Opening Day for GOLEM: A Call to Action

GOLEM: A Call to Action, by artist Julie Weitz, is the inaugural exhibition in our Black Box Gallery—a new, dedicated space for media art at The Contemporary Jewish Museum (The CJM). Drawing on Jewish allegory, folklore, and spiritual practice, Weitz’s video artworks, My Golem as a Wildland Firefighter and Prayer for Burnt Forests, examine the causes and impacts of megafires, an increasingly devastating aspect of life in California. These works explore progressive wildfire management, including controlled burns—a method long used by California’s Indigenous communities—alongside the Jewish imperative of tikkun olam (to heal the world), calling on all of us to uphold the land’s right to rest and recuperation.

Plus, with free general admission to The Museum, don’t miss your chance to experience all of the exhibitions on view! Explore the mysterious photography of Predicting the Past: Zohar Studios, The Lost Years in its final days before it closes on June 27. Discover the story of the birth of the blue jean in Levi Strauss: A History of American Style, closing August 8, and learn about nineteenth-century Jewish life in San Francisco through textiles in Threads of Jewish Life, closing June 27.