An ‘exodus’ at B’klyn museum

Even as frogs began falling from the ceiling, a group of fifth-graders visiting the new Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn didn’t miss a beat.

They knew what to expect as dozens of the toy amphibians, suspended on strings, stopped short of their heads.

They were experiencing – vicariously – one of the biblical 10 plagues depicted in “The Exodus,” an unusual interactive show at the $35 million, one-of-a-kind museum in the borough’s Crown Heights section.

Timed to coincide with Passover, which begins April 13, the story of the Jews’ enslavement in ancient Egypt and their miraculous escape is brought to life in an educational and entertaining voyage through history that is being presented through April 17.

The museum’s entire fourth floor houses a temporary installation of components designed specifically for the show. Actors perform roles of historical characters.

Nearly 50 students from the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County who came to experience the show on March 21 pulled on ponchos made of coarse fabric to portray Jewish slaves.

Led by museum guides, they moved from room to room, walking on sand to see the pyramids of Egypt in photos and bas-relief and slaves making bricks from straw. In a heated room representing the desert, they saw Moses and the burning bush, and heard the voice representing God telling Moses he was standing on holy ground. He invited the children to follow him to Pharaoh’s palace.

There, Pharaoh sitting on a throne flanked by two attendants was introduced as “the Butcher of Cairo” and “Master of the pyramid scam.” The three exchanged other hilarious quips to the students’ amusement.

When Pharaoh refused to let the Jews go and water was turned into blood, he decreed that his subjects consider it tomato juice.

The students walked through a tunnel where 20,000 gallons of recycled water cascaded over the sides, recalling the parting of the Red Sea. Another scene depicted Moses receiving the Ten Commandments.

Rolling dough in a model matzo bakery with a real oven after the show, one of the students, Jeremy Teichman, said of the experience, “It’s educational, and it’s fun.”

“It’s very cool – the lights, the electronics,” Eric Grossman said.

“It teaches you in a different way what happened and what happens now,” Briana Friedman agreed.

The show is attracting sold-out audiences, but the seven-floor museum at 792 Eastern Pkwy. is itself an attraction. Its unusual facade features a 20-by-30-foot photomosaic of a child created with more than 1,400 images of children. A 12-foot-high Hanukkah dreidel is on the plaza.

Children use all of their senses as they move through more than 80 hands-on exhibits and displays dealing with Jewish history and traditions. These include a giant seder table; a challah bread that children can crawl through; a kosher kitchen where they can explore Jewish dietary laws; a scaled-down supermarket where they can purchase food; a shtetl (village) where they learn about Jewish holidays, and a miniature golf course that takes them though major events in the life of a Jewish person.

The museum is dedicated to Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the late leader of the Lubavitcher Movement headquartered in Crown Heights. Schneerson founded Tzivos Hashem, a Jewish children’s organization that developed and runs the museum as one of its international projects.

Committed to promoting tolerance, the museum – located in an ethnically diverse community that has seen racial conflict – welcomes children of all backgrounds.

“It was conceived as a place of fun where kids can touch everything, learn and have a good time,” said Rabbi Yerachmiel Benjaminson, the executive director. He said other ethnic groups should have similar facilities.

The museum was built with government and private funds.

The Benenson family of Whitestone is a major donor.

Museum admission, including The Exodus exhibit, is $15, and information is available at www.jewishtickets.com.