Atlantan leads Jewish history museum

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Michael Rosenzweig left a three-decade career teaching and practicing law, including a long stint as an Atlanta corporate attorney, to do something he preferred — work for a nonprofit.

He was interim president at Hands On Atlanta, the volunteer coordinating agency, for eight months in 2008. In April, the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia named him president and chief executive officer. It is building a $150 million facility that will open in November 2010 on the same square as Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

Rosenzweig, who still maintains a home in Atlanta, recently talked about his career path.

Q: Why did you leave the law and take this position?

A: This job was especially appealing to me because I’ve always been active in the Jewish community, and while I was practicing law, my professional and business life were separated from what I was doing in the community. This was an opportunity for me to integrate the two sides of my life.

Q: Why a museum on American Jewish history?

A: This museum tells a story that is of interest to American Jews — a complete history over the last 355 years since we came to this country in 1654. But we expect it to be of interest to non-Jews as well. It is telling the story of the American Jewish experience, which is really the story of freedom, the story of what one ethnic group can do given the freedom and the privileges that the Constitution affords. It is an American immigrant story.

Q: What does a president of the museum do?

A: My responsibility is to oversee the entire operation. ... A very big part of what I do is I am the public face of the museum and, among other things, I am very engaged in fund-raising.

Q: How has that gone in this economic environment? [The museum has raised $120 million of the $150 million it needs.]

A: It is difficult to raise the money we need to be raising, but when we have a chance to tell our story, people do respond.

Q: Do you still get a chance to ride your bike to work, as you did in Atlanta?

A: I walk to work. I live two blocks from my office in Philadelphia. It’s great. Traffic in Philadelphia is pretty bad, too.

Museum information can be found at nmajh.org