I’m at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles today to see the new exhibit titled, “A Blessing To One Another – Pope John Paul II & The Jewish People”
Exhibition
A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People
September 12, 2008 through January 4, 2009
A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People
September 12, 2008 through January 4, 2009
Skirball Cultural Center
ADMISSION:
Included with Museum admission: $10 General; $7 Seniors and Full-Time Students; $5 Children 2-12; Free to Members and Children under 2; Free to all on Thursdays
In the course of his papacy, John Paul II sought to heal two millennia of painful history between Catholics and Jews, becoming the first Pope ever to enter a synagogue, officially visit and recognize the State of Israel, and formally repent for the Catholic Church’s past treatment of the Jewish people. A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People, opening at the Skirball on September 12, reveals how the Pope’s early relationships and lasting friendships with Jews informed his ministry and papacy, shaping a new, more hopeful relationship between the Church and the Jewish people. The exhibition draws its name from John Paul II’s 1993 address on the fiftieth anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising:
As Christians and Jews, following the example of the faith of Abraham, we are called to be a blessing to the world. This is the common task awaiting us. It is therefore necessary for us, Christians and Jews, to first be a blessing to one another.
The Skirball will offer many programs related to this exhibition, please find those for September and October listed at the bottom of this page. Additional programs in November and December include:
• Free screenings of some of cinema’s greatest adaptations of Biblical epics (Classic Films series, November 4 and 11, December 2 and 9)
• Lecture by Andrzej Folwarczny (Forum for Dialogue Among Nations) on Polish-Jewish relations (November 19)
• Family art-making workshop (Noah’s Ark Weekend Workshop, December 21)
More details on these programs will be available soon on this website.
In addition to other tours offered, Polish-language tours of this exhibition are available by advance reservation. Interested parties should call (310) 440-4656 at least two weeks in advance of their desired tour date.
A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People was created and produced by:
Xavier University
Hillel Jewish Student Center (Cincinnati)
The Shtetl Foundation
This traveling exhibition was made possible by the following lead funders:
The Jewish Foundation of Greater Cincinnati
Xavier University
The exhibition and related programs at the Skirball Cultural Center are made possible through the generous support of the following lead donors:
The Ahmanson Foundation
The Jane and Marc Nathanson Foundation
The Skirball Foundation
Additional support provided by:
The Angell Foundation
William H. Hannon Foundation
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Jewish Community Foundation
Dan Murphy Foundation
Pope John Paul II Cultural Center
Consulate General Of The Republic Of Poland
Riordan Foundation
Eugene & Ruth Roberts
Specialty Foundation
Sauvage & Du Manoir Families
Wallis Foundation
RELATED PROGRAMS:
A Blessing to One Another: Special Guest Walkthrough with Thomas Porter (Thursday, September 18, 7:30 pm)
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia’s Magical Flutes (Thursday, October 23, 8:00 pm)
Dya Singh (Thursday, October 2, 8:00 pm)
A Blessing To One Another: Members-only Curatorial Walkthrough with James Buchanan
A Blessing To One Another: Members-only Dinner Buffet
A Blessing to One Another: Members-only Preview Day
A Blessing To One Another: Members-only Curatorial Walkthrough with Grace Cohen Grossman
A Blessing To One Another: Members-only Docent-led Tour
A Blessing to One Another: Docent-led Tours (Sunday, September 14, 12:30 pm)
A Blessing to One Another: Special Guest Walkthrough with Rabbi Aaron Benson (Sunday, October 19, 2:00 pm)
The Yuval Ron Ensemble and Guests (Thursday, September 25, 8:00 pm)
Jesus and Judaism
