The Jewish Children’s Museum is a $31 million project of Tzivos Hashem: Jewish Children International. It opened in the Year 2004 at a site on Brooklyn’s Museum Row, at the junction of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue. It is easily accessible by car and public transportation from all points in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Long Island.

About Tzivos Hashem

Tzivos Hashem: Jewish Children International came into being in 1980, at the suggestion of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson. With over 300,000 members worldwide, it sponsors a broad spectrum of educational, recreational and entertaining programs that instill in Jewish children a positive Jewish identity and appreciation of their heritage. Its projects include helping hundreds of underprivileged children attend summer camps and sending Chaplains to Boy Scout camps throughout the world. Tzivos Hashem also operates two orphanages and a medical clinic in the former Soviet Union, and sponsors regular medical and humanitarian missions. Its publishing arm – Hachai, publishes books and magazines in English, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Turkish.

The creation of the Jewish Children’s Museum is a direct outgrowth of the success of Tzivos Hashem’s Jewish Children’s Expo, held annually in New York’s Javits Convention Center, and attracting over 50,000 visitors. The Expo featured animated exhibits and hands-on activities, bringing Jewish history, culture, values and traditions to life.
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The men and women responsible for the design and content of the Jewish Children’s Museum are each recognized leaders in their respective fields

Architects:
In 1982, the firm of Gwathmey, Siegel & Associates Architects LLC, the designers of the Jewish Children’s Museum, received the highest professional honor bestowed by their peers, the American Institute Of Architects’ (AIA) “Firm Award” for “design excellence and a strong belief in the collaborative effort.” The following year, the New York chapter of the AIA awarded the two principals of the firm, Charles Gwathmey and Robert Siegel, the Medal of Honor “for their distinction in evolving one of the most creative practices in our time and for the influence of their practice on architects and students of architecture.” Since its founding in 1967, this distinguished firm has completed over 300 projects around the world, including the critically acclaimed, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum Addition and the American Museum of the Moving Image.

Exhibit Designers:
Douglas|Gallagher is renowned for its ability to combine a broad range of professional talent from the fields of architecture, exhibit design, graphic design, lighting and landscape architecture, to create museum exhibits that work in harmony with one another to inspire and inform, and fulfill the museum’s specific goals. The skill of the firm’s designers, project managers and exhibit coordinators is evident from its highly praised work at these world-renowned institutions: The Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York; Science City, at Union Station in Kansas City; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The design team of Nash Brookes Assoc. has completed the Construction documentation phase of the project.

Exhibit Fabricators:
Maltbie Inc. is among the finest and most experienced specialists for visitor centers, museums and exhibition projects throughout the US and the world today. Whether natural or human history, science & technology or a cultural/education attraction, their commitment to quality and their extensive capabilities and available resources make them the company of choice to fabricate and install multi-faceted exhibit projects. In their forty-year history, they have a proven record of producing high quality projects, and have completed well over two hundred major museum projects since 1961. Watson Productions, a cutting edge multi-media design firm with roots in graphic and exhibition design, has completed the design and fabrication of many of the exhibits.

Museum Interpretation and Content development:
A writer and museum consultant with more than 18 years experience, Paul Rosenthal makes good information good reading. He has developed programs and crafted text for a great variety of exhibitions on history, science, art and architecture, sports, geography, biography and computers. Experienced both in children’s and general interest museums, Paul has worked for leading institutions including the National Maritime Center, The Liberty Museum at the Statue of Liberty, Sony Wonder, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, A Living Memorial to the Holocaust/Museum of Jewish Heritage, The Creative Discovery Museum, The Barnum Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. He has won numerous awards, and is considered a leading expert in this field.

Museum Consultant:
Mindy Duitz is among the most respected experts in the specialized field of designing and operating children’s museums. From 1984-1994, she achieved great success as director of the world’s oldest children’s museum. She rejuvenated the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, by instituting major new exhibitions and innovative, community-oriented, public programs. At the same time, she re-energized the museum’s board, and completed a critically acclaimed $7 million building renovation. Previously, she also distinguished herself as director of the Staten Island Children’s Museum.

Education Consultant:
Rabbi Chaim Feurman is widely regarded by his professional peers as a “Jewish educator’s educator,” having mastered every facet of Jewish education during the course of his 40 years in the field. He is a member of the NYC Board of Jewish Education, and a professor of Jewish Education at the David J Azrieli Graduate School of Education of Yeshiva University, and a senior trainer and mentor of principals and teachers for the National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, (Torah Umesorah). Dr. Noam Shudofsky, a respected educator and advisor, is a former administrator at the Ramaz School, and is a leading expert on Jewish education.