As part of the Maltz Museum’s ongoing efforts to tap into great potential of young professionals, I have set off on an epic adventure to immerse myself among them—19 of them to be exact, hailing from all over the country. What brings us all together is a program called Tent: the South. Tent programs, which are the brainchild of the Yiddish Book Center, are free, week-long intensive seminars open to anyone in their twenties. They take place across North America and each seminar focuses on a distinct topic (such as fashion, comedy and writing, among others) and how that specific topic brings together Jewishness and modern culture. Tent programs offer an intense new model of engaging with young people that is intellectual, involved, multi-sensory and full of hands-on learning experiences. Tent: The South was organized by the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.
Tent: the South offers a whirlwind tour of a region which many Northerners, like me, know little about. We began in New Orleans and spent a day touring historic Jewish congregations and learning about the history of Jews in this region which, despite the 1685 French Code Noir that banned Jews from all French colonies, is as long and storied as the origins of the city itself. We also read and discussed essays to help us frame the quintessential questions of this trip. What is the Southern Jewish experience? How did, and does, a Jewish identity fit in to the region’s long history of racial tensions and conflicts? How can Jews hold on to the vestiges of their heritage? How have Jewish communities formed and how have those communities been received? What role do Jews play in the construction of the larger community as a whole? Many of these questions are echoed in the Maltz Museum’s own galleries and seem to resonate with Jewish communities across geographical boundaries.
In between beignets, jazz music, Creole spices and voodoo souvenir shops, we’ve explored these questions with the trip’s lead scholar Eric Goldstein and met with local community leaders who’ve shared what being Jewish in New Orleans means to them. This incredibly unique opportunity to learn collectively from firsthand accounts and historical sites has already given me lots of ideas about how the Maltz Museum might use this same model to engage our patrons—not only young adults, but anyone with a curiosity about culture and a hunger to learn!
We’ve just wrapped up our time in New Orleans and are headed off to the Mississippi Delta, where questions of race, identity, social activism and culture are sure to remain at the forefront of our discussions. —Laura Steefel-Moore
Click here to see a few photos from the trip!
