Building Community at the Magnes

I am always delighted by the stream of activity in the Magnes at the beginning of a new academic and Jewish year. Our student colleagues return with positive energy that radiates through the museum like ripples on a pond. And guests flow through the building to visit the exhibitions and participate in programs. 

Our newest exhibition, Flowing through Time and Tradition, traces the role of water in Jewish life and invites reflection on the forces that shape how we live, think, and relate to one another. Artworks on view, such as Natan Heber’s painting of people performing the tashlikh ritual (a symbolic casting off of sins), remind us of the power of shared space and communal experience, even—or especially—in challenging times. 

Please make a gift to the Magnes’s Annual Fund today to support community building at the Magnes.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Magnes is a powerful place for community building, learning, and reflection. This past spring, we partnered with JIMENA, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, to produce an experiential program on Jewish wedding henna ceremonies. The joyful event connected the objects on view in the museum with contemporary Jewish life and the lived experiences of people in the Magnes community. An attendee wrote, “Sharing a meal with other attendees yielded new connections. I appreciated hearing the Rabbi’s lively stories of henna parties in Morocco.”

While developing Flowing and its related programming, Associate Curator Achinoam Aldouby led a collaborative process that engaged dozens of people in the production of the exhibition and literally brought community members’ voices into the gallery.

With your support, we can create impactful new partnerships and use the museum’s extraordinary collections to bring people together. Please make a gift to the Magnes Annual Fund today.

Thank you for being part of the Magnes community. I wish you and yours a year of peace, health, and happiness.

With gratitude,

Hannah E. Weisman
Executive Director

P.S. The generosity of donors such as you is critical to the Magnes’s continued success. Please make a gift today!