Connect. Reflect. Act.

Welcome to the heart of the Capital Jewish Museum! Dig deep into local Jewish history, discover Jewish perspectives on social justice issues facing the world today, and think about your own identity and values. Enjoy opportunities to engage with the material and each other through conversation tables, large “identity cubes,” and an interactive map.

In Am Yisrael Chai (The Jewish People Live!) visitors encounter a wall of photographs and artifacts related to 100 Jewish residents of the greater Washington region. Some of them will be familiar, and others a new introduction. Each is profiled on a soft cube with a photo and three words that describe them. Everyone has several identities, reflecting the varied ways we all live and express ourselves.

The main focus of Kehillah (Community) is a 10’ interactive map table where visitors trace Jewish Washington over time. The surrounding display presents images and artifacts highlighting the various places around the region where Jewish Washingtonians have gathered to form community: play, live, learn, eat, worship, and work.

The Tikkun Olam (Repair the World) section delves into six important issues facing our world: antisemitism; elusive peace in Israel; the environment; immigration; reproductive rights; and voting rights. For each topic, visitors learn about Jewish responses to these issues while engaging with the subjects themselves.

In Welcome to Our Seder, an interactive seder table is at the center of a presentation of stories and events in Washington history that relate to the theme of liberation, including the Exodus ship (1947); Freedom Seder (1969); and the Soviet Jewry and Ethiopian Jewry’s “Let my people go” movements. Visitors sit at the table, learn about key events, and then answer a series of provocative questions and compare their answers with others.

The exhibition concludes with a response wall where visitors will have the chance to consider their own answers to some of the questions posed in the exhibition as well as a “question of the month.” All are encouraged to write their own reflections on cards that Museum staff can post on the wall for other visitors to read and consider.