Since its founding in 1984, The Contemporary Jewish Museum (The CJM) has distinguished itself as a welcoming place where visitors can connect with one another through shared experiences with the arts.
In 2008, The Museum opened a new building designed by internationally-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. Inspired by the Hebrew phrase l’chaim (“to life”), the building’s design reflects The CJM’s dedication to exploring dynamic, contemporary Jewish life.
The CJM is currently undergoing a temporary closure for a period of at least one year. During this time, The Museum is taking steps to ensure its financial stability and to allow time to develop a sustainable operating model for the future. The CJM’s mission to educate, promote understanding, and celebrate Jewish culture remains essential, and this temporary pause will allow The Museum to continue this work well into the future.
The CJM is committed to exploring the evolving, diverse Jewish life of today. We aim to foster appreciation of and pride in Jewish culture, enrich the communities we serve, and combat intolerance of all kinds. During The Museum’s temporary closure, we will continue to provide digital content that offers insight into an array of perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art, and ideas.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum’s architecture fuses a historic power station, originally built in 1881, to a soaring blue steel geometric superstructure. Its building embodies the past and present, the utilitarian and the abstract, the traditional and the contemporary. Since opening in 2008, it has become an iconic edifice in San Francisco’s cityscape: it fascinates everyday passersby and is a popular point of destination for residents and tourists alike. Yet, from the ground, few realize that the building’s unusual shape is derived from the Hebrew letters, chet and yud, which together spell chai, the Hebrew word for “life.”
The Helen Diller Institute is a collaborative work space where distinguished visiting scholars and project teams of CJM staff work together to create dynamic Jewish content and programs for The Museum’s diverse audiences. The Institute is a center of scholarship that engenders dialogue, collaboration, and creativity, the centerpiece of which is a Beit Midrash ("study hall" in Hebrew) for ongoing convenings and trainings that enhance The Museum’s exhibitions and programs in development.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum thanks The Helen Diller Family Foundation for generous, visionary support of The Helen Diller Institute.
Photos by Gary Sexton Photography; Olivia Smartt; and Jasper Sanidad.