Unless your start-up circuit has rendered you jaded to ping pong, you'll be overjoyed by this memo: the Contemporary Jewish Museum, honoring a sport dominated by Jewish players in the 30s and 40s, is offering free table tennis, starting this Thursday to anyone brave enough to pick up a paddle and unleash their inner Forrest Gump.

From April 7th through May 10th, the CJM invites both amateurs and pros alike to try their hand at the table before taking a gander at the museum's latest exhibits Charlotte Salomon: Life? or Theatre? and the sound installation by locals Ken Goldberg and Gil Gershoni,Are We There Yet? 5000 Years of Answering Questions with Questions. And until May 10th, the price of admission to the museum itself is a mere $5.

All this hoopla is inspired by Everything You Know Is Pong, the new ping pong bible by table tennis gurus Eli Horowitz and Roger Bennett.  On April 14, things will really get heated up -- the museum will host a ferocious competition between reigning Bay Area ping pong superstars, as well as a multimedia history of Jewish table tennis presented by Bennett and Horowitz. 

Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission Street, 415-655-7800. Open everyday except Wednesday, from 11 am-5 pm, and Thursday 1 pm-8 pm.