Kiwi

November 20, 2025 | Third Thursday Thoughts
Dawn LaRochelle, Executive Director

There are many things I expected to do as a mother, but waiting for my son to throw dried kiwis at the window of our third-story condo rental in Victoria, B.C., was not one of them.

A few days into our recent vacay in the Pacific Northwest — a bucket-list destination for me and “Nick the Brit” as well as a college graduation present for our son, Peter — Peter reminded me, as only a middle child can, that predictability is overrated. He’d decided to ditch the iPhone and spend the week unplugged (“I just want to be present, Mom”), which is lovely in theory… until he chose to go for a nighttime run in Victoria, where we had only one key to the condo and a front door that locked automatically. And Nick and I needed the key to go on our own nighttime exploration of the city. Even though we would undoubtedly return before Peter, he had no way of texting or calling us to open the door.

“How will you get back in?” I asked.

Peter shrugged, grabbed a bag of dried kiwis — one of the many snacks required to fuel his 90-miles-a-week runner’s metabolism — and answered, off-handedly, “I’ll just throw these at your window until you let me in.”

Reader, he meant it.

As I stood there, struggling with the improbable image of small green discs arcing through the Canadian night, it occurred to me that my son had just delivered a tuition-ROI scenario I’m fairly certain the college brochure left out. It also struck me that this brand of inventive, occasionally off-the-wall problem-solving is exactly what has carried the Maine Jewish Museum through year after extraordinary year.

We rarely have every tool or resource (or even, frankly, the right key).
We dream big.
We work lean.
And yet, we always find a way.

With humor.
With heart.
With friends and supporters who say, “Sure, let’s give it a try,” even when the idea sounds a little like, “What if… we toss dried fruit at the window and see what happens?”

Please don’t get me wrong: our Annual Appeal launches next week, and yes, those donations matter. A lot. They keep the lights on, the programs running, and the doors open. But the “Little Museum That Could” isn’t powered by dollars alone. It also keeps chugging thanks to another kind of generosity — the bring-what-you-have, show-up-as-you-are, roll-up-your-sleeves spirit that makes this place come alive.

And, speaking of alive, you can feel the current running through MJM these days.

Tonight and tomorrow, the Museum will be sparkling during our 2nd Annual Jewelry Pop-Up Sale , two days filled with art, bright shiny objects, and community buzz, anchored by a festive Thursday Happy Hour and a Friday Afternoon Tea (both catered by yours truly). It’s a fundraiser disguised as a party disguised as holiday shopping — a perfect trifecta.

While you’re here getting your bling on, I encourage you to wander through our galleries. They are, quite simply, singing.

In the Spiegel Gallery, Roy Gyöngy Fox’s On the Fence explores what it means to sit between identities, impulses, and emotional states. It’s thoughtful and bold, but also unexpectedly intimate.

Across the way in the Fineberg Community Room, Aaron Rosen’s guest-curated Up/Rooted presents contemporary Jewish work by emerging artists. It’s layered and evocative, the kind of show that stays with you long after you’ve stepped back out into the cold air.

If you take the stairs (highly recommended for those who are able), you’ll enter Juliet Karelsen’s Seydisfjordur, a site-specific installation that turns our stairwell into an Icelandic dreamscape. It’s atmospheric, uncanny, and wonderfully transporting.

And in the Jody Sataloff Pavilion, there’s Jesse Melchiskey’s Just One More, a photographic adrenaline rush documenting extreme skiers doing things that made me both gasp and clutch my lower back. It’s exhilarating and wild, and for anyone craving a winter thrill, completely risk-free.

Many of these works are for sale, with proceeds shared between the artists and the Museum, so you can shop well and do good at the same time. Oh, and not for nothing, but just yesterday, the Portland Press Herald named MJM one of the city’s go-to spots for affordable holiday art. I’m not saying you should get your holiday shopping done here… but actually, yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.

The joy continues:

On Sunday, December 7, from 2:00 pm –3:30 pm, we’ll unveil a very special addition to our sculpture garden: a custom goat-themed cedar menorah, hand-carved especially for us by Downeast artist Aaron Margolis. Aaron’s work has one foot in Jewish folk tradition and the other in the Maine woods, and his menorah bridges the two: Yiddish goats full of mischief and wisdom emerging from carved cedar that feels grounded, sturdy, and unmistakably local. We’ll light it every Chanukah from here on out, giving our winter garden a glow every bit as enchanting as its summer counterpart. And we’ll celebrate its debut with Zlateh’s Hanukkah Party: A Goat, a Garden & Great Fun , featuring storytime, crafts, winter lights, treats, music, games, and an abundance of family-friendly activities — a “Museums Are for Kids” afternoon if ever there was one.

With all that light on the horizon as we head toward Thanksgiving, I keep thinking of Peter standing on the sidewalk below our window, pockets full of dried kiwi slices, trusting that someone inside would hear the signal and open the door. That, to me, is the Maine Jewish Museum in a nutshell: a place where people reach out in imaginative, slightly unconventional ways, and a place where the door always opens.

Thank you for proving, every day, that community is built one brilliantly improvised solution at a time… preferably with fewer flying snacks.

This month’s Third Thursday Thoughts is dedicated to the memory of Charles Rotmil, z”l — a beloved artist, teacher, and Soul Survivor whose courage, creativity, and unwavering commitment to sharing his story will continue to guide and inspire us.

With gratitude and love,

Dawn LaRochelle
Executive Director