The CJM Blog

Thoughts from scribe-in-residence Julie Seltzer on what she's writing, her process, and the experience of writing a Torah on public view. Sometimes I like to stop and just stare at the wall. A really great wall to stare at is the one that leads into the Torah exhibition . Many visitors pass by without more than a glance, unable to decipher the Hebrew-laced barcode symbols that plaster the hall on either side, to the right and to the left. It’s actually my favorite part of the exhibition, this piece by Israeli artist Dov Abramson . The wall is patterned in the 613 mitzvot (commandments), with little icons symbolizing to whom and where the mitzvot apply, and what scary form of punishment will follow if they are transgressed.

The San Francisco Giants aren't the city's only champion this year. San Francisco is also home to Johnny "Hei'z" Heywood, the reigning Major League Dreidel champion, who this Thursday, December 2, will be at the Contemporary Jewish Museum for Rit Lab . Last December, the 27-year-old Heywood knocked off competitors like Spincent Van Gogh, Spinny the Pooh, and Spindianna Jones on his way to becoming the first gentile champion of Major League Dreidel.

Thoughts from scribe-in-residence Julie Seltzer on what she's writing, her process, and the experience of writing a Torah on public view. Last year, b’etzem hayom hazeh , on this self-same day, As It Is Written: Project 304,805 opened. Another important event in my life happened on this day as well: sixty-one years ago, on October 8th, 1949, my mother, z”l, was born.

by James G. Leventhal Jaron Lanier came to speak at the Contemporary Jewish Museum as part of the Museum's LINK program,, a Jewish, Art, and Technology initiative at the CJM.

by Dara Solomon, Associate Curator Allan Wexler (American, b. 1949), Gardening Sukkah , 2000, wood, gardening implements, eating utensils. Courtesy of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York. Come see our exhibition Reinventing Ritual: Contemporary Art and Design for Jewish Life which looks at artists exploring Jewish ritual through art and design. The exhibition opened in April 2010 with Passover and closes on October 3, around the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. This exhibition is a great way to contemplate and better understand the High Holy Days.

Thoughts from scribe-in-residence Julie Seltzer on what she's writing, her process, and the experience of writing a Torah on public view. In the gallery, visitors can leave me questions. Many of the questions are about how to deal with mistakes, or about the letters, or offers to help with proofreading (thank you!). Some of the questions are more unusual, and I thought I’d answer a few here.

by Dan Schifrin, Director of Public Programs In the second Museum LINK talk, Estee Solomon Gray threw down the gauntlet early: “The link, not the book, is (and always has been) the core of Judaism.” Mashing together educational theory, Talmudic dialogue and social technology, Estee spun out an integrated vision of Jewish community innovation evolving rapidly from a focus on “covenant and commandedness” to one of “community, commentary and conversation.” But even in olden times, she reminded us, Jews “evolved radically linked architectures” of text and community. Crossing the Talmud and the Internet is an inevitability, not a joke. Web 2.0 is an opportunity to experience the next generation of Jewish creativity in real time.