The Future is Bright!

Wearing a sparkly dress and bright smile, a 5 year old skips through the Magnes’s front doors pointing to one of the three Torah Arks on display as she leads her dad and younger sister through the museum on their way to the auditorium.

Part storytime, playdate, and craft session, the monthly PJ Library Story Hour offers the younger generation a way to connect with Jewish heritage and its material culture at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.

“Bringing young children into the Magnes is truly about l’dor v’dor [generation to generation], sharing Jewish art, history, and culture with the youngest generation in our community.” — Alison Sorscher, PJ Library Parent Connector

“I love hearing from families about how much they enjoy the space, from children admiring the art with their grown-ups to parents taking a moment to take in some history.” Alison Sorscher, PJ Library Parent Connector and program facilitator shared. “Bringing young children into the Magnes is truly about l’dor v’dor [generation to generation], sharing Jewish art, history, and culture with the youngest generation in our community.“

As an institution committed to generating new knowledge and understanding of Jewish cultures, the Magnes creates opportunities to share the museum and its collection with young families, K-12 students, and youth. Magnes Learning & Engagement Coordinator Dan Alter organizes these educational programs, including guided gallery tours for community and school groups, hands-on activities such as exhibition treasure hunts and collection-based crossword puzzles, and a Teens Take the Magnes program. He reflected, “In so many ways the Magnes is a treasure — from its expansive holdings to exhibitions and the particular space it offers for people to engage with Jewish culture and history. It’s truly a delight to create opportunities for young people to connect with all of those riches!”

In December, Jewish Community High School of the Bay Jewish Studies Educator Raizy Lichtenstein brought two of her classes to the Magnes for a staff-led educational program. Alter met with Lichtenstein to discuss her goals for the visit and ways to weave her curriculum into the program, adapting activities to best engage the teens. The JCHS students experienced a mix of guided Q&A, activities to explore the exhibition and objects on display, and a spirited closing discussion on the topic of ‘What makes an object Jewish?’

“My high school students, who were studying the Jewish Diaspora, had a wonderful, identity-enhancing time exploring In Plain Sight! …The students enjoyed engaging with Jewish ritual and everyday objects with an eye to the details and textures that Dan’s ‘treasure hunt’ booklet encouraged them to find.” Lichtenstein shared. “We’re still talking about elements of this visit in class; the Hamsa-shaped Mezuzah cover, Sephardic Torah scroll, and book-shaped Ketubah from Mashad were all recently brought up for one reason or another. In this way, we’re still reaping the rewards of our visit to the Magnes. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!”

“My high school students, who were studying the Jewish Diaspora, had a wonderful, identity-enhancing time exploring In Plain Sight! …The students enjoyed engaging with Jewish ritual and everyday objects with an eye to the details and textures that Dan’s ‘treasure hunt’ booklet encouraged them to find.” — Raizy Lichtenstein, Jewish Community High School of the Bay Jewish Studies Educator

Other youth groups participating in this type of programming include the Contra Costa Jewish Day School 7th grade class, 9th graders from Temple Beth El, Camp Gan Israel kids, and most recently, Temple Emanu-El San Diego youth as part of their Bay Area teen trip.

Started in 2023 by then high school sophomore Sadie, Teens Take the Magnes is a teen-led program that brings students to the Magnes from surrounding high schools for an afternoon of learning and community. Now in its third year, a volunteer committee of nine teens meet at the museum once a month to plan and produce the annual event. This year’s March 2nd program will focus on the current exhibition, In Plain Sight: Jewish Arts and Lives in the Muslim World, and include a scavenger hunt in the gallery, art making activities, a service project, refreshments, and time to be social.

When asked about her experience on the teen committee, high school sophomore Zola said, “I didn’t know much about the Magnes before [Teens Take the Magnes]… and I’m so glad I do now! The Magnes is a collection of culturally and historically important knowledge, artifacts, and art, most of which is incredibly powerful and interesting. After only a few visits to the Magnes, I learned a lot about Judaism and different aspects of Jewish history!” 

With discovery as one of the Magnes’s core values, creating and facilitating collections-based opportunities for learning, teaching, and creative expression so that our youngest visitors can find authentic connection with Jewish art and life is an important part of what we do as a cultural institution. Engaging with the youth who walk through our doors, feeling their excitement, answering the questions they ask, and witnessing the discoveries they make, we see first-hand just how bright the future is!