum educators might bring to the early elementary public school classroom?

One example of a Jewish museum lesson is The Art and Stories of Ezra Jack Keats. Ezra Jack Keats is a beloved author/illustrator whose books are read in elementary schools across the nation. The lesson, offered in-school or virtually, integrates Ezra’s Jewish heritage in a short film with guided conversation questions. It shares how Keats experienced antisemitism as a kid and even changed his name to enter the workforce. The class is guided by a museum educator in a conversation about Ezra’s life and inspiration followed by student hands-on art-making experience creating collage in the style of EJK. The Jewish Museum in NY offers a similar lesson.

What has been your most favorite exhibit at CJM to date?

I’ve had so many favorites, but one CJM exhibition I would like to share is Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress from the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The exhibition explored stunning traditional clothing from Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through the lens of immigration and migration, rituals and assimilation. Through it, (and continued in this teacher resource guide) students were able to learn a very important lesson about the global diversity of Jewish experiences. In an accompanying installation, Textile Lab, students connected with contemporary experiences of Jewish MENA migration as well as Henna wedding ritual. Students were able to try on traditional cloths and even try their hands at embroidery and weaving, bringing tactile connections to all they saw.

I also want to mention an exhibition I highly recommend, currently on view at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, called, Courage To Act: Rescue in Denmark, a holocaust exhibition specifically built for younger students – on view through 2028!