Syndication
Our Museum Problem
Opinion
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More in Forward ForumGround was broken in September for a vastly expanded Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. What is now basically a one-room exhibit sharing space with the historic Congregation Mikveh Israel will soon be a multi-level complex that will stand as a major tourist attraction alongside Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center.
Creating this new museum was no easy task. It involved raising approximately $100 million, much of it from the Jewish community in Philadelphia, where, over the past several years, it has become the most popular local Jewish cause. It was also financed by donors from around the country, as well as by grants from the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government.
This enterprise is the latest example of the widespread growth of Jewish-themed museums in America. A couple of decades ago, the number of such museums was tiny. Today, it seems as if there is hardly a burg that isn’t sprouting some sort of exhibition hall commemorating the hardships and the triumphs of American Jewry. What lies behind this unprecedented development?
This is a heady time. The number of Jews in the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court and, yes, even Major League Baseball bears witness to not only the achievements of individual Jews but the overwhelming acceptance of Jews by mainstream America. Indeed, the American Jewish community has become the wealthiest, most powerful and freest in the history of our people. It is, therefore, of little surprise that many are motivated to celebrate these achievements.
So what’s wrong with throwing ourselves a party and putting some of our material blessings into museums to fete our impressive record? Aren’t we simply memorializing and honoring the struggles we’ve encountered on our journey?
That’s exactly the sentiment that organizers and marketers behind the museum movement are selling. Given the fact that so many Jewish pantheons are springing up around the country like opera houses in the 19th-century American West, this message has proven to be a major selling point to donors.
But the decision of so many communities and philanthropists to invest in museums is, in truth, profoundly troubling. Museums, even those that aim to educate and enlighten visitors rather than merely impress them, are static institutions. Try as they might, they cannot help build a community. They can only monumentalize it.
Museums will do little, if anything, to address the current problems of American Jewry, especially the dilemma of how a community that is rapidly assimilating can survive as a cohesive force. They are, instead, monuments to our vanity — not so much to that of the individuals who donate their time and resources, but to the pride of American Jewry as a whole. However, given the internal and external threats to our very existence, this is not the time to indulge our impulse for self-congratulation.
There are things we can do to promote Jewish identity. Making Jewish camps more accessible for larger numbers of Jewish kids is one. Funding trips to Israel, as the Birthright Israel program has done, is another. But the best answer of all remains the hardest sell and the most expensive: day schools. No other institution or resource does a better job of inculcating Jewish values, faith and identity. However, the cost of tuition at these schools, which in most places rivals the cost of elite private schools, has made them largely off limits for most of the Jewish middle class. Raising sufficient funds to make day schools affordable for all Jewish families is the only logical choice.
The failure to emphasize Jewish education will directly impact the ability of American Jewry to continue to maintain itself in anything like the numbers or the strength that was its hallmark in the 20th century. If current trends persist, the museum planners will be setting aside room for exhibits documenting the decline of the community that they are doing so much to laud.
It’s not only that these museums are tremendously expensive to build. They will also be costly to maintain. Communities around the country will have to cope with the problem of raising sizeable sums on a yearly basis to continue to keep the doors of these places open. Like any other local agency, the museums will eventually become one more hungry mouth for the community to feed and make it even less likely that funds will be available for the massive increases in education allocations that are needed.
Museum organizers and consultants operate as if the amount of money available to Jewish causes is infinite; it is not. Giving priority to the essential causes, rather than those that are merely attractive, is imperative. It should be noted that the donors to these museums have good intentions and are, in some instances, the same people who give something to Jewish education. But when museums become the hot philanthropic ticket, more important causes get short shrift. Museum backers may well say that they do not oppose education. But they are voting with their money for the past, not the future.
What will history say about a community that was prepared to spend scarce money building museums to glorify its past rather than supporting schools that could ensure its future? As more of these edifices rise in our cities, that is a question more Jews should be asking themselves.
Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the Jewish Exponent.
Jonathan S. Tobin will field readers’ questions about his article on the Forward’s Web site. E-mail your questions to forum@forward.com by January 30, and check the Forward’s home page to see his responses, which will be posted online on February 4.
Comments
The Jewish community has an Edifice Complex. It always invests in buildings more than it does in people. Would that the money for just one of these museums were invested in continuity programming, we could revolutionize the community. These museums are the Golden Calf of our parents and grandparents' generation, and we will pay the price. The question is whether or not that price is 40 years of wandering...
Both posters are correct. The author presents what appears to be a funding war between the museum-ers and the day-schoolers.
Given the rapid assimilation the author decries, what Jewish endeavor has the data to prove their activities actually make a difference? On the other hand, for years I’ve noted the juxtaposition of the Liberty Bell/Independence Hall with the EXISTING Jewish Museum as fertile ground for a program about Freedom resonant in both the Jewish and in the American story. Lots of Jews live nearby, more within a daytrip or overnight drive; many excellent students in the nearby excellent colleges/universities to support it. Cheaper than Birthright, so lots more kids could be sent.
I tried, but without bux, I had no influence. More? Send a note to ajcwerfel@yahoo.com
Tobin nails it! I am a public school teacher who has two children in a fine elementary school. Right across the street is a splendid Jewish day school where I would send my kids in a MINUTE if the tuition were equal to that of a Catholic school.
For generations, Catholic Americans of more modest means have been able to send their children to private schools featuring Catholicism as part of the core curriculum. What is their secret? Likewise, our ultra Orthodox brothers and sisters follow a formula for financing serious Jewish education on a daily basis. Yet we Jews living “outside the Pale” continue to build beautiful behemoths tastefully filled with artifacts dedicated to the history of American Jewry. Alas, vanity of vanities…
When I was a kid, we couldn't afford a synagogue membership. However, my parents taught me how to read Hebrew. I now read the Torah on a regular basis, almost daily, slowly in Hebrew, and also in English. It can be done. We mustn't depend on "the community". We have to do it for ourselves.
Tobin has a point, that our money is probably best spent to ensure the Jewish education of our children (including my own daughter)But part of me still says, for heaven's sake, at least its not another Holocaust museum! I mean no disrespect to the remaining survivors, but I personally would prefer to see a museum celebrating a living community. Of course as a scholar of American Jewish history, I suppose I have my own biases!:)
Excellent point, Jonathon. One wonders if the same result could have been achieved by less expensive means: as part of the Smithsonian, perhaps. More people certainly visit D.C. than Philadelphia (W.C. Fields might agree.) Birthright seems to be well funded already. However Jewish Camps, I think most would agree, are tremendously successful in fostering a postive Jewish identity, and do not have the downside of keeping Jewish kids secluded from the general population which, I fear, day schools do too well.
Jonathan Tobin is not recognizing the fact that the musuems play a role in educating the Jewish community and making it easier for Jews to decide to remain affiliated and connected.
I also understand the need for a larger committment to Jewish education. I have three children that all spent between 5 and 8 years in private Jewish day schools. And the need for better funding for these schools, for building their capacity to provide a first class education and for providing tuition support, is acute.
However, I see the museums as a burgeoning of Jewish community interest in building our community - not just celebrating it. As an educator I also see museums as an educational tool - so I hope that we use them to educate and bring our community closer together with ever greater committment.
Sincerely,
Joyce Leslie
About 15 to 16 years ago, I chaperoned a trip to the old museum with my son's class from SSDS. I believe we all enjoyed it. The cost of this new museum shocks me. Sending our children to SSDS was a huge fiancial hardship. I struggled every day with payments to SSDS. My husband was at the time making $17,000 and I was pregnant with my third child. We requested more financial aid then we were granted. The board asked me why I wasn't working, they made us feel awful. It wasn't until we told them we had refinanced our mortage to help pay for our son's schooling that they relented and gave us more money. And still we struggled. I really do believe Jewish Day School should be our community's finacial focus.
Education, yes. YES. Day school? I'm not so sure. As a Sunday School grad, I know that my Jewish commitment comes from my home exposure, not my education or lack thereof. The problem is not in the school side of the education, but in the parents. Parents who believe in their own ability to pass on Jewish (or any other) values to their kids have kids who maintain their Jewish connections. Parents for whom Judaism is a mystery ruled by professionals, or a history that belongs in a museum and a book, are the problem. So part of the investment should be in the development of parenting education, including professionals who know how to answer the question "how can I get my kids more involved?" with answers like "do something magic with them, like lighting shabbat candles" rather than "maybe take them to the Museum".
It is a very interesting claim that the American Jewish community is the "most powerful" in the history of our people. With all due respect to the impressive achievements of Jews in the USA, still, the power of statehood and sovereignty of (ancient or modern) Israel is still in a league of its own. Moreover, the reality of the voluntary Jewish community in modern times defines all Jewish communities of the world as a mere shadow of their former power. A Jewish community in the Middle Ages could make policy, and it had power of enforcement over its members. In this respect, only modern Israel is a Jewish community in the historic sense.