Giving Tuesday at The Magnes

Help build the future by assuring the past.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of generosity that will take place on November 30, 2021 and a perfect time to make a generous donation to The Magnes.

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving does not commemorate a great battle or a landmark court decision. It is a day like any other ‒ the kind of day to celebrate responsibility and generosity as Giving Tuesday.

Nothing reaches more deeply into Jewish and American traditions than the sense of personal responsibility for the world we inhabit. Generosity of spirit melds with the tradition of supporting organizations, institutions, and causes that enrich our lives and the lives of those around us. 

The Magnes Collection at the University of California, Berkeley, adds a unique dimension to the work and life of a great university. The richness and sheer size of the museum’s collections encourages reflection on the intersection of past and present. Jewish objects of ritual and daily life from across the globe make up the collection. The wedding finery of a Moroccan Jewish woman and Yiddish texts from Eastern Europe rest side-by-side with material artifacts of Jewish life from southern India and objects that once belonged to Jewish miners who came to California during the gold rush. 

These silent sentinels reveal the multiculturalism that marks the Jewish historical experience. Simultaneously old yet familiar, they testify to the persistent vitality of Jewish values and culture in the face of conflict, change, migration, and resettlement.  

The very familiarity of these objects from the past, many little changed from those we use today, also provide a solid foundation for the future.  While they link us to our enduring heritage, they are also an inspiration, as we adapt that cultural inheritance according to our own needs today. The artifacts at the Magnes both tether us to our forebears while liberating us to chart our own paths forward.

Join us and support The Magnes this Giving Tuesday.

Learn more about the different ways to support The Magnes.