Milwaukee museum has top exhibit!

Thrilled to be attending the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit which has stir pride in Jewish community as well as the whole community and state:

jsonline:
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 29, 2010

When organizers started planning Sunday's Jewish community event around the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum, they were hoping for 100, maybe 150, takers.

No one expected the overwhelming response that is propelling Jewish Night at the Museum into one of the largest events in the local Jewish community in years.

As of Friday, more than 500 people had registered.

They are drawn not only by the scrolls - these 2,000-year-old remnants of Jewish texts excavated from caves in the Judean desert - but also, according to organizers, a sense of pride and community.

"This is us; it's our history, our legacy," said Nancy K. Barnett of Fox Point, who is chairing the event planned for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday. "Being able to do this as a community is really resonating with people."

Fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, considered among the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century, are on display through June 6 as part of the Milwaukee Public Museum exhibit "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures."

Written on parchment and papyrus in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, the scrolls include the oldest-known copies of the books of the Hebrew Bible and shed light on a period of religious ferment that gave rise to today's rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.

That, said Rabbi David Brusin of Congregation Shir Hadash, is likely part of the allure.

"You see yourself standing before your own past, and that's uplifting," said Brusin, who has taught classes on the Dead Sea Scrolls at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and elsewhere.

"It's a sense you get when standing in front of something very sacred, like the Western Wall, or the Dome of the Rock," he said.

"There's mystery about the scrolls . . . a sense that they must tell us something about where we came from and how our beliefs were formed."

Brusin will be among a number of rabbis and Jewish educators stationed around the exhibit Sunday to answer museum-goers' questions.

Jewish Community Center educator Jody Hirsh, who is coordinating that contingent of scholars, hopes viewers come away with a greater appreciation for their history; the diversity of Judaism; and a connection with Israel, which provided many of the artifacts, though none of the scrolls, for the Milwaukee exhibit.

"You see this incredible diversity of opinion among Jews 2,000 years ago, about theology, social issues. . . . It puts into perspective the diversity of today's Judaism," Hirsh said.

Rabbi Marc Berkson of Congregation Emanu-El B'ne Jeshurun, who also will answer questions, hopes visitors will find a deepened sense of the power of God's word.

"In the end, for all of us, Christians, Jews, Muslims, it's the power of the word. How does God create anything?" Berkson said. "God speaks, and there it is."

Ronna Bromberg Pachefsky will be there with husband Larry and teenage sons David and Jordan. They've seen many of the scrolls in Israel, at the Shrine of the Book, but there is something about this exhibit that fills Pachefsky with a sense of pride.

"We have been super excited about this since we heard about it," she said. "These are artifacts that are coming from all over the world, and they're coming here - to Milwaukee. Not Chicago, not New York. To Milwaukee."

ipod out lous

My 3 son's keep me current : just got this "ipod out loud" player/radio/clock! Thank you Adam for the ipod and for the itune gift cards! I will not only paly it home, but great for taking to my classes...stay connected and hear about what art classes i will be teaching!
:-)

two pets are the best!

I feel very lucky that our new pet, 11 mounth old Bella comes to us with such a wonderful personality. She, like our Westie Shayna, are making being home more fun. I love how they like everyone, but of course Me, the most. Bella needs a very little training in doing commands, just as Shayna needs. The electric fence is a really great as they both go out and can play or do their "business" even if I am too lazy to go out to watch over them. They respect their individual food bowls of food but share toys. As you see they love flanking friends, and our guys when they come visit. Here Adam petting them both as they flank him on his resent visit.