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OUR MISSION

The Skirball Cultural Center is a place of meeting guided by the Jewish tradition of welcoming the stranger and inspired by the American democratic ideals of freedom and equality. We welcome people of all communities and generations to participate in cultural experiences that celebrate discovery and hope, foster human connections, and call upon us to help build a more just society.

Phil de Toledo, chair

Jessie Kornberg, president and ceo

Art Bilger, vice chair and treasurer

Jay Wintrob, vice chair

Cindy Ruby, secretary

Howard M. Bernstein

Giselle Fernandez

Melvin Gagerman

Marc H. Gamsin

Marcie Goldstein

Ethan Goldstine

Dana Guerin

Uri D. Herscher, founder

Mitchell A. Kamin

Robert C. Kopple

Jeffrey Millman

Ruth Suzman

Jonathan A. Victor

Peter M. Weil, past chair

Susan Hirsch Wohl

D. Zeke Zeidler

This edition of Oasis magazine was finalized in December 2024. On January 7, 2025, hundred-mile-per-hour winds drove wildfires through Altadena, the Pacific Palisades, and other parts of Los Angeles causing the worst fire disaster in American history. The Skirball Cultural Center evacuated that day and remained under threat and unable to reopen for an extended period.

We share these pre-fire reflections with you. Many things in our environment and context have changed, perhaps irrevocably. The Skirball’s mission and community are unbroken. Our oasis is as precious and needed as ever. Thank you for your support and understanding.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

“ ... may the merit of their ancestors sustain them ...”

–Pirkei Avot (third century CE ethical teachings in Rabbinic Jewish tradition)

When you come aboard Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, you are guided through an ancient flood story. Our storytellers bring this ancient narrative to life with tales from cultures around the world. While the flood story in the Book of Genesis is well known, you may also hear fascinating accounts from the Lenape or Maasai traditions. These stories resonate across cultures, reflecting a shared human experience. Early civilizations depended on fresh water from rivers and lakes—resources that often flooded or shifted, leaving a lasting imprint on humanity’s collective memory through storytelling.

Finding these connections between Jewish traditions and other cultures is a hallmark of our approach to sharing art and ritual. This practice humanizes the unfamiliar, inviting us to engage, and even recognize a piece of ourselves in something—or someone—that might seem foreign or strange.

This season, I’ve been reflecting on another ancient Jewish tradition, one with parallels across many cultures that has guided our work through a difficult year: the Hamsa. The Hamsa—a depiction of an open hand—has been a symbol in Jewish culture for more than two millennia. It signifies protection and is seen everywhere from ancient archaeological sites in the West Bank to jewelry on sale today in Audrey’s Museum Store. The Hamsa is not exclusive to Jewish culture. It is also a cherished symbol in Muslim and Arab traditions. Beyond these Abrahamic communities, the open hand as a sign of safety and protection appears in many ancient cultures, from

Buddhist practices in the East to Indigenous traditions here in the United States.

Why is the open palm a universal symbol of safety and protection?

At the Skirball, we believe our safety is secured by creating safety for others. This conviction has been tested many times this year—through calls for boycotts, demands for public condemnations, and pressures to pledge loyalty to one viewpoint or another.

So many forces seek to divide us from one another, especially on the basis of identity. At the Skirball, we offer a different path. We offer an open hand. A welcome. This is the legacy of our ancestors. This is the Hamsa in the modern world.

President and CEO Skirball Cultural Center

Lindsey Best

ONE GOOD PLACE FOR EVERYONE

Finding refuge and relief in a year of division and fear

Forty years ago, when Dr. Uri Herscher first described the idea that would become the Skirball Cultural Center, he envisioned “one good place for everyone.” Today, our mission statement promises that the Skirball will be a place of welcome for people of all communities and generations to celebrate discovery and hope and foster new connections. In 2024, we felt more acutely than ever how valuable and rare it is to provide relief and respite in a tumultuous time.

Lindsey Best

October 21, 2023, two weeks after the October 7 attacks:

“On a Shabbat morning, I learned of a tragedy that struck my beloved Jewish community in Detroit, my home before arriving on the West Coast. A friend’s murder that made national news and that we initially feared might be connected to October 7. Thousands of miles away and unable to mourn with them on that day, I was drawn to the only Jewish space I was really familiar with as a newcomer to LA: the Skirball. My plan had been to wander the grounds and find some distraction in the exhibitions. I left with a membership and a mezuzah

In its architecture of reflection, Jewish soul, and commitment to ‘welcoming the stranger,’ the Skirball filled a deep need in precisely the right way at exactly the right time. No longer a stranger, I’ve been back time and again, grateful that my new home in Los Angeles is blessed with a third space defined as much by its Jewish values as by its openness to everyone.”

–Ari Simon, President, Tambourine Philanthropies and former Board Member, Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue

June 13, 2024, during an intense period of college campus protests:

“I’m writing to share how much I appreciated my recent visit on June 13. My husband and I spent a couple of afternoon hours visiting the current exhibitions, and without exception, every Skirball employee we encountered was beyond friendly and made us feel welcome—from the entrance desk to the galleries, to the shop, and everywhere in between. We have been to the Skirball many times before, and we always appreciate the programming and the enrichment we get from our visits. But this visit felt particularly special.

I work at UCLA, which has been the site of many difficult and hate-filled exchanges since October 7. In the last few months, the campus has felt like a hostile and divisive place, especially as the only Jewish and Israeli

person in my department. The sense of community that used to exist there has been shattered.

We probably encountered about a dozen of your staff during our visit. It was a diverse group of women and men, the young and not so young, people of many different backgrounds. Each person actively engaged us— ‘Hello!’ ‘Welcome!’ ‘We are glad you are here!’ ‘Enjoy the exhibition!’ ‘What did you think of the exhibition?’ … and so on. They all went above and beyond, and it was just the kind of human connection we needed during this time.

My husband and I met while we were both working just down the hill at the Getty, so we are no strangers to the dynamics of museum operations. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. The Skirball is helping to create a safe and caring space in which to foster community during a time when that’s sorely needed.”

–Edith de Guzman, Water Equity and Adaptation Policy Cooperative Extension Specialist, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation

November 6, 2024, the day after the election:

“I was having lunch with two coworkers on the patio at Judy’s Counter. The other two tables were occupied by a pair of women and another woman sitting by herself. The pair started talking about the election that had happened the day before, and one said, ‘I just felt like I needed to be here in this community today.’ Her friend agreed. Then the woman sitting by herself chimed in, ‘I’m here for that reason too. I didn’t really know where else to go.’ My coworkers and I paused for a moment and took this all in as the three visitors struck up a conversation and continued to chat. When I turned back to my coworkers, one of them gave a knowing nod and said, ‘That’s why we are doing this.’”

–Stephanie Hammerwold, Director of Talent & Culture, Skirball Cultural Center

A LAND OF NEW BEGINNINGS

On July 3, for the first time, the Skirball hosted a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony and became not only a place of new beginnings for the citizens, but also a beacon of hope and unity for all who attended.

USCIS Acting Los Angeles District Director, Bryan Christian gave the Oath of Allegiance as 75 new Americans from 35 countries stood together—a symbol of the diversity that has strengthened our nation for the past 248 years. The new citizens were among 10,500 USCIS welcomed at more than 190 Independence Daythemed ceremonies across the country during the first week of July. “Celebrating the country’s 248th birthday by welcoming new citizens conveyed that American

history is now their history—and that they are part of our nation’s future,” said Director Christian. Immigration experiences and engagement in American democratic processes serve as a common thread among new Americans. USCIS upholds America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility with fairness, integrity, and respect for all. Sharing this day with these citizens was inspiring and affirming of the core values that make the Skirball a place of welcome for all communities and generations.

–Claire Nicholson is a Public Affairs Officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services covering Southern California.

A new US citizen proudly waves an American flag.

Above: Ceremony participants pledge their loyalty to the United States.

Left: Newly minted citizens and their guests explore The American Library by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA.

Lindsey Best

“ NOT JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF ART”

In 2024, the Skirball made the first substantial acquisition to its collection in more than twenty-five years.

What inspired this and what happens with this participatory project next? Common Ground artist Adam Silverman sat down with Skirball board member Mitch Kamin to discuss.

MITCH KAMIN: How did Common Ground come to be?

ADAM SILVERMAN: I often make projects that are place based. They can be about a specific location, institution, or building. I collect materials from the site or area and make something using those materials as a way to connect my project to the place of origin. Sort of like you might cook with locally foraged, seasonal ingredients, Common Ground came from thinking about the country as a single place, and so the idea was to collect materials (clay, wood ash, and water) from all fifty-six states and territories and then combine them into a single material and really reintegrate the country into one thing materially and metaphorically and further reinforce this idea of unity. This was conceived at a time of what I thought was the most severe divisiveness in the history of the country, maybe since the Civil War. In fact, we’ve gotten worse since the project began in 2019, which is really unfortunate. But the idea then was to create a work that would be used as a tool to bring people together—specifically, to try to bring people together who wouldn’t ordinarily be together in the same room—having them work on a project using these pots, to do some sort of collaborative project, or gather around a meal. So, I also made a tableware set that was very simple: plates, bowls, and cups. For fifty-six people to come together around the table and share a meal, hopefully the food itself, being thoughtfully prepared, also adds another layer or kind of narrative of unity, or a way to grease the wheels on a couple of levels before addressing a more challenging conversation or topic.

MK: And once you had the idea, did the process itself also reflect your drive to explore themes of unity? How did you actually pull this off?

AS: Interestingly, I didn’t think it out that far. The project really started kind of humbly and naively and then became much more complicated and interesting as it progressed. I pretty quickly realized that it’s not realistic for me to drive around to every state and territory collecting materials. So, I started emailing friends who had different places of origin, and then when that stalled out, I started posting on Instagram. It really did become this huge community project, and that was not at all what I anticipated. But it did become a perfect kind of microcosm of the project’s goals, and a really

rich experience for me personally. Then, of course, the pandemic hit so I was in isolation like everyone else. I started using the postal service because they continued to function and then I started just getting these boxes of materials back. It was really an incredible way to go through the pandemic, to communicate with strangers around the country. So many people and I were like minded, but a lot of them were on the other side of some issues. Yet each of us recognizing the need for this discourse was a really beautiful thing in which to take part. It was me participating in a bridge-building experience.

MK: Did you stay in touch with any of the people, especially those with different beliefs than yours?

AS: Yeah, I have. Some more regular, some I never heard from again. There was a guy who I was in touch with a lot from the Northern Mariana Islands. He would reach out to me a lot because he’s very active on Instagram and anytime I would post about the project he would respond and encourage me. His main point was, “Thank you for including the Marianas. No one ever thinks of us as America, and it’s so great to be part of this.” And then shortly thereafter he ran for office in his island as a Republican. Also, I sent everyone who contributed

materials to the project (around one hundred people) a Common Ground cup, so I heard from a lot of them after that. And it is nice to imagine those people all sharing their morning coffee remotely, without knowing it.

MK: How did you wind up with Common Ground at the Skirball?

AS: It definitely took a couple steps. I worked sort of in isolation for the first nine or so months of the project, collecting materials, thinking about what to make, sketching. And then I got introduced to Dr. Scott Alves Barton, who wound up becoming the food curator for the project. He and I spent a lot of time really designing what we thought was an interesting program, and we started sharing it with people and talking with people. And then people started asking us, like, “Hey, could we do a meal together?” It became basically like a hodgepodge garage band tour, with a place in Connecticut wanting to do one, which got us to the East Coast, which led to events in Boston, Rhode Island, and New York. We did that for almost a year. What wound up happening was a lot of the meals and a lot of the interest we were getting were from museums. Museums were sort of the opposite of what we needed, because their missions are to protect and

Artist Adam Silverman (center) at the Common Ground opening celebration.

Monica Orozco

The installation at the Skirball includes samples of the clay, water, and wood ash collected and combined to create the glaze for Common Ground ceramics.

Monica Orozco

preserve, not to allow people to touch or use things. Part of my requirement was that the final institutional partner uses the project and doesn’t just display it or put it in storage. It became about needing to find an organization where this thing aligns with their mission so closely that they want to use it and keep it on display as a tool for them to advance their mission. It’s not just another piece of art in their collection.

Then at some point a good friend of mine asked, “Have you thought about the Skirball?” And I said no it hadn’t even crossed my mind, and I’m not sure if that would make sense. You know it’s a Jewish institution.

How would Common Ground relate? Is that context too specific? And then I went back home, looked at the Skirball more closely and read more about their mission statement, and I was like this actually seems super interesting; it could be a really good alignment. He was friends with [Skirball President & CEO] Jessie Kornberg and thought she would love the project and made the introduction between us.

MK: What was the turning point that convinced you in the conversation with Jessie?

AS: Even just the website and reading their mission and six fundamental values kind of made it easy for me before I met her because a lot of the words and aspirations that they use and have were very similar to words and aspirations that Scott and I were using for Common Ground. Then the more I thought about the Jewish connection, the more personally and selfishly I started to like the idea because it was a challenge to me, because I grew up so removed from Jewish culture in a town in Connecticut where, as far as I know, there were no other Jewish people, or if there were, they were all hiding in their corners. The rest of my family was in New York, and everyone was fully assimilated. So, I thought, well, this is kind of an interesting challenge for me to try to situate this project in that context on a personal level. When I met Jessie, she brought her senior team here for lunch and it was really like the perfect first date. Once we agreed that Common Ground would be acquired by the Skirball, we also decided that I would be the Skirball artist in residence for the year, which has led to doing

Top: Plates used for Common Ground meals.

Middle: A reflection of the Common Ground exhibition appears as participants gather around a shared meal.

Above: A ceramic bowl holds a delicious entrée.

a whole bunch of programming that’s also been really valuable personally, and I hope for them, for situating the project.

MK: What have been some of the more memorable experiences during your residency?

AS: The first meal was for employees who have worked at the Skirball for fifteen years or more. Most of them work in the “blue collar” part of the Skirball, like custodial or porters or kitchen staff. Many of them brought their spouses too. And then Jessie and senior management were there as well. A lot of these co-workers had never sat for a meal together. Scott organized a really phenomenal concept for the meal; he invited all of the guests to submit family recipes that were meaningful to them and then crafted a menu from a collection of those recipes. I think every single one of the long-term staff was a first-generation immigrant, so a lot of the foods were from their country/family of origin. That meal was a really, really remarkable experience. I invited my wife and four kids, and it was the first time everyone in my family had been to a Common Ground meal with me at the same time together, so for me that was probably the most meaningful of the experiences. I won’t ever forget that meal and it really was a highlight.

MK: Having been here a year, what’s your impression of Skirball and its role in the community here in LA?

AS: My impression is I love the place, and I am so happy that I’ve been there so much this year. It’s one of those kinds of quintessential L.A. things that everybody knows about, but many people have never visited, like the Watts Towers or Walt Disney Concert Hall. So, I’ve tried to be a little bit of an ambassador in that respect, and the fact that the project is installed there for two years has allowed me to have the time to invite and meet people there a lot. My move now is to say, “I’ll meet you there for lunch, they’ve got a nice restaurant and it’s right next to the project.” And that that’s been pretty effective and fun, actually. It also allows me to show people the other exhibitions that have been up there this year, many of which have been really strong and interesting.

MK: Well, it’s more needed now than even when you first conceived of it. Speaking somewhat on behalf of the institution, I’m thrilled it’s there and the meal I participated in was very moving, and I think it’ll have a great effect going forward. So, thank you for entrusting it to the Skirball.

AS: Thank you.

Foodways scholar Dr. Scott Alves Barton (left).

Contemporary hip-hop artist, poet, and award-winning academic Def Sound served as MC of "The Sounds of Common Ground."

Monica Orozco Lindsey Best

On view in This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement, this image depicts march leaders (wearing leis) as they prepare to march fifty miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in support of equal voting rights in that state. (Left to right): John Lewis, an unidentified nun, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. Martin Luther King, Ralph Bunche, and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Also on view during MLK Day at the Skirball, The American Library by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA showcases the stories of immigrants and Black Americans affected by the Great Migration.

The Skirball’s Executive Sous Chef Justin Simmons offers a cooking demo inspired by The Meal That Never Was.

TedSoqui

A DAY OF SERVICE MLK DAY AT THE SKIRBALL

A haunting image of the widow Coretta Scott King, in bed, with tissues, blotting her cheek, planning her husband’s funeral. A view through the church pews of Bernice King crying in her mother’s lap, during her father’s memorial service. The tear-streaked visage of Alberta Williams King at her son’s burial.

In 2024, the Skirball presented 150 photographs taken by 6 young photographers working with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee between

1960 and 1968. With these images on view, the annual observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day took on different significance.

Normally the Skirball would be closed, like many other employers, to encourage employees to engage in a National Day of Service. But this year, opening the Skirball, free of charge, to welcome community to see these photographs was the more compelling act of service.

Pop-up poetry and spoken-word performances by Alyesha Wise (pictured) and Get Lit—Words Unite engage visitors throughout the afternoon.

Ted Soqui

THE GIVING TREES

Two artists view history on arboreal standard time.

The Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide inspired more than fifty installations and performances in Southern California this autumn.

Few match Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg’s interdisciplinary exhibition, Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time, and Technology. Shlain’s arresting and philosophically charged sculptures are made with salvaged wood and fire-writing, drawing inspiration from broad inquiries into the nature of reality as well as Jewish mystical, pedagogic, and pop culture traditions. Goldberg’s artistically expressed data-gathering and AI-enhanced “tree census” is both tech-driven and human-sourced. Together the duo makes a compelling case for an expanded way of looking at time and human history—placing trees at the center of a greener, deeper worldview.

“We have this hunger to reconnect with nature,” Shlain tells Oasis , “and then there’s this idea that AI might be able to bring us closer to it in real life. Both facets are about having more appreciation for trees,” and by extension the natural world. First ethically sourcing cross-sections from fallen giants and then building text and timeline with a community of scholars before painstakingly fire-etching words into their surfaces amid the grain and telltale rings, the works combine the science of dendrochronology and the art of pyrography, under the aegis of a dialectic embodied in hefty physical objects.

Each ring offers a new perspective. A piece of redwood is devoted to mathematical equations (Abstract Expression). A salvaged box elder traces how humanity has stored and disseminated knowl -

edge itself (If We Lose Ourselves) . A ring focuses on the history of California as told from the perspective of its tree population from, “20 million years ago: Redwood forests emerge on the California coast,” to “2023: California receives $100 million in federal grants to plant trees and combat extreme heat.” In Living On the Edge —a reclaimed cypress wood sculpture—the hybrid presentation evokes a Natural History Museum idiom quite intentionally. “But,” says Shlain, “we wanted to play with those conventions.”

Other pieces take a more personal, societal approach, centering the role of trees in Jewish thought and theology. For example, the monumental section of a majestic eucalyptus at the heart of the exhibition, Tree of Knowledge, which Shlain calls, “as big and profound as the idea itself,” is inscribed with scores of questions about the meaning of life. “It’s a 10,000-pound organic cornucopia of questions,” writes Goldberg. Questions like: “What are the origins of human culture? Are there universal myths? How do we take care of each other? If not now, when?” and “What is love?”

On a massive slice of poplar, DendroJudaeology: A Timeline of the Jewish People—a term the duo coined—addresses how “trees are integral to the Jewish tradition. Judaism celebrates a new year of the trees (Tu B’Shevat), which seems fitting, given that Jewish time, like a tree’s growth, is both circular and linear,” writes Shlain. The work starts with “3762 BCE: A beginning: Story of Adam and Eve,” and moves through to “October 7,

Artists Tiffany Shlain (left) and Ken Goldberg (right) pose in front of the Tree of Knowledge

Stefanie Atkinson Schwartz

2023: Hamas attacks,” and a bit beyond, and in between there’s everything from Golda Meir to the founding of Google, Barbra Streisand to Baruch Spinoza, the Dreyfus affair to the Abraham Accords, and so much incredible comedy, because, as Shlain rightly observes, “Humor is a survival strategy.”

Goldberg’s video Speculation, Like Nature, Abhors a Vacuum, grew out of his work with Google where, he relates, “I was doing a tree census, which actually started out being more about training AI pattern recognition, and I thought, my datasets are ugly. I asked Tiffany to help me imagine a more aesthetic, animated embodiment, something inspired by Ed Ruscha’s methodology in the Sunset Strip videos, for example.” Panning down Hollywood, Sunset, Manchester, and Whittier Boulevards from a drone’s-eye

view, factoring in Google’s open-source Auto Arborist Dataset, and employing AI to identify species and create portraits of majestic neighborhood exemplars, this part of the exhibition has a take-home action item to help gather even more information about our tree neighbors from all over the region—everywhere that Skirball visitors call home.

Skirball Associate Curator Vicki Phung Smith tells Oasis that she “quickly realized after meeting Tiffany and Ken that they were ideal artists for the Getty initiative’s focus on art and science. Their enthusiasm for incorporating emerging technologies into their art practice translates into an optimism for how these technologies can be applied toward future environmental initiatives,” she says. “I feel this vision of hope reflects the Skirball’s mission.”

Opposite page: Tiffany Shlain uses pyrography to help create the Tree of Knowledge Above: Ken Goldberg etches a timeline for If We Lose Ourselves.

Stefanie Atkinson Schwartz

Executive Director Emerita of USC Museums and USC Professor of Art History Selma Holo, PhD is the co-curator of the exhibition and brought it to the Skirball, and she heartily concurs, calling its timing

“magical.” As she tells Oasis , “In my long career, it is one of the matches made in heaven between artist and museum of which I am most proud.”

It came about when Holo was brainstorming with Sheri Bernstein, Skirball Museum Director, about PST. “Knowing that the whole effort was to bring about encounters between art and science,” she says, “I was absolutely clear about what I had to do. As I had worked with Ken thirty years ago when he was a physicist (who was also an artist) at USC, and that I was also following Tiffany’s fabulous multimedia art made this coupling a possibility I couldn’t resist. I knew them both as individual creators, but showing them together is where the magic lies.”

–Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author. She was the Arts Editor for LA Weekly from 2018–2024. She is the recipient of the 2022 and 2024 MOZAIK Future Art Writers Prize, the 2022 Rabkin Prize for Art Criticism, and the LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Critic of the Year award for 2022.

One of many questions found across the Tree of Knowledge.

Opposite page: A visitor observes Abstract Expression

Above: Ken Goldberg and Tiffany Shlain hard at work in the studio.

Stefanie Atkinson Schwartz

SHARING THE BOUNTY SUKKOT AT THE

Few holidays embody the spirit of hospitality and community at the heart of the Skirball’s mission better than Sukkot. Celebrated by many Jewish people for a week each fall, Sukkot gives thanks for the abundance of the harvest and commemorates the biblical journey of the Israelites out of Egypt. A central theme of Sukkot is the welcoming of guests, or ushpizin, into temporary

shelters symbolizing the transient dwellings of their ancestors, called a sukkah. This year, the Skirball invited visitors to come together in a community sukkah by local artist Jonathan York, to eat stuffed dumplings and treats that represent the joy of a bountiful harvest, to make their own mini sukkah in the Family Art Studio, and to find joy and meaning in one another.

Visitors to the Family Art Studio design, construct, and decorate a miniature sukkah (left), and relax in a sukkah at the entrance to the South Arroyo Garden (right).

Lindsey Best

SKIRBALL

On view during the Skirball’s celebration of Sukkot, On the National Language: The Poetry of America’s Endangered Tongues features B. A. Van Sise’s poetic, visual, and linguistic selection of portraits of people who speak endangered languages, including Jewish languages such as Yiddish and Ladino.

Artist Jonathan York (standing) welcomes visitors to this year’s community sukkah, which included salvaged materials from Kibbutz Be'eri and recorded sound from the Jordan River.

Visitors to Noah’s Ark discover, play, and build community with a table-top sukkah city.

Caption to come

Lindsey Best

EMPOWERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF AMERICAN JEWISH SCHOLARS

Annual Howard I. Friedman Prize recipient Alona Bach lights up the Skirball.

To coincide with the 370th anniversary of the arrival of Jews in what became the United States of America, this year’s essay topic asked entrants to reflect upon the role of technological advances, broadly defined, in relationship to Jewish values and American Jewish experience.

The 2023–2024 Friedman Prize was awarded to Alona Bach for her essay Electric Yiddishkeit, which explores how electric lighting technologies shaped and were shaped by Orthodox Sabbath observance in the U.S. We caught up with Alona, who discussed how her winning essay came to fruition, along with her personal connection to the Skirball.

Tell us a little about the origins of the essay. This essay grew out of my dissertation research, which I started during the pandemic. Yiddish materials are remarkably well-digitized—thanks to the Yiddish Book Center, Historical Jewish Press project, and other institutions worldwide—and this allowed me to take a close look at the interwar Yiddish press, time-traveling even when physical archives were closed. Digitization is a time-, labor-, cost-, and upkeep-intensive process, but it opens up access for many researchers like me who don’t always have the ability to travel to archives in person. In fact, even from afar, Skirball’s Assistant Registrar Amanda Kazden was able to answer a question for my dissertation research about items in the Skirball collections. But nothing beats visiting physical archives when possible!

How did you first learn about the opportunity to enter to win the Friedman Prize?

Sophia [Shoulson, Friedman Prize Honorable Mention] and I were both encouraged to apply by our friend and colleague Sean Sidky (Virginia Tech), with whom we’ve both worked closely while organizing the annual Farbindungen Yiddish Studies Conference. But other mentors who know how enthusiastic I am about the intersections of Jewish history and technology, including Shari Rabin (Oberlin), also made sure it was on my radar. As someone who began formally engaging with Jewish topics as a graduate student (my background is in the history of science), being told about this year’s Friedman Prize prompt was a wonderful reminder of the network of people helping me work on a project that combines these two fields.

Now that you have this recognition, what do you see as the benefits of this exposure?

I am motivated by a love of Yiddish, and I’m excited that this is a chance to celebrate the rich cultural history that the Yiddish archive holds. The written word—and how it’s printed, shared, and circulated—plays a big role in cohering culture and community across distance, so I hope that

these written words prompt more people to engage with Jewish history through diaspora/minority languages— Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Tajik (Bukhori), and others—and to recover the unexpected delights, complexities, and diverse voices that these histories hold.

Describe your Jewish identity and how it factored into your essay.

This essay is about how young children experience their Jewish identity and practice, which I guess means it’s only fair to the toddlers that I’ve written about to embarrass myself equally with my own story. Here goes: apparently, as a two-year-old, I liked to tell people really earnestly that my baby sibling’s babbling was them saying: “I’m Jewish.” Today, I like to think that my translation abilities have improved—but I now only translate Yiddish. Baby babble is off the table.

Editor’s Note: Established in memory of the Skirball’s founding chairman, Howard I. Friedman, the annual Friedman Prize invites graduate students from across the U.S. to submit essays offering perspectives on American Jewish experiences.

Scan the QR code to read Alona Bach’s winning essay Electric Yiddishkeit in its entirety.

Left to right: Skirball President and CEO Jessie Kornberg, Friedman Prize winner Alona Bach, Friedman Prize runner up Sophia Shoulson, Skirball Rabbi in Residence Beau Shapiro. Bach and Shoulson are currently pursuing PhDs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University, respectively.

Lindsey Best

BUILDING BRIDGES TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Educational

curriculum

celebrates Jewish stories and universal values.

As the paradigm shifts in the classroom, we chose to reflect on the power of storytelling and how the Skirball educates against hate.

“This is…” educator Dena Atlantic begins, stomping her feet on the floor, “the story of—” the students following suit, “—YOU!” Dena raises her hands triumphantly in the air. With warmth and joy, she introduces the school tour: Values and Legacy: The Story of You. Skirball educators like Dena welcome predominantly non-Jewish fourth and fifth graders to the Skirball Cultural Center from all over Los Angeles County to learn about Jewish culture and traditions while exploring young people’s understanding of their own family history, identity, and values.

The Liberty Gallery is the first stop. After gazing upward at a replica of the Statue of Liberty torch, students partner with a classmate and share traditions they celebrate or food they eat with family, friends, or community. “Tamales I make with my abuela,” shares one student. “I have borscht in the fall with my family” says another, and “my mom and I braid challah for Shabbat.” We all have culture, rooted in even our earliest memories. This school tour and the related online curriculum highlight the long history of the Jewish people, the stories of Jewish immigrants who made positive contributions to the United States, and the traditions that continue today.

The Skirball’s Roslyn and Abner Goldstine School Programs are part of a nation-wide movement of educational organizations and museums striving

to address the rise in antisemitism by fostering an understanding of Jewish stories, history, and culture. Through storytelling, inquiry, and artmaking, these programs engage young people of all backgrounds in exploring Jewish life and reflecting on their own values and experiences. Grounded in the principles of Jewish Inclusion Education, the offerings—ranging from the free Visions and Values curriculum to gallery school tours and immersive arts education residencies—are designed to connect young people to the joy and richness of Jewish culture, an essential step toward countering hate and building empathy.

This emphasis on cross-cultural understanding comes at a critical stage in children’s development, when they are forming a sense of self and have a deep capacity for empathy. As fifth grade teacher Sarah Baek of LAUSD’s Chapman Elementary School shared after her visit to the Skirball, I wanted my students “to learn about the history and stories of immigrants and for students to learn the importance of empathy. They did just that and more.”

While antisemitism isn’t a new phenomenon, the rise of antisemitic incidents, particularly since October 7, 2023, makes the need to expand perspectives and inspire and support the teaching of Jewish culture much more urgent. In April 2024, the Anti-

Defamation League reported a total of 865 antisemitic incidents in Southern California, up 146% compared to 2022. This includes reported incidents in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. While these incidents are not limited to our region, California was the state with the highest number of recorded antisemitic incidents in 2023.

To combat hate with inclusivity, the Skirball works in close partnership with local organizations, including Jewish Federation Los Angeles (JFEDLA).

In February 2024, JFEDLA launched Ethnic Studies Educator Support, developed by educators to support educators who are building Ethnic Studies curricula. Through this platform, the Skirball’s Visions and Values curriculum is available statewide and used by educators who are looking for trusted resources about Jewish history and culture. Debby Berman, Director, Education & Community Outreach, Jewish Federation Los Angeles sees this online set of resources as “a remarkable opportunity for the Jewish community to get our story right with a platform in public schools. All of the resources from Skirball and all of the other providers of content on the website, are helping to tell that story accurately in a bias-free and bigotry-free way that is appropriate for all students.”

Teachers continue to seek us out every day.

Fifth grade teacher Bridget Hanks of Manzanita School and Institute, a local private school, said her learning goals for the Skirball school tour was to “deepen students' understanding of values and how they are represented by objects and shared among communities, Judaism as a culture, and the ways immigrant populations contribute to and build American culture.” Following the tour she said, “the experience at the Skirball provided a shared experience and points of reference for furthering our classroom conversation ... this, in addition to the curriculum online, provide a very rich resource which is 100% able to meet my stated goals.

Many students who participate in Skirball School Programs are learning about Jewish culture for the first time. We are committed to teaching them that Jewish values are both unique and have universal qualities. We are connected in more ways than

we think. Through inclusion we combat hate. One person at a time.

–Rachel Stark (Vice President, Education and Family Programs), Anna Schwarz (Associate Director of Education), and Moira Rogers (School Programs Educator) contributed to this story.

Mercie Ghimire

Situated within the Visions and Values exhibition, the Liberty Gallery shares Jewish American immigrant experiences and is home to a replica Statue of Liberty torch, which thousands of students view in person each year.

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In 2024, the Skirball lost two of our founding pioneers: Ken Ruby and Lee Ramer. Both Ken and Lee served on the Skirball’s board of trustees for more than twenty-five years. Ken led the board’s facility management for much of that period, bringing his commitment to excellence and expertise in construction into every square foot of the campus. Lee led the process for nominating new board members, ensuring the future leadership of the institution had the best possible first impression of what it meant to be a steward of our community. Already we miss their wisdom and care. Forever we honor their memories.

Halban Photography