H EADLINES
Digitizes Bar-Hama also partnered
with Blumenthal for NMAJH’s
most recent digitization
will be able to reach a larger project, which allows an online
audience than ever before. The user to not only explore the
sky’s the limit.”
museum’s layout by clicking
Continued from Page 1
§²¤© A digitized view of the National Museum of American Jewish History’s second floor core exhibit
Photos by Ardon Bar-Hama
® (800) 624-8888
MANHATTAN | LAKEWOOD | PHILADELPHIA
BROOKLYN | HACKENSACK | MONSEY | CHERRY HILL
around the page but also view
all display cases, zooming into
the cases to view each object
and descriptions in more
detail. Bar-Hama set up a server
for the virtual exhibit in
Germany at a robust server
farm different from the one
used by the museum’s website,
from which the exhibit can be
viewed across the globe.
The virtual exhibit provides
audiences with even greater
detail than the physical
exhibit, allowing online users
to flip through books and view
objects from different angles,
rather than simply view them
from behind the display glass.
“Not only have we made the
point that [audiences viewing
the exhibit online] can actually
come to the museum — for
those who cannot come to
Philadelphia — but they can
get more detail and more
comfort on the computer
screen by doing it in that way,”
Bar-Hama said.
NMAJH flew Bar-Hama
from Israel to Philadelphia
in September 2020 when the
museum was closed, and
Bar-Hama spent almost two
weeks just photographing the
exhibit. The exhibits’ digitiza-
tion consisted of Bar-Hama
taking 360-degree panoramic
photographs around the
museum to capture its layout,
followed by photographing
hundreds of objects in and
out of their display cases from
different angles. He used a
camera with ultraviolet-pro-
tected flash tubes, so as not to
damage the objects with light.
Bar-Hama used
that technique to photograph and
digitize the Dead Sea Scrolls
for the Israel Museum in
Jerusalem and the Aleppo
Codex, the earliest known
Hebrew manuscript that
contains the Torah’s full text.
He’s also digitized an exhibit
for Philadelphia’s Museum of
the American Revolution, but
the digitization of NMAJH’s
entire core exhibit is his biggest
undertaking. “This is a revolution,”
Bar-Hama said. “I don’t think
you will find — if you Google
it — not even a single museum
on the web that you can see
completely.” NMAJH has been at the
forefront of museum efforts
across the country to make
museums more accessible
to audiences, according to
NMAJH Chief Curator and
Director of Exhibitions and
Interpretation Josh Perelman.
During the pandemic-in-
duced museum shutdown,
NMAJH hosted a wealth of
Ardon Bar-Hama
Courtesy of Ardon Bar-Hama
online programming, bringing
in 4 million audience members.
Perelman hopes the virtual
tour makes the museum even
more accessible.
“The root of a project is a
commitment to access and
accessibility,” Perelman said.
“We often think about museums
as destinations — as they should
be ... but the knowledge, the
educational potential, the explo-
ration shouldn’t be limited just
to the few who can visit.”
But now that the museum is
contemplating reopening to the
general public after only being
available for select private
events, Perelman believes
that the virtual exhibits won’t
replace visiting NMAJH’s
physical space.
“I envision a future where
museums are creating both
in-person and virtual experi-
ences with much more
See Digitize, Page 14
12 DECEMBER 2, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
H EADLINES
Latke Exclusive Women’s Apparel Boutique
Continued from Page 1
Chanukah started on Nov.
28 and will continue through
Dec. 6.
“This is the latke holiday,”
said Robin Foy, the cashier
coordinator at Murray’s Deli in
Bala Cynwyd.
It’s not the latke holiday
every night, though. Among
the eight nights of Chanukah,
the first two see the most potato
pancake orders, according to
Foy. Thomas said, regardless
of when they fall during the
holiday, the weekend evenings
see the most latke orders.
On those nights, families are
not just asking for individual
servings, either. They are
calling in party trays.
Murray’s customers ask
for between 20 and 25 latkes
during the Festival of Lights.
Manny’s patrons have called in
for stacks of 15, 24 and 32.
“Sometimes it’s for the
family. Sometimes it’s for big
parties,” Foy said. “This is a
holiday where we give them
quantities.” Like all Jewish traditions,
though, latkes are not just
something we do. They have an
origin, too.
Since potato pancakes are
cooked in oil, they symbolize
the miracle of Chanukah.
At the beginning of the
Maccabean revolt against King
Antiochus, Jews lit a candle
in the Second Temple. It only
had enough oil to burn for one
night, but it lasted for eight.
Local delis also have a
second-most-popular item
during Chanukah — sufganiyot
— and it has the same origin.
Jewish jelly donuts, like potato
pancakes, are fried in oil.
“Fried food symbolizes
Chanukah,” said Josh Bray, the
manager of The Kibitz Room in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
So, like many Jewish tradi-
tions, this one comes back to
food. But it’s not just food, Bray
said. It’s good food.
“People do the same thing
because it’s good,” he said.
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Made in USA
Custom designs, color options and
free alterations available
Evening Gowns
Suits/Separates Cocktail Dresses
The Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
But on Chanukah, the
Jewish food tradition is a
little different than on other
holidays. Passover, Rosh
Hashanah, Yom Kippur and
even Shabbat are all based
around meals.
The Festival of Lights, on
the other hand, doesn’t have a
big meal at its core. Latkes and
sufganiyot are sides.
As Bray
explained, Chanukah is “not really a
dinner holiday.” It’s more of a
festival among family members
with games and gifts.
Hors d’oeuvres pair perfectly
with this environment, Bray
said. “Spin dreidel, eat jelly
donuts and potato latkes,” he
added. “Exchange gifts and eat
good food.”
This is not to say that
Chanukah parties do not have
main courses. They do.
Manny’s sells meat and
sandwich trays during Chanukah,
Thomas said. Murray’s and
Schlesinger’s get a lot of brisket
orders, Foy and Domb said.
Latkes and sufganiyot
are not the only popular
Chanukah hors d’oeuvres. Deli
owners mentioned matzah ball
soup, blintzes, hamentashen
and Jewish apple cake as other
common orders.
Latkes, in particular, are
not even just a Chanukah
delicacy. Local delis do pretty
well offering them year-round,
often as a side to meals.
But once a Jewish food
Courtesy of The Kibitz Room
ritual takes root, Jews cultivate
it for eternity.
Chanukah means latkes,
and latkes mean Chanukah.
Tradition! “It’s what we grew up
knowing throughout the
years,” Bray said. “It keeps
going and going.”
But, as Bray explained,
while Jews do love tradi-
tions, modern Jews are not
maintaining all of them. That’s
why it’s important to keep the
holiday food rituals, including
latkes on Chanukah, alive.
“A lot of Jewish things are
going away in this day and
age,” he said. “It’s nice to keep
some of the holiday traditions
going.” Early in this holiday season,
Domb, who is also a city
councilman, has noticed a new
vibrancy to the old Chanukah
tradition. In Schlesinger’s at
least, more people are both
ordering latkes out and dining
in than they did in 2020 when
the pandemic was raging.
So, Jews are not just ordering
Chanukah food or getting
together out of habit. In many
instances, they are getting
together after 21 months apart.
They also seem much happier
to do it than they did two years
ago, Domb said.
“Many grandparents lived
to see their grandchildren,” the
owner concluded. l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISH EXPONENT
61 Buck Road
Huntingdon Valley,
PA 19006
www.elanaboutique.com (215)953-8820
Make an appointment today!
Consult with the designer to
explore your style options.
THINKING ABOUT –
Moving? Moving to Independent
Senior Living?
Selling your home?
S 3 Living
THINK ABOUT –
Strategic Senior Solutions
S 3 Living
or Life Plan Community (CRRC).
S 3 Living represents YOU , not the communities. We will
recommend the best solution to meet your individual needs.
Call the DelawareValley’s leading expert on
Independent Senior Living
David Reibstein, President
215-259-5225 (o) 215-870-7362 (c)
Call today for a free consultation
S3Living.com DECEMBER 2, 2021
13