Contemporary Jewish Museum

You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate the Contemporary Jewish Museum, although it helps to have some interest in the religion or culture. Admirers of architecture should plan a visit, too, because the CJM is one of the city’s most architecturally significant and unique buildings to open in the last decade. The CJM’s mission is to explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art and ideas.

We’ll start with the architecture before stepping inside. It’s bold, pairing a 1909 power station with a brick façade and a metallic-blue steel wedge (some call it a cube) that’s tilted skyward. It must be seen to be fully appreciated. The old building was designed by Willis Polk, architect of the city’s Palace of Fine Arts, and the wedge was added on by American architect Daniel Libeskind. Libeskind has designed two other Jewish museums in Berlin and Copenhagen, and was chosen to oversee reconstruction of the World Trade Center site.

Inside the two-story museum, what you’ll see depends on when you visit. There is no permanent collection, with exhibits and events always changing. On most days, several docent tours and a couple of gallery talks and lectures are offered. Classes and workshops geared to adults, families, teens or kids, plus special events, are frequent. And free audio tours, plus cell-phone tours of the museum’s architecture, are available.

Current and upcoming exhibits include: Jews on Vinyl, on recorded music from 1940s sacred songs to 1980s hits by Neil, Barbra and Barry (through July 25); Reinventing Ritual, on the reinvention of Jewish ritual in art and design (through Oct. 3); The Torah Project, a Torah gallery where an artist is spending a year writing the Torah with a feather quill (through Oct. 3); The Old Master paintings of Jacques Goudstikker, a Dutch art dealer who died fleeing the Nazis (Oct. 28-March 29, 2011); The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey, with 80 original drawings of Curious George and friends (Nov. 14-March 13, 2011); and Gertrude Stein, with artistic and archival materials from the American writer and art collector (May 12-Sept. 6, 2011).

Oh, about that bizarre-looking wedge: it’s just as bizarre from the inside, where it’s a 65-foot-high gallery perforated by 36 small skylights, which cast shards of light onto the multi-planed walls. The shape is based on the two Hebrew letters of “chai” (life), the “chet” and “yud.”

The CJM’s main entrance is behind a large public square on Mission Street, between Third and Fourth. A second entrance, which offers the best view of the building’s wedge, is at the museum bookstore on Yerba Buena Lane, a pedestrian alley off Market Street.

HelloMetro Tip: Although the $10 adult admission is a bit steep if Judaism doesn’t interest you, on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. it’s only $5 and entrees at the café drop to $5.

- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Bob Cooper

Bob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.