alternative to freezing outdoor hangs. Ross Weisman, engagement asso-
ciate at Tribe 12, said that the online events he’s planned for young Jews
in their 20s and 30s are generally well-attended and people who join
have relished the chance to interrupt their isolation.

“What I’ve been saying since the beginning of the pandemic, and
especially as we’re trying to sustain this a year in, is it’s all about the
quality of the individual’s experience, not necessarily, like, ‘OK, how
many people did we get to sign up for our Zoom webinar tonight?’”
Weisman said.

Federation Housing
Benjamin Behrend (top left) and Logan Schulman host a fictional
shiva in “Welcome to the Shiva House” in September 2020.

COURTESY OF BENJAMIN BEHREND
Arts and Culture
Though we’ve rarely been able to engage with art or performance in
person since the pandemic began, that hasn’t stopped visual artists,
playwrights, museum curators, dancers or musicians from creating.

Online culture has flourished, from exhibits at the National
Museum of American Jewish History, virtual tours of the Old City
Jewish Arts Center and streamed performances from Theatre Ariel.

We’ve all become accustomed to Zoom and online streams for cultural
events, including movies. Both the Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film
Festival and the Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia went to a virtual
model. Plays, at first adapted for the Zoom screen, started to be written
for the medium.

Some artists and performers, like “Pop Art Rabbi” Yitzchok Moully,
have continued to make art for people to see in person. Moully’s recur-
ring experiential art piece based in a sukkah, “We All Belong,” was
available for a limited number of visitors to the OCJAC back in October.

At NMAJH, frequent public events — movies, lectures, and perfor-
mance of Jewish music — were bright spots in a difficult year.

“When we can’t get into our intimate theater because a pandemic
is passing over us, it’s such a great way to connect, using music,” Dan
Samuels, NMAJH’s public programs manager, said in July. l
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the March 11, 2021 issue,
approximately 12 months after the pandemic began.

44 THE GUIDE 2021/2022