RAO Students visit the Spertus Center

Post date: Nov 7, 2011 5:07:06 AM

The story of Augie March is also a story about Jewish Chicago, and RAO students recently visited the Spertus Center for Jewish Learning and Culture to view the exhibit Uncovered & Rediscovered: Stories of Jewish Chicago. The exhibit, which is part of a series, was called "Let There Be Learning" and it focused on the importance of education in the Chicago Jewish community from the 1800's to the present day. We were able to see yearbooks from Chicago high schools, group pictures from settlement house learning centers and videos of young people celebrating their culture at local Jewish day schools. The Center is also filled with interesting paintings and photographs documenting the Jewish experience in America and beyond. There was a fascinating timeline of Chicago Jewish history and Saul Bellow, the author of The Adventures of Augie March, was prominently featured.

The visit ended with a walk through the gift shop, where a helpful assistant showed students books about learning Hebrew and explained the importance of various Jewish religious artifacts. Later, several students were able to describe specific things they had learned about Judaism and even identified personal connections with Jewish culture.

We can now read Augie's story with a better understanding of what life was like for young, Jewish men during his lifetime!