INTRODUCTION

from Marcia Jo Zerivitz, Founding Executive Director & Chief Curator

 

The Jewish Museum of Florida (JMOF) is an extraordinary place where visitors – both adults and students – walk through our doors and experience lessons of diversity.

 

Our Docents are volunteers - guiding people whose families came from another place into Florida. What makes our State special is the wonderful mix of people, who arrive at different times in history, bringing with them a variety of cultures, languages and traditions. There are 192 countries in the world and people in our State and County represent about 80% of those!

 

Our Museum tells the story of one group of people – the Jews – and their experience in Florida – how they maintained the traditions of a culture and how, at the same time, they have contributed to the development of our great State. Our core exhibit, MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida, depicts the history since Jews were first allowed to live here in 1763.

 

Our temporary exhibits expand on themes within the core and tell stories of Jewish people who have come from places all over the globe and sustained their heritage in spite of displacement – just like the story of all families of some generation.

 

Our Docents are here to ensure your visit is what you expect it to be – and maybe just a bit more than that!