The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center, formerly known as Chevra T’helim, is a hidden treasure tucked in the heart of downtown Portsmouth, Va. Once an Orthodox Schul exemplifying Eastern European Jewish Orthodoxy, the Jewish Museum now offers many educational and enjoyable programs.
One recent past program featured a lecture in February by Leonard Rogoff on the Cone Sisters of Baltimore. Claribel and Etta Cone were avid art collectors who donated billions of dollars of art to the Baltimore Museum of Art.
This past October the museum partnered with The Daffodil Project and Am Yisrael Chai to initiate the Daffodil project in Tidewater. With community help, more than 3,000 daffodil bulbs were planted at the museum to memorialize the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. The blooming of the daffodils will be celebrated at the museum on Sunday, March 5 at 2 pm. Children are welcome to come dressed in Purim costumes to join in this celebration of music and fun.
Zvi Jankelowitz, director of the Institutional Advancement at The Yiddish Book Center in Amhurst, Mass. will speak at the Museum Sunday, March 12 at 3 pm. Jankelowitz grew up with four Yiddish speaking grandparents in South Africa. He will show clips from The Wexler Oral History Project, a growing collection of more than 1,000 video interviews about Yiddish language and culture. His lecture will include the progress of The Yiddish Book Center from the 1980’s until the present, providing a glimpse into the future of Yiddish in the 21st century.
The Museum’s major fundraising event with dinner and a silent auction will take place on Sunday, May 7. This fun event has previously been held at Uno Pizzeria and Grill in Norfolk. More details regarding this event will be available soon.
Visit www.jewishmuseumportsmouth.org. for more information.