good morning, welcome to mosaic. i'm honored to be your host this morning. we're joined by two wonderful guests. connie is the director of the contemporary jewish museum. in the meantime, this is dr. rachelle haverloch. she's a professor at the university of chicago. she has written a wonderful book "the river jordan."

it talks about how the jordan river has been used geographically as a boundary line in the region. welcome, rachele. thank you, rabbi white. >> so, what's the book about? >> well, the jordan river plays such a prominent role in you wish life and imagination. it's also importance to christians and important to islam. i wanted to look at why the jordan is important in these three religions and how it came to persist as this important boundary and location and symbol in jewish life from antiquity. >> for some who may not be familiar in the ways that the geography of the region is layed out, and putting aside what some may consider the political issues around the

state boundaries between jordan and israel, egypt and the region. can you let folks know, in a frame work, where does the river jordan situate itself? >> so, the river jordan is the lowest river on earth. it flows from northern mountains and israel and syria. it cuts through a river valley and then empties out into the dead sea, the lowest place on earth. it's also central and important as a water source in the region. it's a dry region. en and unfortunately, a water source that's imperil. >> interesting, what did you discover when you were doing the research and moving towards -- what's the articulate the function of the river jordan. >> so, the river cuts across the landscape.

for this reason, it was conceived in many different ways to be a dividing line. there was a difference between the east and the west side of the river. it also came to represent a border between heaven and earth. we see this particularly in the hebrew bible when we -- see elijah go to heaven on a chariot of fire. this has intacted the experience of the river for people. >> when we look at the region and put it into a contest of, we have islam, we have christianity, we have judyism. that's with the notion of place and what's layered on to the place. the theology and the spiritualty and the life of the

people. why do you think that it's water and a river rather than a valley and a mountain top. what is it, do you think about the water and the river that evokes the different layers of what we may think of as politics and daily life? >> there are a few answers. first of all, a river can be a place that divides terrain and it can be a place of connection and crossing, where people come into contact with their neighbors and others and traditions, language and material, traditions move fluidly. also, addressing the question of why water. water, familiarly is understood to be purify,ing -- purifying. it's a transformative process. people are changed in the

process of the crossing. in many cases, they move from one phase of life to the other. this is illustrated beautifully in the book of joshua. when the exodus ends and the entire people of israel crosses the jordan river into a new state. to answer your other question about why water and why division, i think that we really can, from ancient traditions, bring this tradition, yes, the river can divide, but also, it can be an incredible place of connection. in that sense, i recommend in the book that people in the region have more contact with the river, they're more involved with its state. right now, the lower jordan river is at 2% of the historic flow. 98% of the river is being diverted. this shall it couldn't be a better time to bring people's

attention to the marvelous traditions that surround the river and how it really can be a place where jews, christians and muslims can rally together to save the precious resource. >> we live in a part of the country where we're sensitive to the use of language. when it comes to the issues of the middle east. we use the word state, are you talking about the ecological status? >> exactly, that's imperil. the lower jordan river doesn't have any fresh water flowing through it, everything that's flowing through is waste or agricultural water run off. when i say the state of the river, this is to say, it's polluted and in risk of drying up.

so, i really, i want to bring back the memories and the history and the centrality of the river because i want people's attention to turn to it again and think about it as a vital resource in a water poor region as well as really a common symbol in the three religions. >> thank you, so much. in a moment, we're going to welcome connie wolf and after a segment, we're going to welcome back rachele and connie together for a continued conversation. please join us in a moment when we return to mosaic.

welcome back, we're continuing our conversation with connie wolf she's the director of the contemporary jewish museum. >> thank you for having me back. >> there's a wonderful exhibit, california dreaming. >> it's a great show for the community. it's called california dreaming from the gold rush to the present. we wanted to explore, what does it mean to be jewish in the bay area today. what makes us special and makes it a place that people want to learn about. the spirit that brought everyone to the bay area in the mid-19th century is a stilled spirit that guides everyone today. >> and you do innovative education processes and it doesn't have a permanent collection and it calls

exhibits across the cup -- country and brings them across the area. how did this come about? >> we get a lot of comments that they want to understand the jewish life in the bay area. half of the visitors come from the bay area and half around the world. half are jewish and half aren't. we have a diversity of audiences that want to learn more. it's exciting and one of the key images of this show is this beautiful image from sheriff, israel. this is the stain glass window. we have an image of that to show. what's remarkable, if you look in the upper right hand corner, moses is getting the ten commandments. what you discover is that's the half dome at yosemite. this is the promised land.

this is where people came to discover their future and to reinvent themselves and to pay attention to tradition and to really make a new home for themselves here. nothing captures it more than having half dome as the symbol of the promised land. >> and this stain glass, do you know how old it is? >> it was built in the early part of the 1900s. it's well over, well, it's about 110, 112 years old. and in israel, that was the only synagogue that survived the 1906 earthquake. because it survived, and because city hall was demolished, it was the center of city life. that's where the courts were held. you see, israel and congregations there were founded within hours of each other in 1850.

they're an incredible story of two different kinds of synagogues growing up together and being the center of jewish life today. >> one experience body german jewish experience and one of the other influences. >> even back then, there was a notion of there couldn't be one community. it was divided, but united. >> it was always diverse. >> never just one. >> in all that we do and have in the community, it's really signified by the diversity. we have another image that i would like to have people look at. that demonstrates that during prohibition, this is a wonderful image of a rabbi overseeing the sacrificial

wine. synagogue attendance increased dramatically you were allowed a certain amount of wine for the ceremony. that's an exciting moment to be jewish. >> it's an exciting period. jewish family services are celebrating their anniversary. they have a tradition of thinking about the community, not only the jewish, but the broader community. >> we're going to take a break and invite you both back to join us for a continued conversation about life in san francisco jewish communities. please join us back in a moment. teach an old dog new tricks?

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welcome back, i'm honored to be your host this morning. we're joined again by rachele and connie. we're going to finish up, connie with the conversation about california dreaming. also, there's an element about houdini. >> we have two fantastic exhibits. they'll be on view for a year as a great resource to the community. we have a special exhibition of houdini. he was the son of a rabbi and an immigrant from hungary and he came here with his father and family. it was the story of an immigrant trying to find his way in the world. he took up the place of the

stage. he's intrigued generations upon generations of young people and old people, exploring the whole notion of the body and illusion and everything. it's a remarkable exhibition. it has original footage. he came to san francisco three times. he has a remarkable way of performing outside in front of a newspaper building. these are the days before facebook and twitter and everything. so he wanted to be sure he was covered in the news. if he did it right by the newspaper station, he would be able to be covered needily -- immediately. he performed once on third and market street to over 30,000 people watching him and removing himself from a straight jacket. >> and we have a picture? >> yes, one of the posters announcing him coming to --

town. it was intriguing. there he is in his handcuffs. you can see his sleeves rolled up. many times, he performed with the handcuff trick nude. he would go to a police station and perform nude. that showed it was just him and his brute force and mind that was able to get him out of the very, very challenging situations. >> fascinating. fascinating. thank you, so much. the houdini exhibit is open until when? january 16th. >> what are the hours of the museum? >> every day but wednesday. you can visit the website for the hours. we're free the first tuesday of every month as well. >> wonderful. >> connie and rachele, because we have the two of you and it's such a treat to have you, we

want to take a leap of faith and open up a conversation about how really art and scholarship and the ways in which we discover new things by the experience of art and the development of art and seeing art and both by looking at what we think is old and coming up with new ideas. in this particular case, the river your dan. what can we say is important about the community and the importance of how understanding the arts and scholarship shape our thinking and influence the perception and influence the ways we act and behave towards one another and have the power to shift culture. with that, let's take a leap into that and see what comes up in what you think of?

>> i love the fact that there are scholars like rachele doing this work. so often, this work is limited to a narrow audience. what the museums do is draw on that research to then create a forum for their ideas and their thinking, to be open to a broader community. i look forward to reading your book and understanding the way in which the river jordan has been an influence and how we think about jewish tradition and life. we want to infuse audiences with new ways of thinking. it's critical that the school lores and -- scholars and professionals come together. >> to go within with what connie was saying. i'm first and for most a

biblical interpreter. jews have engaged in this, they bring something from their own time to bare on the text. bringing themes ands and more from their lives dialogue begins with individuals and communities with the text. the idea is to open that out into greater dialogue among ourselves and ultimately with different communities. there's something vital about returning to the texts and looking at the jordan river in a new way. i have also benefited from conversations with students of different ages at my university and the community and that i feel as if we're all engaged and bringing those traditions into the lives and bringing new

values to bare upon them. >> we're going to show you where you'll be, rachele at the jewish community in morin and cal shofar. as we go to the break, look at the tv screen and find out where rachele will be. two dates in january, february, march and april in san rafael. call for more information. or go to the website.

welcome back, we're involved in a wonderful conversation with connie wolf. dr. rachele, you're the associate professor of, well, of jewish studies and english at the university of illinois at chicago. we were talking about the commonality of creativity and how it funks in academic life and scholarship and reflecting on the ways in which both venues seek to bring a contemporary jewish and human experience to tradition and ancient wisdom. >> in many ways, it was right, nothing is new under the sun. so much is combining things in new ways and seeking out new contexts and new forms. that's what i try to do in the

book, thinking about the tradition around the river and human life there in a new way by juxtaposing it and looking at things from a contemporary lens. >> you know, we're the contemporary jewish museum. we're looking through the contemporary lens. what's wonderful is museums bring people together. our job is to make the ideas come alive and present work by artists, by clear lores to create a -- scholars to think about what comes next. so, we love working with artists and enjoy couraging them -- and to encourage them to create new work. we want people to see it through another lens and to

welcome different perspectives. >> it seems so wonderful, we have embodied a different type of diversity. that's a diversity of thinking and how one perceives the world in a general way rather than a political standard or a particular way of understanding tradition. but the diversity of how one approaches the jewish life and thinks about i. >> this is the notion that we begin with a question. we think about questioning. that's jewish, as we all know. the museum is always asking questions to really engage our visitors. i think about great scholarships. you're really asking very important questions. >> believe it or not, we've come to the end of the show. i don't want to leave before saying good-bye. you've been a guest so many times and you're the ceo of the

contemporary museum. you're about to start in stanford, university. we want to wish you the best of luck. it's been a pleasure to have you here and we look forward to having you on in the context of the cancer center. >> thank you for being supportive of the contemporary jewish museum. >> thank you for joining us. have a wonderful day.