Aaron Levi Curricula

So excited to have been awarded an Emergency Grant for Creatives to support my collaboration with the National Museum of American Jewish History on the OpenBook series preserving, exploring, and celebrating American Jewish history. Thank you to the and for the support during .

If you haven't had a chance yet, we invite you to check out our recent blog post "A Brief History of Atlanta and Its People."

Here's a little teaser: Atlanta is a true microcosm of this nation’s idiosyncratic experiment in democracy... Her stories reflect the obstacles we can overcome when we turn toward our better angels and, therefore, toward one another.

https://wp.me/paCTrM-jE

A Brief History of Atlanta and Its People During #Coronavirus2020 - Gate City Tours, LLC At such an urgent time of need today across this nation and the world, what can we learn by tracing the themes of fortitude and resilience in Atlanta’s history?

Thank you to Moishe House and all the Relaxation Shabbat Retreaters for an amazing weekend in the North Georgia mountains! What a great opportunity to relax, learn with some chevrei, and experiment with rituals, hiddur mitzvah ( the beautification of ritual objects to exalt a higher being), and food. How fun was it to create and play in such a magical little space imbued with greater meaning and harmoniousness in the Appalachian foothills?!! And now? Back to reality...

Yes! And if not now, when?!

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/the-week-that-all-jewish-women-turned-invisible/?fbclid=IwAR2KRajWx9aRuGgtCrZU0fdja2wj80RSl8zLJPyg3IFs6PuEYNXu7akTOy4

The Week That All Jewish Women Turned Invisible

Looking forward to forging some machers in Camp Mogul!

Meet Aaron Levi...Camp Mogul’s (ITC’s tween camp for rising 7th – 9th graders) fearless leader! Aaron is a lifelong Jewish camper at heart, having spent 15 years at Habonim Dror Camp Moshava in Maryland. Today, Aaron is a freelance curriculum developer and the founder and CEO of Gate City Tours, LLC, an educational startup curating hyper-local immersive experiences exploring the history and evolution of Atlanta and its Jewish community.

Aaron holds dual Master’s Degrees in Education and Judaic Studies from New York University, where he was a Jim Joseph Fellow. He's also a graduate of the Yeshiva University Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education; the iCenter Master’s Concentration in Israel Education; and the American Jewish World Service Rabbinic and Graduate Student Global Justice Fellowship. Aaron received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Judaic Studies, and Hebrew from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

In Aaron’s spare time, he loves to play music, read, write, ride bikes, cook, and paint.

SIGN UP FOR CAMP MOGUL TODAY!
https://inthecitycamp.org/tween-camp/

Gate City Tours, LLC is a recently launched start-up curating hyper-local, neighborhood-based experiences exploring the history and evolution of Atlanta and its Jewish community. We have a number of tours booked currently and are seeking to hire part-time tour guides for our Historic Five Points Tour. Applicants should have prior tour guiding experience; a passion for education, history, art history, public preservation, sociology, social psychology, or a related field; and immediate availability. Interested candidates can visit our website to learn more about us at https://gatecitytours.com/ and can submit a resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Thank you!

Fulton Bag & Cotton Mill | The Breman Museum in Atlanta Explore the Jewish history of the Fulton Bag & Cotton Mill by joining our tour. Call The Breman Museum in Atlanta to learn more!

“Shabbat comes with its own holiness; we enter not simply a day, but an atmosphere. My father cites the Zohar: the Sabbath is the name of God. We are within the Sabbath rather than the Sabbath being within us. For my father, the question is how to perceive that holiness: not how much to observe, but how to observe."

--Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

Had an amazing time today at the Moishe House peer-led retreat! We inhabited a playful Shabbat environment in which we asked interesting questions, connected to nature, and created our very own Shabbat-inspired abstract works of art. I can't think of a better way to have enjoyed a Shabbos afternoon on such a crisp fall day and at such a picturesque setting.

Thanks to Gabrielle Adler and Jeremy Katz for the invite and to all the wonderful retreat participants!

It's not every day that I hold a piece of history in the palm of my hand. In the early stages of researching historical walking tours in Atlanta, I came across a diary that Leo Frank kept from March-July 1915, during which time he was held in the Fulton County Jail.

For those who are not familiar with his story, Leo Frank was from New York who moved to Atlanta for work in the early 1900's. Falsely accused in the murder of Mary Phagan, a young employee at the Pencil Factory that Frank managed, he was put on a sham trial and sentenced to death, which the Georgia governor commuted to life-in-prison.

In April 1915, Frank notes his 31st birthday.

Months later, due to fears for his safety, he is moved to a prison in Millidgeville, GA where his journal abruptly ends, with one additional entry. His wife, Lucille Selig Frank, wrote on July 17: "At around 10pm, Leo was attacked [by another inmate] and his throat cut from front to back on the left side. Although it nicked his windpipe and his jugular vein was cut, through some miracle he did not die...although this is not my diary, it would not be complete without a record of conditions at the time I spent in Millidgeville" while Frank recuperated. One month later, on August 17, a mob calling themselves the Knights of Mary Phagan stole Frank from the prison infirmary and publicly hanged him.

More than 100 years later, we are still trying to make sense of such a miscarriage of justice and the devastation it wrought on the Frank family, the American Jewish community, and the New South.

More stories/narratives are in the works, so keep your eyes peeled!

Huge shoutout to Jeremy Katz and the The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum for preserving these artifacts and helping make this moment happen!