Originally over at sixth and g street. This is the third time the building has been moved. In 1969, the building was taken off of its foundation. They took off some of the first floor. They made it easier for us to move down to the museum site. They have lifted it up on some steel beams. They put wheels underneath the steel beams. They used a Remote Control system to roll it down the street very slowly. It will take it a few hours to get it one block down. Why is it being moved . The first time the building moved was for progress downtown. The metro headquarters was getting built. Metro displaced this little building and moved it to the new site here. The Jewish Historical Society has done a number of weddings thebar mitzvahs in synagogue, but it is not used as a traditional synagogue, it is more for special events. Until this last year, we were doing programming and small exhibitions out of this building. Progress in the city we are rebuilding this huge new neighborhood in this area called capital crossing. That is having us relocate the synagogue again. But the opportunity for us is that we get to build it in coordination with a new Museum Facility that will wrap around the Historic Building and provide a connection between the old building and the new stories we want to tell. The Capital Jewish Museum will be a place where we can talk about jewish life in the Nations Capital. We can tell stories about the people who came to washington to have an impact on Public Discourse and on the course of our country. We can talk about the people who came to washington as activists and protesters to make change in the Nations Capital. We are excited to have a secular space for conversation across across communities, where we can elevate civil discourse, where we can have difficult conversations. It is a special, unique space, designed for families, interactive, an unconventional spirit to it. I grew up here. This is very much part of my story. Myrate my greatgrandmother came to washington and opened a Grocery Store on kennedy street. This is part of my family story, i remember coming down with a caravan of cars on a cold winter day to protest in front of the soviet embassy on behalf of freedom for soviet jews. This is a city about making change. It is really a part of my story too, so it is special for me. What will happen today . What is your agenda . At 9 15, we have a rabbi from one of the local jewish congregations on capitol hill that will offer a blessing, a travelers prayer for the building before it begins its journey. At about 10 00, 9 45, the building will start rolling down 3rd street. To many cheers, i am sure. We have a lot of excited people to see the move today. We will make a three point turn backing up into f street and pulling out over the new museum site. As it is doing that contorted last move, we will be holding a press conference with local leaders at 11 30. I would like to introduce the rabbi. She is a rabbi at capitol hill. She will be offering a blessing. We learn it is appropriate when we are going on a journey for us to offer a blessing. Even though it is not a person going on the journey today, it is extraordinarily exciting for all the people who look forward to spending time and learning in this building in the future. This synagogue, the first synagogue built in washington, d. C. Taking this move will get the blessing today. The travelers blessing. [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] may it be your will, eternal one, our god, and the god of our ancestors, that you lead us towards peace. Place our footsteps towards peace, guide us towards peace, and let us reach our destination for life, gladness and peace. May you rescue us from any obstacle along the way. May you send blessing in our every handiwork, and grant us peace, kindness, and mercy in your eyes. May you hear the sound of our supplication. Blessed are you, eternal one, who hears this prayer. Let us say, amen. Thank you for the honor. [indiscernible] i am a project manager. What we did to prep for the move itself, we had to jack the building up several feet off the ground. I am making it sound pretty simple, but it took several days to get it prepped and get the bracing inside and outside of the building. We had the Structural Engineer check the existing buildings foundation, the walls itself. We braced it inside. Outside you can see the angle on the corners. We strapped it, so that keeps the building from racking. The building will not be moving that fast. It will be a slow crawl. There will be some bumps and minor cracks on the inside, but nothing structural. From start to finish, we are three to four hours in total. The actual route going down 3rd street will actually take less than 30 minutes. We are getting set up for a big celebration. We have earmuffs, Capital Jewish Museum earmuffs for all of our guests. We have cappuccinos from our italian next door neighbors. Donuts and coffee. We are getting ready for a big celebration. We were surprised at how quickly it was moving down the street and then it slowed down a little bit. I am fascinated watching the guy with the controls, operating the Remote Controls and steering it at exactly what angle. It is exciting, but a little scary. It is almost in place . They actually have to pull it just pass f street, then they will back up into f street and pull out over the construction. [applause] my name is wendy, i am the Deputy Director at the Capital Jewish Museum. We have not yet built the museum. We are in the home of our neighbors, the casa italiana, which is attached to holy rosary catholic church, and they generously opened up their hall to us for a place for us to come and get warm while the building is moving today and look at things from our collection. Part of the reason that we are building the museum is that we have a lot of stories to share. It is difficult for me to pack everything up and bring it out here on a daily basis. We will be able to tell much bigger stories with more space, in ways that we hope will engage people in understanding the past and thinking about their own place in the future. The oldest object in our collection is this Silver Wedding cup. This cup was made in 1690 and was used by a jewish couple in germany. The inscription on the outside is in german, it wishes the couple a long and happy life. It was brought to the United States by an immigrant family who came in the 19th century. They immigrated to philadelphia and later came to washington, bringing the cup with them. It is a wonderful way for us to talk about some immigrant stories, how people came to washington, what they brought with them. Washington was never the first stop for jewish families when they were coming to washington. They came to other ports of entry like philadelphia, new york, or baltimore before coming to washington. The next thing is one of the most exciting things. When we received it, it was a highlight for me. It is this notebook that was used by Justice Louis brandeis at Harvard Law School in 1877. It was one of his notebooks from studying of evidence. He was first in his class at harvard and was appointed to the Supreme Court by woodrow wilson. He was the first jewish justice appointed to the court. His confirmation was highly contested. It was on the basis of his judaism and progressive ideals. He had public confirmation hearings that were rather extended. He was subject to virulent forms of antisemitism. He remained on the bench until 1939. This notebook was given to us by his grandson, frank gilbert, who is the past president of the Jewish Historical Society and very active with it. We love to tell the stories of brandeis as one of the first in the string of jewish justices. One of the most recent things we received was this beautiful collar that might look more familiar, as it was worn by Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg, who was appointed to the bench by president clinton. These lace collars are one of her trademark images. She talks about the meaning of being the second woman appointed to the bench, and a jewish justice on the court. These are some of the ways we can get into these bigger stories about looking at washingtons history through the jewish lens. Some of the stories we like to tell are also about how the community builds itself. This is most of the wonderful panoramic photographs for the cornerstone lane for the Jewish Community center, which is on 16th street, up the street from the white house. You can see they closed off the street. President Calvin Coolidge is giving the address and talking about the jewish impact on american civil life and american civil discourse. It is an audacious act, putting the center of the Jewish Community right up the street from the white house. A wellknown builder and developer in washington headed up the fundraising campaign, which was over 500,000. The National Jewish welfare board had the opinion that washington needed a Jewish Community center. That, as the Nations Capital, we should make sure the Nations Capital has this gathering place, because it brings jews from so many parts of the world together. The National Jewish welfare board put up some initial money and the local community grabbed hold, and it resulted in this beautiful building that is there now. One of the other community stories, and something that is particularly relevant today is this engraved invitation to the first time the historic synagogue was moving. We are here today to watch the synagogue move for the third and final time. The first time it moved was in 1969 from its original home at the corner of sixth and g. It moved down the street three blocks that time, to the corner of third and g. This was in 1969. This is the year after the riots that tore up washington, d. C. After Martin Luther king was assassinated. The Downtown Court did not look like it did today. The jewishbuilding, Community Coming together to save this building and find a piece of leftover highway land. Working through the local and federal bureaucracy. President nixon had to sign a bill that allowed the city of washington to acquire the synagogue and lease it to the Jewish Historical Society for historic preservation. That tells the story of what we are doing in the capital with congressional oversight. It tells the story of the Jewish Community that finds meaning in its past and gathers together to save this little building that is moving again. We did not send out an invitation, we did it by email. It is a wonderful object for us to look at today. One of my other favorite objects in the collection is this banner from the march on washington. This was used by hyman buchbinder, he was an advocate for jewish causes. He came out of the labor movement. He worked in the war on poverty for president kennedy and later for president johnson. He was very involved with hubert humphrey. He was an advocate for social issues in all manner of ways. Once protested outside glenn echo park in 1960, which was then segregated. He joined with some civil rights leaders and Howard University students to protest and advocate for desegregation of glen echo. He talked about how this banner from the 1963 march on washington was one of his most cherished possessions. I never thought i would get to see one of these. When this came into the collection, it was a real exciting moment for a historic day. He is also a wonderful story in himself, and talking about these advocates who come to washington. Some of the other advocacy stories, or stories of people trying to make a change, trying to make a difference are this collection of buttons from the soviet jury movement. There was a worldwide effort pressuring the soviet union to release restrictions on jews trying to immigrate to israel in the 1960s. Cities all around the country would hold demonstrations, marches, and rallies. In washington, it took on a different character, because washington is the Nations Capital. The backdrop is, the National Mall is a home for a lot of these rallies and demonstrations. What happens to local communities is acting on a national stage. These buttons were used at a vigil that took place every single day for 20 years, from 1970 to 1991. It was a group of washingtonians who would meet together around aon for 15 minutes up to couple small groups, big groups hours. In the rain and snow, to advocate by their presence for this movement. Something that sets washington apart from all the Jewish Community stories is the fact that this is the Nations Capital and these events play out here on a different stage. We love our white house stories, we love our stories of the Jewish Community interacting in the white house. We have this from a White House Hanukkah Party in 2011. There is passover, seder, hanukkah parties. Other events that are fun to document and give a sense of jewish communities involved in all branches of government. And this beautiful cake box that was used at the wedding for lucy johnson. The cake box was produced by a local party store owner. She had this Party Business and got a call one day, asking if she could produce 750 cake boxes for a souvenir for the wedding. She said certainly, but i need to make sure somebody can pay the bill. She was told the brides father, president johnson, would take care of the bill. She would go to the white house and help plan the wedding and subsequent wedding for the next daughter and other parties. We have a lot of these stories. We call them the only in washington stories, where ordinary citizens, Business People are interacting with the federal government or with agents of change in different ways than you would see elsewhere. Sometimes they are fun stories that people love to learn about. We are in the sanctuary of the historic 1876 synagogue. This is the biggest thing in our collection and the centerpiece of our new museum. We are here for the first time after it moved down the street two weeks ago, and it looks great inside. They built this building in just a couple of months in time for the nations centennial. They thought it was important for the Nations Capital to have its own synagogue that was built for that purpose. This congregation was the second congregation in washington, but built from the ground up for a brandnew building. They put this up and dedicated it on june 9. President Ulysses Grant attended the dedication. It served as a sanctuary for the congregation for 30 years. Its not a big space. They outgrew this and built a new synagogue and moved away. This was repurposed into a Greek Orthodox church. Several other churches were here. After the congregation moved out, the bottom was reconfigured to allow for three storefronts. The schoolroom and the chapel for daily prayers, it was turned into three stores that were used by lots and lots of different businesses over time. At one point in the 1950s, there was a Grocery Store on one side, maybe a barbershop on one side, and carry out pork barbecue. There was a neon pig on the front corner of the former synagogue. The pews from the sanctuary, the men would have been sitting downstairs on pews and the women upstairs in the balcony. The rabbi would have likely been up on the bimah. The torahs would have been in the ark. We are in a temporary situation with our air ducts coming into the space. You can imagine the creek of these floorboards creak of the floorboards that were back in 1876. Filled with children, noises, praying, a real tightknit group. We have wonderful stories in our collection of children describing running errands back and forth between their mother and father. They would go up the twisting stairs to the womens spot. The women would sit upstairs in the nonairconditioned sanctuary. The women and girls going up the stairs onto the very hot balcony, where they could peer o men praying down below in the congregation. Sort of the chatter and conversation. I cannot even imagine 150 people packed into this space. The women were seated at these pews. You do not see a whole lot when you are sitting up here, but it is like a whole other world. This was an orthodox congregation, so the men and women prayed separately. This congregation broke off from the washington hebrew congregation, which was the first ever founded in washington. Part of the reason is because of the reforms that the washington hebrew congregation was making. Changes in the ritual. Using german, or english instead of hebrew for some of the prayers. Using different prayer books. And then they purchased an organ and that was the final straw for the members of the congregation. About 30 of those families broke off from washington hebrew and came to create their own congregation, to really live the more traditional values of their german heritage. I think the amazing thing about this building is how modest a structure it is. It is very small in scale, but it also has no adornment on the outside. That really indicates this is a synagogue. This is the synagogue about assimilation, about finding a new place in this capital city. The only evidence, which was found years later when it was rerecognized as a synagogue, was this small stone piece that was at the front of the synagogue with hebrew letters on it. The only marker that this was a synagogue, much more like a Quaker Meeting House or a really traditional, Original Church than any modern synagogue. Certainly, far different than sixth and i, which is a huge, beautiful, sanctuary and synagogue where the congregation moved after they left this small building. There is no known architect on record. This congregation had limited means, but a lot of them had come from some of the german states we have seen photographs of old, simple synagogues that look similar. We do not know what evidence they have, what memories they brought with them. It is also just the size of the city lot. It looks like a lot of other federal buildings in washington from that time. Red brick. It is reflective of the city. We have only one photograph that shows the sanctuary the way it appeared when it was used by the congregation. It was published in the newspaper. We have a fuzzy reproduction. But it gives us some sense of what the Lighting Fixtures looks like, and the overall shape of the bimah and the ark, and the ways the pews were in here. It is a little bit of evidence. We combine that with newspaper descriptions we have that give a lot of detail about the building, how it was used and how it appeared. The woodwork is all original. We know there is original goldleaf under there. This is representative of what we could piece together from the newspaper description. [speaking foreign language] in hebrew, this is saying, how great are your tents, o jacob, your dwelling places, o israel. If you can kind of imagine these cords coming down, our ductwork. You enter the museum between the building and our new museum structure, and you will come into the first floor of the building, which is the same tiny square footprint. You will be able to learn about the early stories of the synagogue, of life in washington and the intersection between the Jewish Community and other communities. Or he will be able to come up the elevator in the new building and across this beautiful new bridge we are building. You will enter here, through this portal, we will turn this into a full height doorway. You will come across the bridge and into this space. We really want to use theater and storytelling, and projection and have a sense of place and time. I love the way it looks in its new home. It has regained its original orientation. I have never seen it in this perspective. When i walked down f street, i s ee it in a new landscape. It is more visible. It looks at home. 30 years ago, the u. S. Launched operation just cause, the invasion of panama. The goal was to restore the democratically elected government and arrest the dictator Manuel Noriega on Drug Trafficking charges. Next, a critical look at the invasion and the medias coverage in a 1993 independent documentary, the panama deception. Actor Elizabeth Montgomery and including interviews with government officials and critics, the film argues many more civilians were killed and the u. S. Government acknowledged and the media generally accepted the pentagons version of events