Members of Washington D.C.’s Jewish community took a welcome break from the intensity of upcoming elections to look back with nostalgia to seemingly simpler times in the nation’s capital when top-of-mind topics included which competing deli offered the thickest pastrami sandwich. 

More than 300 Jewish professionals and politicos — including CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and a handful of senators — gathered on Monday evening for the sold-out Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum inaugural gala, held at the French Embassy. As guests sipped on Côtes du Rhône during cocktail hour and savored French hors d’oeuvres, including gougère cheese puffs and tomato tartare on crispy baguette slices, artifacts from the museum lined the walls of the embassy’s event space, La Maison Française. 

Heirlooms brought from the museum and put on display at the event depicted the past and present of Jewish life in the American capital city and surrounding neighborhoods. These included an invitation to Passover Seder at Woodmont Country Club from 1968 and a “community cookbook” fundraiser organized by a local family in honor of their son’s bar mitzvah to benefit residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. 

The ceremony honored several local leaders for their contributions to the fight against rising antisemitism — on a national level as well as at home in Washington. The event honorees were Washington Commanders owners Josh and Marjorie Harris; Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and his wife, Myrna; and Israeli-American violinist Pinchas Zukerman. 

Harris, who was among the first NFL team owners to release a statement condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, reflected on his history of “being Jewish in Washington.” Being honored by the museum was “bashert,” Harris said, using the Yiddish word for “destined.” 

Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a cosponsor of the Antisemitism Awareness Act, applauded the Capital Jewish Museum for spotlighting historical events at a time when “people of the world, people of America, don’t know history.” 

“We’ve got to do a better job at explaining the histories of our communities and the world,” Cardin told the crowd. “And that’s exactly what [the museum] is doing — allowing young people to understand our history and embedding in that our values.” 

In addition to Cardin, lawmakers in attendance included Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and D.C. City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.   

The Capital Jewish Museum opened its doors in June 2023. In its first year, more than 35,000 visitors toured the four-story space, located on the corner of 3rd & F Streets in D.C.’s Northwest quadrant. Popular exhibits have included “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” and “I’ll Have What She’s Having,” an exploration of the Jewish deli throughout the years.

Monday’s gala surpassed its fundraising goal of $150,000, Dee Sanae, a member of the event committee, told eJewishPhilanthropy. Funds raised from the event will go towards free admission to the museum. 

The Capital Jewish Museum “is a place where people can both find community and learn the history of the DMV [D.C., Maryland and Virginia] and how the Jewish community has thrived over the years — and is going to continue to thrive,” Sanae told JI. “It’s a cultural safe haven for Jews and all of the community.”  

Sanae continued, “We hope the inaugural gala will turn into an annual event.”