ORIENTATION: Begins before dinner. We'll have an overview of the program ahead and review the up-to-date schedule, responsibilities, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, any other administrative issues, and answer your questions. Please be aware that local circumstances may require adjusting program elements. In the event of changes, we will notify you as quickly as possible. We appreciate your understanding.Dinner: Dinner in hotel
Menus are contracted for the program and are designed to offer balanced, healthy meals for the participants. In addition to the regular Road Scholar meal plan, this hotel offers a vegetarian meal option. Unfortunately, there are no other special meal options. Participants with special dietary needs should be prepared to avoid certain foods or supplement the regular meal plan as needed.Evening: INTRODUCTIONS: Participants introduce themselves to the rest of the group.
Enjoy the remainder of the evening getting to know your fellow participants and discovering what you share beyond a love of lifelong learning.Lodging: Hilton San Francisco Airport BayfrontMeals Included: Dinner
Jews are funny. But why? Like all groups who have been oppressed, Jews have a keen sense of irony. But it’s much more than that. It’s a love of language and intellect (perhaps from poring over the Torah,) a love of absurdity (from looking at the state of the world,) an appreciation of the “everyman/woman” (because we appreciate our humble roots), and an eye to the practical (because we all have to make a living, right?) We will also look at the “Jewishizing” of American humor, the “mainstreaming” of Jewish humor, and when, how and why comedians to chose to “come out” about being Jewish.Lunch: Lunch in hotelAfternoon: CLASS: Great Jewish Film Directors
From Otto Preminger to Steven Spielberg, this course examines Jewish movie directors who have assimilated into the commercial world of film-making, in the process attaining the clout to focus on unique explorations of the Jewish character. Dinner: Dinner in hotelEvening: CLASS: The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
This is one of the most intractable conflicts of the modern era and shows no signs of getting any better. It is a conflict with two distinct narratives, each with its own “validity” and internal logic. This conflict is enmeshed in the larger political intrigues of European Imperialism and colonialism, European, Arab and Jewish nationalism and soaked in 2000 years of bitter inter-religious disputation and vicious violence. This program will attempt to provide an outline for further study of this important issue on the world political scene.Lodging: Hilton San Francisco Airport BayfrontMeals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Al Jolson, Fanny Brice, Irving Berlin, Sophie Tucker, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Dinah Shore-- only a few of the 20th century's jazz giants who were of Jewish background. The course will trace the development or America's Jewish jazz singers, composers, and instrumentalists through the Dixieland, ragtime, swing, bebop, modern and post-modern periods. Hear rare recordings of these innovators and see footage from early talking pictures of their later Hollywood appearances. The class will highlight the careers of several notable Jewish jazz artists and composers beginning with their immigration to the US or Canada and their early exposure to Black jazz music. Dinner: Dinner in hotelEvening: CLASS: Jews n' Jazz: Who Got Rhythm and How!Lodging: Hilton San Francisco Airport BayfrontMeals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Current exhibits at the CJM include: Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg
Through over seventy photographs by renowned poet, Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), Beat Memories tenderly captures the young writers and rebels that would define the Beat Generation.
Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art
Beyond Belief is an expansive exhibition exploring the spiritual dimensions of modern art, especially as seen through the lens of Jewish theological concepts. The exhibition features forty-eight internationally-known artists whose work—painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation art—are all drawn from SFMOMA’s outstanding collection. Ranging from a 1914 abstraction by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian to a luminous 1960 abstraction by Mark Rothko and oversized prayer beads by contemporary artist Zarina, Beyond Belief provides an engaging alternative that prioritizes spirituality in the reading of art.
Stanley Saitowitz: Judaica
Stanley Saitowitz: Judaica combines the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s ongoing commitment to presenting new perspectives on Jewish tradition with its dedication to working with contemporary artists, like Saitowitz, whose vision enables us to find fresh ways to examine and appreciate Jewish culture and ritual.
Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations
A musical journey through a unique slice of recording history–the Black-Jewish musical encounter from the 1930s to the 1960s.
StoryCorps StoryBooth
The Contemporary Jewish Museum is the first museum in the country to host a StoryCorps StoryBooth. StoryCorps is a New York-based oral history project founded and directed by award-winning documentary artist and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay.
(Exhibition descriptions courtesy of the Contemporary Jewish Museum).Dinner: Dinner in hotelEvening: MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT: Heather Klein
Heather is a classically trained soprano in San Francisco, and performs Yiddish classical, theater and folk music, as well as opera and other styles. For the past decade, she has performed across the U.S., Canada and Europe, as a soloist and as part of various musical groups and opera companies. Highlights include singing with Three Yiddish Divas, and touring with the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene alongside, among others, Zalmen Mlotek and Claire Barry of the Barry sisters. Heather has also performed in New York at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. In addition, she played the role of Rosie in the world-premiere of Ravensbruek Project, a cabaret opera based on the Holocaust, held in Boston. As the leader of Heather Klein's Inextinguishable Trio, she has also successfully produced a Yiddish-theater album, Mayn Yiddishe Velt, and is preparing to release the trio's latest CD, Shifreles Portret: A Yiddish Art Song Project. That album consists of numerous classical Yiddish art songs, and a world-premiere of a newly composed piece by accomplished violinist and composer Steven Greenman. It also features a nign - a wordless folk tune - that was collected in Budapest from a Holocaust survivor, and arranged by the trio's violist, Be'eri Moalem. Heather is also part of a newly formed ensemble, Shabbos Zingt, which will perform at Bay Area synagogues this year, leading Shabbos services with Yiddishkayt melodies. She earned her bachelor's and master's from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Heather also works as a cantorial soloist and b'nei mitzvah tutor at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, Calif., and as a tutor at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, Calif.Lodging: Hilton San Francisco Airport BayfrontMeals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Mountain View, CA 94043
650-810-1010
The Computer History Museum explores the history of computing and its ongoing impact on society and is home to the largest collection of computing artifacts in the world. Open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm.
Directions: Take 101 south. Exit Shoreline Blvd. Turn left onto Shoreline. Cross through intersection. Museum in on the right.For additional information, visit: http://www.computerhistory.org/
Woodside, CA 94062
650-364-8300
Filoli is a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and one of the finest remaining country estates of the early 20th century. Filoli welcomes the public to this remarkable 654 acre property, including the 36,000 square foot Georgian country house and spectacular 16-acre English Renaissance garden.
Directions: Take Highway 101 south to 92 west to 280 south. Exit Edgewood Road, Exit 29. Right on Edgewood. Right on Canada. Left at 86 Canada Road.For additional information, visit: http://filoli.org/
San Carlos, CA 94070
650-654-0200
Hiller Aviation Museum, located six miles from the hotel, is dedicated to the dreams of flight, looking back into the history of aviation while exploring its future. The restoration shop, with its large picture windows, allows the visitor to witness the ongoing restoration process. The museum collection includes many aircraft exhibits. Vintage and futuristic aircraft, prototypes, photographic displays, and models are on display. There's an extensive gift shop on the premises. The museum is adjacent to the San Carlos Airport where you can watch commuter planes take off and land. Open 10am-5pm daily.
Directions: Take Hwy 101 south to Holly Street/Redwood Shores Pkwy exit. Go east onto Redwood Shores Pkwy. Turn right onto Airport Road. Turn right onto Skyway Road.For additional information, visit: www.hiller.org/
650-604-5000
Experience NASA technology and missions first hand. Open Tuesday-Sunday 12-4pm; free admission.
Directions: Take 101 south Exit Moffett Blvd./NASA Parkway. Turn right at stoplight. As you approach Moffett Field, turn right at the stop sign before the main gate. The center is on the right. Proceed behind the dome for parking.For additional information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/exploration.html
Palo Alto, CA
Located between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University is recognized as one of the world's leading research and teaching institutions. Pick up a self-guided tour map and walk around campus at your leisure, or take a one-hour, student-led Campus Walking Tour at 11am or 3:15pm.
Suggested sights to see: Hoover Tower, Memorial Church and the Cantor Arts Center.
Go south on 101 to Embarcadero Road. Travel three miles. Embarcadero Road becomes Galvez Street when you cross El Camino Real. Stay in the left lane and continue past the stadium. The entrance to the Visitor Center Lot is on the left just beyond Nelson Road.For additional information, visit: http://www.stanford.edu/