In the Studio w/ Alicia Jo Rabins

Join the Jewish Museum of Maryland in partnership with Third Space \+ The Ivy Bookshop for an intimate evening with writer, musician, composer, performer, and Torah teacher Alicia Jo Rabins as she steps inside the Museum’s audio-visual production studio. Rabins’ art combines words, music, ritual, and performance to create works of experimental beauty exploring the intersection of ancient wisdom texts, feminism, and everyday life. Her spiritual memoir, When We’re Born We Forget Everything, published by Schocken Books in March 2026, has received starred reviews, including from BookPage which calls it “a balm against all the hurt places of humanity.” Learn more about Alicia Jo Rabins’ youth in Maryland and her Jewish practice journey, experience prose and poetry from her memoir, hear music from the forthcoming new Girls in Trouble album exploring the stories of biblical women, engage in conversation with the artist through an audience Q\+A following the studio recording session, purchase a copy of When We’re Born, and learn about this program’s companion event in Spring 2027. Mark your calendars for Alicia Jo Rabins and the Girls in Trouble band live in concert at Third Space’s performance venue within the historic Shaarei Tfiloh synagogue sanctuary on Thursday, May 13, 2027! More About the Artist Alicia Jo Rabins has performed and presented at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, and in countries including Sweden, Guatemala, and Estonia. Her debut collection of poetry, Divinity School, won the APR/Honickman First Book Prize; her second poetry collection, Fruit Geode, was a finalist for the Jewish Book Award. She is also the author of Even God Had Bad Parenting Days, a collection of short personal essays about early parenthood and Jewish spirituality, and Hallelujah: The Story of Leonard Cohen, a children’s picture book \(illustrated by Gene Pendon\). As a musician and performer, Rabins is the creator and performer of Girls in Trouble, an indie-folk song cycle about the complicated lives of Biblical women with accompanying curriculum \(now being made into an indie web series!\) and A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff, which began as a one-woman chamber-rock opera and was adapted into an award-winning independent feature film. A Jewish educator, DIY bar/bat/b’nai mitzvah tutor, culture-bearer and ritualist for over twenty-five years, Rabins is passionate about progressive Jewish education. She tours internationally as a violinist, singer, lecturer, and performer from her home base in Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her husband, two kids, and way too many houseplants. 6:30 PM | Doors \+ galleries open 7:00 PM | Live in-studio engagement with Alicia Jo Rabins followed by audience Q \+ A 8:00 PM | Evening closes Complimentary kosher non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. A Core Connections Program This event is presented within JMM’s program series exploring themes within the Museum’s new core exhibition, Jews of Maryland at the Crossroads of Identity. This event will highlight the theme of “A Distinct Judaism,” presenting historic religious ritual objects and spiritual life within Maryland Jewish communities. Jewish culture, community-supported. Program tickets for this event are available on a sliding scale.