Jewish Museum of Maryland

08/03/2026

Before they were historians and curators, Victoria and Vlad Smolkin were siblings growing up in the Soviet Union.

Their family story is at the heart of Across Life-Worlds: A Family History of Soviet Jewish Emigration. Told through family photographs, home videos, interviews, and objects, the exhibition explores what it means to leave one life behind, build another, and carry pieces of home with you along the way.

Join us on Sunday, August 9, for the exhibition opening—and the special opportunity to meet Victoria and Vlad and hear more about the personal stories behind the exhibition.

Event details and registration: https://jewishmuseummd.org/event/across-life-worlds-a-family-history-of-soviet-jewish-emigration/

08/03/2026

Now on YouTube: Core Connections with Dr. Eric Goldstein

Couldn’t join us for the launch of our Core Connections series—or want to experience it again? Dr. Eric L. Goldstein’s lecture exploring the history and distinctive character of Jewish Baltimore is now available to watch on YouTube. Watch

The Jewish Museum of Maryland launched its Core Connections series ...

07/21/2026

Join the Jewish Museum of Maryland for the opening celebration of Across Life-Worlds: A Family History of Soviet Jewish Immigration. Curated by Victoria Smolkin and Vlad Smolkin, the exhibition places the stories of several Soviet Jewish families who came to Maryland in conversation with the global and national politics that enabled their emigration. Through presenting a selection of lived experiences, the exhibition explores how American and Soviet Jews, who began as distant strangers on opposite sides of the Cold War divide, came to see each other as family.

In the late twentieth century, more than a million Soviet Jews left the Soviet Union—the largest ethnic emigration from the USSR, and the largest Jewish migration since the “Great Migration.” In the late 1980s and early 1990s Maryland became a major destination for this Soviet Jewish exodus. Across Life-Worlds follows the stories of these disparate branches of the Jewish family, tracing their converging fates during the Cold War and coming to a focus on their reunification in the U.S.

The exhibition curators, themselves children of Soviet Jewish emigration, capture family stories in interviews, photos, home videos, and objects that reflect the years before their departure and after their arrival—a period that also marks the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. From the American side, the exhibition features the stories of Maryland activists who dedicated themselves to making Soviet Jewish emigration a reality. From the Soviet side, the exhibition features the propaganda and politics that shaped Jewish life in the Soviet Union, from the pages of Pravda to the archives of the KGB. Together, the exhibition presents the collision of life-worlds at the point when ideas and ideals coalesced into life choices. For Soviet Jewish families—persecuted for their ethnic identity and alienated from their religious roots, emigration entailed both a rupture from their past and the possibility to re-envision their future.

1:00 PM | Event begins

1:30 PM | Remarks + Curator Q+A

Light kosher refreshments will be served.

Program tickets are available on a sliding scale. You can learn more about the event and register here: https://jewishmuseummd.org/event/across-life-worlds-a-family-history-of-soviet-jewish-immigration

07/01/2026

RE Framed: A Salon Celebrating Women’s Hair Rituals
A Core Connections Program
Wednesday, July 29
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Jewish Museum of Maryland
15 Lloyd Street
Baltimore, MD

Join JMM for an evening celebrating women's hair rituals, traditions, and culture in connection to the exhibition on view, RE: Intimacy. Image. Identity. This program invites attendees into an evening of reflection, conversation, and community as part of the Core Connections program series inspired by the Museum’s new core exhibition, Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity. The event highlights the exhibition theme “Agents of Change” which presents historical connections between Black and Jewish communities in Maryland.

The word “salon” holds two distinct meanings. A hair salon is a place of ritual, care, and beautification. A salon-style gathering brings people together for the exchange of ideas, stories, and perspectives. RE Framed draws on the shared meaning: salons as places of connection and community.

This event will feature an array of offerings for guests to immerse themselves in, including a reflection space in the audio/visual production studio, themed participatory activations, light refreshments including alcoholic beverages. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the museum, hear from gathering co-hosts Andria Washington Hanner and Zoë Reznick, experience an intimate salon conversation with special guests, and share their own responses within the space.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland’s 2005 exhibit Intimacy. Image. Identity. Perspectives on Orthodox Jewish Women’s Haircovering presented a traditional form of dress practiced upon marriage. Its series of black and white film photographs by Zoë Reznick traveled across five sites state-wide. Two decades following the development of this project, Museum staff resurfaced the exhibition materials.

Through RE: Intimacy. Image. Identity., the artist reunites the women she photographed and reimagines this body of work through an expanded lens. The exhibition features select framed prints from the original show, archival materials and photographs, and multi-media reflections shared by women participating in the project, illuminating regard for the personal significance of Jewish haircovering practice over time, together, in the present.
This project is an activation of the Museum’s transformed spaces, including the experimental Long Gallery and its neighboring audio/visual production studio.

6:30 PM | Open gallery, reflection space, + offerings
7:00 PM | Welcome + salon conversation
8:00 PM | Evening closes

Light kosher refreshments and alcoholic beverages will be served. on-alcoholic options will be provided.

Program registration is available on a sliding scale and capacity is limited. You can learn more about the event and register here: https://68398.blackbaudhosting.com/68398/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=ac94cf89-115a-4b39-966e-1123205738d3

Accessibility: The Museum building, including the family and all-gender single-stall bathroom, is wheelchair accessible. Masks are welcome but not required. Complimentary masks will be available for anyone who would like one. Noise-reducing headphones and earplugs are available upon request at the front desk. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available for the formal presentation elements of the program. Please reach out to our team if you have additional accessibility needs.

Parking: Visitors are welcome to use the parking lot located directly across the street from the Museum building. Street-side parking is also available in the neighborhood. Please be sure to check parking signs and parking spot markings.

For questions, please contact [email protected] or 410.732.6400.

06/10/2026

We’re hiring! The Jewish Museum of Maryland is looking for two people to help bring meaningful Museum experiences to life: a part-time Events Coordinator and a part-time Exhibit Coordinator.
If you would like to work with us to help spark connection, we would love to hear from you. Learn more and apply today: https://jewishmuseummd.org/about/team/opportunities/

05/27/2026

Big congratulations to the winners of the Jewish Museum of Maryland and Thomas Kennedy Center Essay Contest!

This year, Maryland middle and high school students took on big questions about identity, belonging, religion, race, and political participation through the lens of Maryland’s 1826 “Jew Bill.” Their essays were thoughtful, honest, and deeply engaging.

We’re so proud to celebrate these young writers and the perspectives they brought to this important conversation.

Join us in congratulating this year’s winners!

05/27/2026

Join the Museum for the launch of the Core Connections program series, exploring themes connected to the Museum’s new core exhibition, Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity.

On Middle Ground: A History of the Jews of Baltimore, written by Prof. Eric L. Goldstein of Emory University, co-authored with Deborah Weiner, and published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2018, served as a key text in the development of the Jewish Museum of Maryland’s new core exhibition. Drawing on his award-winning book, Dr. Goldstein will explore the historical factors that have given Jewish Baltimore a unique character and feel, but also allowed the region to contribute disproportionately to American Jewish life over the past 250 years of this country’s history.

Following the presentation, engage with Dr. Goldstein through an audience question and answer session, experience Crossroads in the new Meyerhoff Gallery, and add your voice to the exhibition in the Museum’s production studio.

Eric L. Goldstein is Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Emory University, where he directed the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies for over a decade. In addition to On Middle Ground, he is also the author of The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity (Princeton, 2006). From 2007-2012, he was the editor of the quarterly scholarly journal, American Jewish History, and he currently serves as the president of the Southern Jewish Historical Society

6:30 PM | Program opens in the historic B’nai Israel Synagogue

7:30 PM | Exhibition Exploration in the Meyerhoff Gallery

8:00 PM | Program closes

Register here: https://68398.blackbaudhosting.com/68398/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=7f3447ef-1536-4221-a7e7-7881d4a5b286

Accessibility: The Museum building, including the family and all-gender single-stall bathroom, is wheelchair accessible. Masks are welcome but not required. Complimentary masks will be available for anyone who would like one. Noise-reducing headphones and earplugs are available upon request at the front desk. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available. Please reach out to our team if you have additional accessibility needs.

Parking: Street-side parking is available. Please be sure to check the parking signs when you park on the street. We do not currently recommend using the Housing Authority of Baltimore City-owned parking lot directly across the street from the main Museum building entrance. The lot is actively surveilled for parking violations.

Jewish culture, community-supported: Ticket revenue helps make Jewish cultural experiences like this possible for our community. If cost is a barrier, please select an Access ticket. If you’re able, consider choosing the Supporter option to help someone else attend. Most programs are free for JMM Members. Join today to reserve your complimentary ticket.

For questions, please contact [email protected] or 410.732.6400.

04/29/2026

We invite you to join us and explore our new core exhibition Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity.

Through artifacts, archival materials, films, and personal stories, the exhibition explores how Jewish life in Maryland has shaped questions of identity, belonging, and civic life, including the story of the 1826 Maryland Jew Bill. Curated by Judy Margles, this exhibition also features newly uncovered Lloyd Street Synagogue mural fragments that are now part of the Museum’s collection.

Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity is now open. We look forward to welcoming you.

04/01/2026

It may be April Fools’ Day… but this is no joke.

Upon Thy Gates has been extended through May 17.

The exhibition brings together 73 mezuzahs collected by Elaine K. and Norman Winik from Jewish communities around the world. Each one reflects a different place and style, while sharing the same tradition of marking the doorway of home.

Go ahead. Cross the threshold.

Click here to plan your visit: https://jewishmuseummd.org/visit/exhibits/

Produced by the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.

03/31/2026

We’re excited to share our new core exhibition, Jews of Maryland: At the Crossroads of Identity, opening April 12. Curated by Judy Margles, the exhibition explores the people, stories, and defining moments that have shaped Jewish life across the state.

At the heart of the exhibition is the 1826 Maryland Jew Bill, the historic moment that granted Jews the right to hold public office and marked an early step toward religious freedom in America.
But the story of equality is layered. As Jewish communities gained new rights, racial discrimination against Black and other marginalized communities remained deeply entrenched.

Crossroads invites visitors to sit with those complexities while exploring how Jewish Marylanders navigated belonging, identity, and civic life.

Through artifacts, archival materials, immersive storytelling, and original short films, the exhibition connects past struggles with the questions of identity and belonging we continue to ask today.

Join us April 12 and explore the stories that brought us here.