Taste of Limmud events are intended to be an outreach tool to stoke the interests of the uninformed as well as to give current and past Limmud-niks the chance to reconnect and dig deeper into Jewish learning. Taste of Limmud events are offered throughout the year and tend to be two-hour evenings where 3-5 sessions relating to Jewish text study, history, or culture are presented.

On June 3^rd, 2010, Taste of LimmudNY sponsored an Arts Jam at the YU Museum. In conjunction with the Teaching Artist in Residency program, the Arts Jam explored Jewish history through the arts. Gallery tours, discussions about film, hands-on creative opportunities, and a smidge of musical theory gave participants the opportunity to connect with Judaism through less conventional means.

With almost fifty people in attendance on a humid Thursday night, the Arts Jam was a wonderful opportunity to utilize the resources at the Center for Jewish History. Special collections of the YU Museum were made available to the public while some participants had the rare opportunity to not only get a gallery tour by the exhibiting artist, but also have the chance to creatively respond to the work on display.

For an evening, the YU Museum was transformed into a creative incubator and think tank of Jewish imagination. By partnering with community-led organizations like Limmud, the YU Museum was able to bring engaged people into the museum in a structured and thematic way, rather than individually or haphazardly. By providing a context for participants to interact with the museum space and collections, the Taste of LimmudNY Arts Jam framed the museum experience in a whole new way. The event transformed the museum into a laboratory of ideas inspired and informed by the rich archives of the past.

Here's a full list of the sessions that were offered at Taste of LimmudNY Arts Jam:

·        Outside the Box  View a teaser from filmmaker Lacey's Schwartz's documentary in progress about dual identity and family secrets. Followed by Q & A and a discussion on diversity in the Jewish community with the filmmaker.  Lacey is Director of Outreach for Be'chol Lashon.

·       Museum Tour  Tour the Braginsky and Drawing on Tradition exhibits with Zachary Paul Levine.   Consider:  Why does 19^th century French Haggadah look like it's from Turkey?  Why are there cherubs and zodiac signs on so many ketubot? How might we visualize Shushan, the grand capital of the Persian Empire, as the center of intrigue in the Purim story?  Zachary is Assistant Curator at the Yeshiva University Museum.

·       A One-Pot Seminar  Join Gabe Goldstein for a close-up, hands-on look at a rare 18^th century cholent pot. Cholent is literally more than the sum of its ingredients - see how this pot suggests the interconnectedness of Jewish law and lore, how cholent pots created bonds between individuals and communities, how evolving technology shaped the structure of the Jewish life and how a pot can suggest recipes, social status, diversity, economics and gender relations - much more than just "meat and potatoes."  Gabe is YU Museum Associate Director for Exhibitions and Programs.

·       Illuminated Midrash Mash-ups  Explore Jewish visual history through a whirlwind tour of the YU Museum followed by a 50-minute hands-on creative workshop facilitated by JT Waldman.  Drawing from historical images in the exhibits and their own illustrations, participants will use the modern language of comix to dissect, remix and collage images from Jewish visual history into modern fables of personal or biblical proportions.  No artistic talent required.  Just bring an active imagination and good questions.  JT is the Teaching Artist in Residence at the YU Museum.

·       Jewish Identity through Music  David Freeman will consider how contemporary musicians incorporate and reinterpret traditional Jewish texts.  Come prepared to engage with original and provocative music through video and audio recording and live performance.  David is a percussionist and composer.