Syndication
‘Imaginary Coordinates’ or Community Coordinates?
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More in Forward ForumThe decision taken by Chicago’s Spertus Institute to terminate “Imaginary Coordinates,” a controversial exhibition on Israeli-Palestinian issues, has drawn plenty of media attention — and no small amount of criticism. But this is not an open-and-shut case of donor protests stifling a museum’s daring and creativity, as some have suggested. Instead, the core issue here is an ethnic museum’s responsibility to the community it serves as an educational resource and represents to the thousands of non-Jews who visit annually.
Throughout its 82-year existence, Spertus has carefully avoided controversy, earning for itself a unique place of near-universal respect and affection in the local Jewish community. On Christmas Day each year, hundreds of Jews, young and old and drawn from almost every segment of the community, flock to its building for “Something Else,” a program of lighthearted activities and kosher snacks. Reform Jews rub elbows with Haredim, suburban families mingle with downtown singles. Chicago’s Jewish federation may be able to get out large numbers to demonstrate their support for Israel, but only Spertus is able attract so large and diverse a gathering of Jews for no other reason than to enjoy a few hours in the company of other Jews. (Full disclosure: My former wife was employed by Spertus until a year ago.)
When Spertus moved to its new, state-of-the-art building six months ago, its leaders determined to take a new approach, opting to make it a vehicle for examining controversial issues. The decision, which moves Spertus into the mainstream of contemporary museum culture, was reached after extensive internal discussion. But little was done to involve the larger Jewish community in the conversation, or even to prepare it for what it would encounter in the new Spertus.
Consequently, Spertus’s usually savvy professionals and trustees failed to anticipate the firestorm set off by an exhibition of historic maps, some seeming to question the Jewish people’s territorial claims in the Middle East, alongside works by Israeli and Palestinian artists, a few of which wouldn’t have been out of place in a show mounted by an anti-Israel group. A glass case containing a “Paligirl” T-shirt and black shorts with “Palestine” emblazoned on the back greeted visitors at the entrance. A continuous-loop video showed a woman, displayed in full-frontal nudity, spinning a barbed-wire hula-hoop around her waist against a peaceful backdrop of a Tel Aviv beach.
Whether items of this nature are ever appropriate in a Jewish museum is a question being hotly debated post mortem. But there can be little doubt that open dialogue early on would have cautioned the museum’s planners that they were moving too fast; that opening the exhibition on Yom HaShoah would underscore allegations of insensitivity; and that timing it to coincide with Israel’s 60th anniversary was almost certain to ignite a conflagration that would consume reasoned discussion of the exhibition’s contents, thus defeating the museum’s purpose in mounting it.
But “Imaginary Coordinates” also came on the heels of other changes at Spertus that served to exacerbate communal suspicion toward the museum’s direction. The old Spertus was a traditional — some would say “old-fashioned” — Jewish museum. It displayed its extensive collection of Judaica on the building’s first floor, with signage explaining the objects’ origin and usage. Because even the most casual visitor learned something about Jewish history and practice, the museum served as an important educational resource for local Jews, as well as for thousands of non-Jews who come each year in organized school groups or as drop-ins pursuing a cultural itinerary that includes nearby institutions such as the Art Institute, Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium on Chicago’s famous Museum Mile.
In the new building, the permanent collection, now called “The Depot,” is moved to an upper floor, set off to the side of a far larger empty space available for party rental. The arc of floor-to-ceiling glass cases is imposing and visually stunning. But with no identifying labels or even numbers to direct people trying to follow a confusing audio program, the display is of very limited educational value even for people who know what they’re looking at, and of virtually no educational value for those who do not. Moreover, many of the objects are situated above an average person’s comfortable viewing range, making for an experience one local critic described as being akin to “bird watching without binoculars.”
Deracinating Jewish religious objects by displaying them solely for their artistic merit is offensive to many Jews. In Hebrew, these objects are called klei kodesh — vessels of holiness. And to make matters worse, very few of the 1,500 items now on display relate to Israel or Zionism.
It is impossible to assess in hindsight whether “Imaginary Coordinates,” taken by itself, would have generated a groundswell of sufficient enormity to force its cancellation. But the one-two punch of an exhibition widely perceived as being hostile to Israel, together with a permanent display that indicates a diminution in Spertus’s commitment to being an educational resource, was simply too much for the community to take.
Much to their credit, Spertus leaders have handled the situation with extraordinary mentshlekhkeyt, resisting any temptation to hurl accusations of censorship (which would be unfounded!), and expressing regret for the pain felt by many of the museum’s constituents. As one trustee put it, “Spertus is not interested in going around and hurting people’s feelings.”
The conciliatory tone of these words is gratifying. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. An institution that serves a people with roots in biblical prophecy and talmudic debate should not fear controversy, even if it causes some hurt feelings. The question facing Spertus is not whether it should proceed on its new mission, but how. It took the fast track and got derailed. If it now heeds Hillel’s dictum in Pirke Avot about not separating oneself from the community, Spertus will find itself traveling on a slower track. But the community will be riding with it, and deriving enormous benefit from the journey.
Rabbi Ira S. Youdovin is executive vice president emeritus of the Chicago Board of Rabbis.
Comments
Half a cheer for the Rabbi. If Jews go on hiding their heads in the desert sands, a lot more than tneir feelings will be hurt.
If a museum cannot bear to disclose even a tithe of the truth aboout how blasphemous political Zionism has led Jewry towards destruction, Spertus will become one small part of the problem. Analgesics to tranquillise the consciences of Chi-town sentimentalists, who are afraid of documentary evidence being displayed if it contradicts their fantasies, are no answer.
Perhaps Spertus could display a big map marked "Terra Incognita- Here Be Nobody" to prove Golda Meir's contention that the Palestinians were all a figment of some antisemite's imagination. That would be good to schmooze and share snacks over, right?
David L Nilsson's quoting Golda Meir as having supposedly contended that "the Palestinians were all a figment of some antisemite's imagination" is actually quite a figment of his anti-Israel imagination. At a press conference, when asked a question about the Palestinians, Mrs Meir presented her old Palestinian passport from the era of the British Mandate, stating: "I'm a Palestinian!" It was actually quite interesting. She was reminding everyone that during the pre-state era "Palestinian" was generally the English language term to describe the Jews living in the country. It wasn't the term to describe the Arab citizens of the Mandate. Indeed, the UN resolution for the Partition of Palestine in 1947 called for the establishment of a "Jewish state" and an "Arab state" in Palestine - not a "Jewish state and a Palestinian state".
Obviously, one can criticize Mrs Meir for avoiding tough questions through a play of changing terms. By the time she was PM, the Jews were known as "Israelis" and "Palestinian" became a term that meant only the Arab public - so, her "cleverness" was out of place. Indeed, her policy was one of opposition to Palestinian statehood (which she feared would be a Soviet client state like Egypt or Syria), but not a denial of the existence of a public that defined itself as Palestinian Arabs. Today, obviously, the founding of a Palestinian state willing to live in peace with Israel would be a welcomed development by any government in Israel.
It's probably impossible to explain to anti-Israel people about the role of Israel in the renaissance of Jewish culture and identity. The revival of the Hebrew language is an achievement of Zionism that has revolutionized Jewish life, and the existence of a Jewish society living in its own cultural environment is the "magic" of Israel. That's why Jews are always encouraged by their schools and communities to come and visit Israel: it presents quite a different way of being Jewish, and it is regarded a a major tool in the strengthening of Jewish awareness. Mr Nilsson's view that "blasphemous political Zionism has led Jewry towards destruction" is simply blind anti-Israel hatred, totally cut off from the reality of Jewish life. Today's Jewish world couldn't imagine life without Israel.
It caught my attention that Rabbi Youdovin is vice-president "emeritus". While he indeed deserves all praise and respect for his activities and achievements - still, I'm rather puzzled by a Latin title given for a rabbinic position. Couldn't the Chicago Board of Rabbis think of some respectable title that comes from within the Jewish tradition? Isn't there some title in the Torah or in the Mishna or in the medieval rabbinic world with which we could honor our succesful rabbis? I imagine that the problem is that the Jewish public at large is ignorant of the Hebrew language - and although most don't read Latin either, still, the title "emeritus" rings much more clearly than "mekhubbad" or "ha-'illui", etc. It's very sad. At the very least, rabbinic institution should try to reflect the Jewish past.
"Instead, the core issue here is an ethnic museum’s responsibility to the community it serves as an educational resource and represents to the thousands of non-Jews who visit annually." I agree. I also think that Rabbi Youdovin has presented a compelling case for the view that a conservative approach, in the classic sense of the word, is the right one. However, the problem with this philosophical approach is that it seems to leave no room for a Jewish institution to be what it is in an unmediated kind of way. There's always the aspect either of serving the community or else of "representing to others" what the community is supposed to stand for. Since the same conundrum is presented to the individual who would like to be faithful to his tradition in the context of America, which, like any country - even Israel - requires of us compromises in some respect, I wonder how Rabbi Youdovin would recommend that the individual, or institution, navigate these competing demands.