The Wondering Jew Opens at Miami Beach's Newly Reopened Jewish Museum of Florida

The newly reopened Jewish Museum of Florida — now an independent nonprofit housed on the restored former Beth Jacob Synagogue campus in Miami Beach — opens its first major exhibition under new leadership on November 18.

The Wondering Jew: Chagall, the School of Paris and the Worlds They Inspired brings together about 45 works by 23 artists. They include 10 by Marc Chagall alongside works by Amedeo Modigliani, Sonia Delaunay, and other School of Paris artists.

The exhibition's title reclaims the antisemitic trope of the "wandering Jew," reframing it around curiosity and creation. It's a curatorial choice that sets the tone for an exhibition that is interested in what Jewish artists made of displacement, migration, and the experience of being perpetually in motion — and what that experience produced in terms of art.

The exhibition also features a hands-on chain reaction by Joseph Herscher of the Joseph's Machines YouTube channel — the elaborate, Rube Goldberg-style contraptions that have made Herscher one of the most watched creators in the world. The installation brings a playful, kinetic energy to the exhibition that contrasts productively with the historical weight of the paintings.

Also on view: an AI-powered clone of Miami-based artist Dahlia Dreszer that visitors can ask questions. The technology raises interesting questions about artistic identity and presence that feel genuinely relevant to an exhibition about artists who were perpetually displaced.

The exhibition opens November 18 — just two weeks before Miami Art Week. During Art Week, the museum hosts a Basel Brunch with Joseph's Machines and Zak the Baker on Sunday, December 6. The timing positions the Jewish Museum as a serious Art Week destination for the first time under its new leadership.