Jewish Life in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present

Exhibition on view November 17, 2011 – April 28, 2013

Becoming Home (9 stories)

The decision to live in the Bay Area is personal and encompasses a wide range of experiences and motivations—some have moved here because of love, others to attend university, to seek a new job, to escape persecution, to establish new rituals, or just to dream a little.

In this specially commissioned documentary, filmmaker Pam Rorke Levy has interviewed a wide range of individuals who call the Bay Area home and identify with some way with being Jewish. The result is an engaging and provocative assemblage of personal narratives, all offering equally powerful voices that represent the many facets of the Jewish community.

As part of the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s exhibition, California Dreaming: Jewish Life in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present, Rorke Levy’s Becoming Home allows you to listen to these individual stories while reflecting on your own experiences, traditions, landmarks, food, and rituals that can help you to express your identity and make you feel part of a community.

Directed by: Pam Rorke Levy
Edited by: Norm Levy
Associate Producer: Beryl Levy
Graphics: Kia Simon
Director of Photography: Eli Adler
Audio Sweetening & Mix: Lercy Clark

Becoming Home (Entire playlist)

Supporters

California Dreaming: Jewish Life in the Bay Area From the Gold Rush to the Present was organized by the Contemporary Jewish Museum with leading support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Jim Joseph Foundation. Presenting partners include the Gaia Fund and Osterweis Capital Management. Major support comes from the Estate of Sidney and Vivian Konigsberg. Supporting sponsors include Levi Strauss & Co., The Donald and Carole Chaiken Foundation, Catherine and James Koshland, and Alison Gelb Pincus and Mark Pincus. Additional generous support comes from Dana Corvin and Harris Weinberg, Robin Reiner and Fred Isaac from the Frederick J. Isaac Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of the East Bay, Randall E. Laroche and David G. Laudon, Ruth and Don Seiler, and  Barclay and Sharon Simpson.

The Koret and Taube Foundations are the lead supporters of the 2012/13 exhibition season.