Inside The Jewish Museum’s $14.5m Renovation In New York City

The institution's revamped third and fourth floors present reconfigured galleries, expanded education spaces and a luminous display of more than 100 menorahs from around the world.

In 2018, when an old house in Prague was torn down, a stash of almost 700 works of art by Gertrud Kauders tumbled out of its walls and ceiling, more than 70 years after she had died in an extermination camp. Several of those paintings are now on display at the Jewish Museum in New York City, where renewed galleries offer fresh narratives of the Jewish diaspora.

Located in the historic Felix M. Warburg House on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the museum reopened its third and fourth floors on 24 October after a yearlong renovation. With a combined area of 20,000 sq. ft—half the building’s public space—the redesign was led by United Network Studio in Amsterdam and New Affiliates Architecture in New York. The $14m project is a significant milestone for James Snyder, the director of the Jewish Museum since 2023. In previous roles, he oversaw renewals on a larger scale: a $60m expansion of New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1984, and a $100m revamp of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 2010.

Galleries on the third floor, last updated by Tsao & McKown in 2018, adopt a breezier, more interconnected layout to display items from the museum’s collection. Curated by theme, the rooms present centuries-old artefacts alongside Abstract Expressionist paintings by Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell, as well as pieces from living artists that include queer and multicultural voices. In the feminist work What We Bring (2023) by Andi Arnovitz, thousands of laser-cut names of Jewish women—from Natalie Portman to Ruth Bader Ginsburg—pour forth from the artist’s wedding dress.

The fourth floor, previously closed to the public, is anchored by the Robert and Tracey Pruzan Center for Learning, which comprises two art studios, an interactive tactile wall and a simulated archaeological dig for children. The centre, which celebrates its opening on 16 November, is named after its lead donors—an investment banker who co-founded Centerview Partners and a writer who was a longtime interior designer at Cullman & Kravis and a lifestyle consultant on the HBO series Succession.

Also on the fourth floor are the Wilf Family Salon—an event space featuring a faux-woven mural by the Brooklyn-based artist Talia Levitt—additional galleries and a striking show of 139 Hanukkah lamps, housed in a 50ft vitrine that overlooks a double-height gallery below. Drawn from the museum’s collection of more than 1,000 pieces, the nine-branched menorahs are arranged geographically and reflect diverse cultures and stories of hope through the ages. There are lamps made of silver or stone, inspired by Roman tombs or Islamic art, influenced by Rococo or Art Deco, assembled with candlesticks, deconstructed violins or plastic Statues of Liberty.

Some are testaments to creativity born of constraint. One is a piece of trench art crafted from bullet casings and an artillery shell by American soldiers during the Korean War. Another is a hefty wooden creation hewn by a Turkish 15-year-old at a post-war orphanage in France. There is also lighter fare—like the Menurkey, a turkey-shaped menorah that marked the convergence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving in 2013.

Founded in 1904 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Jewish Museum moved in 1947 to the Warburg House, a Gilded Age mansion built in the French Gothic style on Fifth Avenue facing Central Park. A $36m renovation in 1993 added a seven-storey annex, designed by Kevin Roche, that matched the style of the original architecture. In 2024, the chef David Teyf introduced the second location of his cafe Lox, taking over the basement space vacated by Russ & Daughters, which is wrapped by a Maira Kalman illustrated mural.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/authors/fred-voon

Exploring Portugal's Jewish History And Heritage

Set in the hilly northeast of Alentejo region of Portugal, Castelo de Vide is a historic town rich in monuments, offering a glimpse into Portugal’s Jewish heritage. Among its many historical treasures, the large Jewish quarter (Judiaria) and medieval synagogue stand as a rare testament to a once thriving Jewish community that played a central role in the town’s development for centuries. This community not only contributed to the town's social and economic life but also left behind a rich legacy that visitors can still explore today.

Nestled in the stunning landscape of the Serra de São Mamede, the picturesque town of Castelo de Vide is a treasure trove of history, culture, and architectural beauty. Dominated by its iconic castle, the town’s whitewashed houses and narrow, winding streets invite visitors to step back in time and explore its many layers of heritage.

A TOWN OF WALLS AND MONUMENTS

Castelo de Vide boasts a remarkable collection of historical monuments, including 24 churches that reflect the town’s spiritual and architectural richness. Among them is the Capela do Salvador do Mundo, one of the oldest chapels in the region, dating back to the late 13th century. Its interior is adorned with exquisite blue-and-white azulejos, showcasing Portugal’s distinctive ceramic art. Another notable church is the Capela de São Roque, originally built in the 15th century and later rebuilt in the 18th century, blending Gothic and Baroque elements. And, true to its name, the town has a large castle, and mostly in track town walls.

A FLOURISHING JEWISH COMMUNITY

During the Middle Ages, Castelo de Vide was home to a significant Jewish population that grew even larger after 1492, when the Edict of Expulsion forced Spanish Jews to seek refuge in neighboring Portugal. The Jewish community was an integral part of the town's economy and culture, engaging in commerce, crafts, and skilled trades that supported the burgeoning wool industry—a cornerstone of Castelo de Vide's economy. Jewish artisans were known for their expertise in weaving, dyeing, and producing high-quality woolen goods. Their skills not only supplied local markets but also contributed to the export trade, making Castelo de Vide a hub of activity in the region. Many Jews also worked as merchants, facilitating trade between Castelo de Vide and neighboring towns. Others served as doctors, bringing medical knowledge and care to the community, and enhancing the town’s reputation as a place of learning and innovation.

THE JUDIARIA: A WINDOW INTO JEWISH HERITAGE

Jews have a long and significant history in Portugal, dating back to Roman times. By the Middle Ages, Jewish communities were thriving across the country. Portuguese kings, including D Dinis and D. João II, often protected Jewish populations for their valuable contributions to the economy and society.

However, this era of prosperity took a dark turn in 1497, when King D. Manuel I, under pressure to align with Spain, issued the Edict of Expulsion. This decree forced Jews to convert to Christianity or leave the country. Many chose conversion, becoming "New Christians," but they often faced suspicion and persecution, particularly during the Portuguese Inquisition, which began in 1536. Secretly practicing Jews, known as "crypto-Jews," risked severe punishment if discovered.

Despite this history of hardship, the resilience of Portuguese Jews is evident. Today, Jewish heritage sites, including synagogues and Jewish quarters in towns like Castelo de Vide stand as a testament to their enduring legacy.

On the northern slope of Castelo de Vide, between the castle and the town fountain, lies the Judiaria (Jewish Quarter), one of the most significant examples of Jewish history in Portugal. Its narrow, steep streets—Rua da Judiaria, Rua da Fonte, and Ruinha da Judiaria—were once a vibrant hub of activity. This area dates back to the reign of King Dinis in the 13th century and remains one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in the country. Here, Jewish residents lived, worked, and practiced their faith, contributing to the town's economic vitality and cultural richness.

Visitors to the Judiaria today can see clues to this thriving past, such as doorposts with marks where mezuzahs—small parchment scrolls inscribed with sacred texts—once symbolized the residents' faith. The names of these streets still evoke the memory of the Jewish community that once called this area home.

Efforts to restore and revitalize the area have highlighted its historical importance, ensuring that its unique charm and cultural significance endure. Visitors can explore the medieval synagogue and other historical structures that tell the story of a once-thriving Jewish community, making Castelo de Vide a must-visit destination for those interested in Jewish history.

THE MEDIEVAL SYNAGOGUE: BEIT HA-MIDRASH SEFARDIM

At the heart of Castelo de Vide’s Jewish quarter is the medieval synagogue, known as Beit Ha-Midrash Sefardim, located at Rua da Judiaria and Rua da Fonte. This simple yet profoundly meaningful structure served as the center of religious and communal life for centuries.

The former synagogue reflects Sephardic traditions and features a tabernacle with holes for lamps filled with sacred oil, a support for the Holy Scriptures adorned with seven spheres symbolizing the six days of creation and the day of rest, and Gothic-style doors with intricate designs.

The medieval synagogue was restored in 1972 to reflect its original design, and recently completely renovated into a museum of Jewish life 500 years ago.

THE DARK CHAPTER OF THE INQUISITION

The prosperity of Castelo de Vide’s Jewish community came to a tragic end with the establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition in the 16th century. Many Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, becoming "New Christians,” while others faced persecution, imprisonment, and death.

The new Casa da Inquisição museum, set in the historic Casa do Morgado, offers a window into this dark period. Using augmented reality, visitors can immerse themselves in the history of the Inquisition, following the stages of inquisitorial processes and learning about the fate of individuals like Guiomar Mendes, a New Christian from Castelo de Vide who was arrested by the Lisbon Inquisition in 1662.The house itself belonged to a Jewish family which continue to secretly practice Judaism - with a hidden worship area and a false chapel to fool the neighbors.

A LEGACY OF RESILIENCE AND CONTRIBUTION

Castelo de Vide’s Jewish community left an indelible mark on the town’s identity. Through their roles as artisans, merchants, doctors, and religious leaders, they contributed to the town’s growth and prosperity. Walking through the former Judiaria, exploring the synagogue, and visiting the Casa da Inquisição offers a powerful journey into the struggles and strength of the once thriving community.

By Jayme Simoes

The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition, Opening October 6 At The Weitzman In Philadelphia

As we approach the one-year anniversary of October 7th, The Weitzman is offering opportunities for reflection, remembrance, solidarity, and healing throughout the month. The cornerstone of these events is a special, limited-time exhibition that memorializes the October 7th Nova Music Festival massacre. Through these stories and powerful artifacts, visitors will bear witness to the event and encounter the survivors’ call to action: 'We will dance again.

The Moment Music Stood StillThe Nova Music Festival Exhibition

Special Exhibition | October 6 - 13

This special exhibition documents the devastating attack on the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, the largest in music history. At its core, the exhibition is an emotional memorial that enables viewers to “bear witness” to the events that occurred on that day and look with hope and healing toward the future.

Exhibition times vary

Free | Tickets Now Available at:https://theweitzman.org/

Advanced registration recommended.

Visitors will encounter remnants salvaged from the festival grounds, including a camping area with tents, empty bottles, and a replica DJ booth, as well as video testimonies and written first-person accounts. The exhibition space will be transformed via dim and colorful lighting that evokes a concert while creating a contemplative atmosphere.

The Nova exhibition was created and directed by Reut Feingold and organized by the Nova Music Festival’s producers. It pays homage to the festival attendees, including the 410 murdered by Hamas, the 22 hostages who remain in captivity, and the 3,750 survivors.

Egypt Unveils Restoration Of Ancient 12th Century Egyptian Synagogue

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo on Thursday, according to a statement made by the Egyptian cabinet.

The synagogue, which is one of the oldest in Egypt, was constructed in the 12th century but has just completed a new renovation.

Madbouly, accompanied by a number of other government officials, had earlier in the day inspected other renovated archaeological and heritage sites in Cairo.

History of the synagogue

The synagogue was named after a Jewish biblical commentator and philosopher from the Middle Ages, Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra.

The site contains the Cairo Geniza, a collection of texts and scrolls that give an exclusive insight into the history of Egypt’s Jewish community.

Renovations made to the synagogue

The temple’s ceiling underwent a number of measures to help prevent its collapse, the Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa said in a statement.

Additionally, the building was also provided with insulation, cleaning, and precious stones at the site received treatment.

The lighting system was given an update, and copper and iron elements were given the necessary treatment to bring out their shine. The library was also heavily restored.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/author/jerusalem-post-staff

UAE Museum Unveils Torah Scroll That Survived The Holocaust In Tolerance Push

A private museum in the United Arab Emirates unveiled on Saturday a Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust, the latest sign of what Israel and its new Arab allies describe as a new approach to understanding Jewish history in the Middle East.

Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai's historic district, said the display, unveiled for International Holocaust Remembrance Day would help combat "big denial" of the Holocaust in the region.

"For us peace is a complete peace," Al Mansoori said. "Many people have forgotten the Jews are part of the region. So here, we're trying to show ... the good days between the Jews and the Arabs in the past."

The scroll is on permanent loan to the museum from the Memorial Scrolls Trust, which looks after more than 1,000 Czech scrolls saved from the Holocaust and later sent to London.

"I lived in the Arab world when I was young, and the term Holocaust does not exist ... So this is a huge step," said Edwin Shuker, an Iraqi-Jewish businessman and vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who facilitated the loan.

Israel has reached out to promote understanding of Judaism among its new allies in the two years since the UAE and fellow Gulf state Bahrain, followed by Morocco and Sudan, forged ties with it under U.S.-brokered pacts known as the Abraham Accords.

The history of the killing of six million Jews by Nazi Germany is little taught in the Arab world, where some politicians say it was wrongly used to justify the creation of Israel in 1948 at the expense of Palestinian Arabs.

In the years that followed Israel establishment, Jews were expelled from Arab countries, with all of their assets and property taken without compensation. Approximately one million Jews lived in Iran and other Arab countries having arrived in the region more than 2,000 years before. It is estimated that only around 15,000 remain, as the majority of the Jewish population in Muslim lands were forced to flee their homes in the years following the establishment of the State of Israel. This mass expulsion and exodus is part of modern history, but inexplicably, it’s neither taught at schools nor remembered within the context of the conflicts in the Middle East..

The Emirati embassy in Washington, in a Twitter post earlier this month, said the UAE would include Holocaust education at schools, the first country in the region to do so.

"It's important to remember what happened. It's important to make sure that it will never happen again. And it's important to stand here together, all of us, Israelis, Emiratis and others in order to say: Not anymore," Israeli ambassador to the UAE, Amir Hayek, told Reuters on the sidelines of the museum event.

By Bushra Shakhshir

Czech Museum To Return Original Beethoven Score To Heirs Who fled To Escape The Holocaust

A musical manuscript handwritten by Ludwig van Beethoven is getting returned to the heirs of the richest family in pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, whose members had to flee the country to escape the Holocaust.

The Moravian Museum in the Czech city of Brno has had the original manuscript for the fourth movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet n B-flat Major, Op. 130 in its collection for more than 80 years. The museum put the score on display for the first time this week in anticipation of handing it over to its rightful owners.

“It’s one of the most precious items in our collections,” museum curator Simona Šindelářová said.

The museum said a restitution law on property stolen by German Nazis made the return possible. Details about how the family, whose wealth came mainly from mining industry and banking in Central Europe, after World War I acquired the piece from one of the German composer’s late quartets is unknown.

“We’re sorry about losing it, but it rightly belongs to the Petschek family,” Šindelářová said.

Beethoven composed the six-movement String Quartet in B-flat Major in 1825 -1826 as part of his work on a series of quartets commissioned by Russian Prince Nicholas Galitzin. It premiered in March 1826 at the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, Austria.

Museums, archives and libraries in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and the United States currently have almost 300 pages of the entire autograph in their possession.

It’s known that Beethoven, who died in 1827, gave the fourth movement to his secretary, Karl Holz, and at least two other private owners in Vienna acquired it before the Petscheks.

The family tried but failed to send the manuscript abroad by mail in March 1939 during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, drawing the attention of the Gestapo.

According to Šindelářová, the Germans asked an expert from the Moravian Museum at the time to verify Beethoven had penned the document, and “he denied that in an effort to save it” from the occupiers.

The lie could have cost him dearly, but it worked; the museum was allowed to keep the piece. However, the Nazis seized most of the Petschek family’s assets and possessions, which Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime nationalized after the war.

From his new home in the United States, Franz Petschek, who had run the family’s mining businesses in Czechoslovakia, tried to get the piece back but was unsuccessful due to the post-war division in Europe and creation of the Iron Curtain.

The Moravian Museum signed a deal on Aug. 3 to transfer the ownership of the manuscript to his heirs. However, other families with claims to property and valuable items lost during World War II are still waiting for their cases to be resolved.

Anne Webber, the co-chair of the London-based Commission for Looted Art in Europe, said that despite 47 countries agreeing in 2009 to try to resolve Holocaust-era injustices, “the restitution of artworks that were looted often seems to be as distant prospect as ever.”

“Some 90% of all artworks being sought today by families have been neither found nor returned,” Webber said at a conference held in Prague last month to review the progress made since the non-binding Terezín Declaration was adopted.

The declaration urged governments to make every effort to return former Jewish communal and religious property confiscated by the Nazis, fascists and their collaborators, and recommended that countries implement programs to address the issue of private buildings and land.

Videos In English Depict Last 6 Months Of Anne Frank’s Life

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Anne Frank House museum is releasing an English-language version of three videos in which an actress playing the young Jewish diarist describes the last six months of her life, from her arrest to her death in a Nazi concentration camp.

The English version of “Anne Frank - After the Arrest” is set for release on Thursday, 78 years to the day since Anne, her parents, her sister and four other Jews who hid with them in a secret annex of an Amsterdam house were arrested. Two non-Jewish helpers also were arrested.

The Frank family members hid in the annex from July 1942 until they were arrested in August 1944 and deported to concentration camps. Only Anne’s father, Otto Frank, survived.

After the war, Otto had his dead teenage daughter’s diary published, and it has since been translated into more than 70 languages. The building housing the secret annex was turned into a museum in 1960.

The videos being released Thursday were previously available in Dutch. They pick up where the diary ends, depicting what happened to Anne and her family after their arrest. Eyewitness accounts provided some of the information.

The actress playing Anne speaks to the camera in between harrowing scenes of the arrest, transportation and the inhuman conditions and treatment of Jews in the camps — first Camp Westerbork in the eastern Netherlands and later Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Anne, 15, and her older sister, Margot, both died of typhus shortly before Bergen-Belsen was liberated.

The video’s creators worked with the museum and Dutch public broadcaster NTR to develop the series.

“It makes a deep impression to look through Anne’s eyes at the last months of her life; the terrible time in the camps,” the Amsterdam museum’s executive director, Ronald Leopold, said in a statement Wednesday.

“With this sequel, we’ve answered the questions of many young people about what happened to Anne after her arrest, the period she couldn’t describe in her diary,” he added. “We hope to reach even more young people worldwide with the English-language version of ‘Anne Frank – After the Arrest.’”

The three episodes, each about 15 minutes long, will be available to view on the museum’s YouTube channel from 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Thursday.

Renaissance Synagogues Being Restored In Venice’s Ghetto

Venice’s Jewish ghetto is considered the first in Europe and one of the first in the world, and a new effort is underway to preserve its 16th-century synagogues for the Jews who have remained and tourists who pass through.

For nearly two years, restorers have been peeling away paint and discovering the original foundations of three of the ghetto’s synagogues, which are considered the only Renaissance synagogues still in use, art historian David Landau said.

Landau is spearheading the fundraising effort to restore the synagogues and nearby buildings both for Venice’s small Jewish community, which numbers around 450 people, and for tourists who can visit them on a guided tour through the Jewish Museum of Venice.

“I was really deeply offended by the state of the synagogues,” said Landau, a Renaissance specialist who bought a home in Venice 12 years ago. “I felt that the synagogues were in very bad condition. They had been altered beyond recognition over the centuries, and needed to be kind of cared for and loved.”

He has secured about 5 million euros to date and expects workers can complete the restoration process by the end of 2023 if the rest of the funding comes through, although the original outstanding 4 million euros has now ballooned to 6 million euros because of soaring building costs.

Venice’s ghetto dates from 1516, when the republic forced the growing numbers of Jews into the district where the old foundries, or “geti” as they were known, had been located. The area, which was locked down at night, became what is considered Europe’s first ghetto and remains the hub of Venice’s Jewish community in the Cannaregio area.

The first synagogue dates from 1528 and was built by German Ashkenazi Jews. Others followed and served different groups, including one for Spanish Sephardic Jews and one for Italian Jews.

None is visible from the street, as strict rules imposed by Venice’s rulers didn’t allow Jews to practice their faith openly. All the synagogues are hidden away on the top floors of seemingly normal buildings that on the lower levels held cramped living spaces for Jewish families.

The synagogues have remained operational continuously, except for the years of World War II during the German occupation.

The head of Venice’s Jewish community, Dario Calimani, said the restoration project was necessary both to maintain the religious and cultural life of Venice’s Jews today and to preserve the community’s history.

“They are a testimony to the life that it was, to the history of our community, small community,” he said.

Poland: Auschwitz Foundation Created To Fight Indifference

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A new Polish foundation has been created that will distribute grants globally to groups that come up with novel ways to fight indifference to hatred and discrimination.

The Auschwitz Pledge Foundation was announced on Wednesday, on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the liberation, by Soviet forces in 1945, of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied Poland. January 27 is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The goal of the Warsaw-based group is to support innovative projects that fight indifference to hatred in societies, based on the idea that it can lead to violence and even genocide.

The foundation plans to start by issuing grants of 30,000 euros ($34,000) each to three projects and hopes to expand the program in coming years. The funds were donated by the BNP Paribas bank.

The foundation’s general director, Jacek Kastelaniec, told The Associated Press that Auschwitz survivors have often said one of the worst experiences they had was the indifference of bystanders.

“It’s what allows horrible things to happen,” he said. “Our goal is to find a ways to influence attitudes.”

The site of Auschwitz is now a memorial site and museum. Poland was the site of mass executions of Polish Jews and Christians, and is where the Nazi forces carried out much of their genocide of Jews from across Europe, transporting many to Auschwitz to be murdered in gas chambers. Today the Polish state is the guardian of Auschwitz and several other former German-run death camps.

Re-Opening Of The Görlitz Synagogue As Culture Center In The State Of Saxony, Germany

After years of extensive renovation, Görlitz in the eastern state of Saxony has now reopened its synagogue as a nationally and internationally recognized cultural monument for visitors and events: Cultural Forum Görlitz Synagogue.

Anyone visiting the synagogue in Görlitz will undoubtedly be overwhelmed by its architectural beauty and the fascinating play of colors in the dome hall. A gold-plated scale pattern and majestic-looking lions adorn the ceiling. Precious materials in fine workmanship emphasize the east wall with the Torah shrine.

Consecrated in 1911, it is a miracle that the Jewish sacred building is still preserved. During the pogrom night on November 9, 1938, the imposing building was set on fire, but the fire brigade put out the flames and saved the building. Completed in the style of reform architecture is one of the few synagogues in Germany that survived National Socialism and the Kristallnacht. It is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm and there are audio guides in English for five Euros. The Synagogue is the most visible evidence of Jewish history in Görlitz. Those interested can also explore other locations, for example the Jewish Cemetery or the Old Synagogue, now a house of literature. The Jewish inhabitants of Görlitz were an important and influential part of the citizenry, and many of their houses and town villas are still preserved today.There is more information to Jewish life in Görlitz to be found here.

During the GDR era, the orphaned building was used as a warehouse for theater sets but it was not really sustained and increasingly deteriorated. Rescue and securing of the building began after 1990. It was gradually renovated at a cost of millions. In the meantime, the nationally significant cultural monument shines in new splendor. The Torah shrine, the most sacred place in a Jewish house of God, is open at a central point where the Torah scrolls were previously kept.

The Dresden architects responsible for the synagogue’s design, William Lossow and Max Hans Kühne, also designed the main train station in Leipzig. They used modern technologies, including the flat reinforced concrete dome, that arches over the main room with a span of 16 meters. Above it the steel skeleton construction rises 33 meters with a high tower. The builders wanted to confidently show that Judaism has found its place in society.

After 1945, a Jewish community no longer formed at the synagogue. The monument has been owned by the city of Görlitz since 1963. As today's cultural forum, the synagogue can be used in very different ways: for education, concerts, lectures, festive events and conferences. The house is also open for individual visits with a multimedia guide. A prayer room in the former weekday synagogue is available for devotions and services.

Perhaps one of Germany’s most charming towns and once a major place of commerce, Görlitz is a center of Lusatian and Silesian culture, and it will be 950 years old in 2021. Its Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque and Art Deco buildings, cobble-stoned streets, red roofs and old churches and the synagogue are a tribute to the city’s beauty and culture. Many have to come admire this hidden jewel in eastern Saxony, including movie directors and producers. Some have nicknamed the city, “Goerli-wood” as movies, such as Grand Hotel Budapest, The Book Thief, Inglourious Basterds, Around the World in 80 Days and The Reader among others have been filmed in the city. Special tours follow in the footsteps of famous actors and directors. Information about tourism in Görlitz can be found at https://www.goerlitz.de/Tourismus.html

Tel Aviv’s Jewish Museum Reopens After $100 Million Upgrade

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — From Queen Salome to the late RBG, from Moses to Sandy Koufax, Tel Aviv’s newly revamped Museum of the Jewish People attempts the ambitious undertaking of bringing almost 3,000 years of Jewish history and tradition under a single roof.

The museum — formerly known as Beit Hatfutsot and newly branded as ANU, Hebrew for “We” — reopened to visitors this week after more than a decade of renovations costing $100 million.

Its exhibition space has tripled, making it the largest Jewish museum in the world, officials say. Its old galleries with dioramas and models from when it first opened in 1978 have given way to cutting-edge exhibits with interactive touchscreens and original artwork.

Close to a third of the renovation was financed by the Nadav Foundation of Russian-Israeli Leonid Nevzlin, a former oil magnate. Another $52 million came from other U.S.-based philanthropists and foundations, and $18 million from the Israeli government. Nevzlin’s daughter Irina, the wife of Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, serves as chair of the museum’s board of directors.

The refurbished museum adopts a fresh approach to telling the story of the Jewish people, said chief curator Orit Shaham-Gover. It focuses on the diversity of Jewish culture and the accomplishments of the Jewish people, not just its tragedies, she said.

“Everyone walking in here needs to see themselves regardless of gender, denomination, ethnic background,” said Dan Tadmor, the museum’s CEO. “This is our story and you need to feel part of it.”

Scattered through 72,000 square feet (6,690 square meters) of galleries are historical artifacts and mementos: a jawza — a type of stringed instrument — belonging to 20th-century Iraqi musicians known as the Al-Kuwaity brothers, one of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s signature collars, a Book of Esther scroll from pre-Inquisition Spain, and a monumental carved stone from a first-century A.D. synagogue on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

A major draw is the original artwork highlighting lesser-known historical figures such as Ottoman Jewish philanthropist Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi and the legendary Ethiopian warrior queen Yodit. Visitors can use a digital bracelet to capture memorable elements — from literary quotations, to recipes and family trees — and take them home by email.

Shaham-Gover, the curator, said the open-space gallery of contemporary Jews is “a celebration of life and culture and lights and colors.”

“The museum is not a muted temple,” she said. “It’s about life. So you come here, you have sounds, you have light and colors. It’s part of you.”

Its grand opening comes as the fundamental issue of who is a Jew has resurfaced in Israeli politics ahead of this month’s fourth parliamentary election in two years.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that people who had undergone Reform and Conservative conversions to Judaism in Israel would qualify as Jews when applying for citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return. The decision has outraged Israel’s powerful ultra-Orthodox religious establishment, which has long held a monopoly over conversions, along with members of the ruling Likud party.

Upon entering the main gallery, visitors encounter life-sized projections of Jews from a kaleidoscope of different affiliations and lifestyles — from Reform to ultra-Orthodox and everything in between — explaining how they define their Jewish identity.

Anat Lieberman, a museum visitor from the town of Ramat Gan, said the presentation of people from “all colors of the rainbow” was moving, and showed that it was a museum “for the entire Jewish people.”

Tadmor avoided touching on the politics of the issue and insisted the institution does not take a stance on the question of who is a Jew.

“We’re nonpolitical. We don’t favor any denomination. We’re floating 20,000 feet above all of that,” he insisted. “We just want to make sure that everyone is represented and you don’t come out feeling like ‘I’m transparent.’”

Auschwitz Survivors Mark Anniversary Online Amid Pandemic

By VANESSA GERA,

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Jewish prayer for the souls of people murdered in the Holocaust echoed Wednesday over where the Warsaw ghetto stood during World War II as a world paused by the coronavirus pandemic observed the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Most International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations were being held online this year due to the virus, including the annual ceremony at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site is closed to visitors because of the pandemic.

In one of the few live events, mourners gathered in Poland’s capital to pay their respects at a memorial in the former Warsaw ghetto, the largest of all the ghettos where European Jews were held in cruel and deadly conditions before being sent to die in mass extermination camps.

From the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke of the need to remember the genocide carried out in World War II, saying it was a sign of humanity and a condition for a peaceful future.

Francis also warned that distorted ideologies could lead to a repeat of mass murder on a horrific scale. Remembering the Holocaust, he said, “also means to be aware that these things can happen again, starting with ideological proposals that claim to save a people and end up destroying a people and humanity.”

Among those commemorating from home Wednesday will be Polish-born Auschwitz survivor Tova Friedman, who arrived at the camp when she was 5 years old and was 6 when she found herself among thousands of survivors liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 2020.

Friedman, who is now 82, attended last year’s event at Auschwitz and had hoped to take her her eight grandchildren there this year to help them better understand her experiences. But the pandemic prevented that.

From her home in Highland Park, New Jersey, she recorded a message of warning about the rise of hatred which will be part of a virtual observance organized by the World Jewish Congress.

Across Europe, the victims were remembered and honored in various ways.

In Austria and Slovakia, hundreds of survivors were offered their first doses of a vaccine against the coronavirus in a gesture both symbolic and truly lifesaving given the threat of the virus to older adults. In Israel, some 900 Holocaust survivors died from COVID-19 out of the 5,300 who were infected last year.

Israel, which counts 197,000 Holocaust survivors, officially marks its Holocaust remembrance day in the spring. But events were also being held by remembrance and survivors’ groups across the country, mostly virtually or without members of the public in attendance.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg signed a deal Wednesday agreeing to pay reparations and to restitute dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and looted art to Holocaust survivors.

Politicians and regular people alike were joining a World Jewish Congress campaign which involved people posting photos of themselves and #WeRemember. Those will be shown later Wednesday on a screen at Auschwitz next to the gate and a cattle car, the way victims were transported there.

The online nature of this year’s commemorations is a sharp contrast to events marking the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation last year, when some 200 survivors and dozens of European leaders and royalty gathered at the site of the former camp. It was one of the last large international gatherings before the pandemic forced the cancellation of most large gatherings.

More than 1.1 million people were murdered by the German Nazis and their henchmen at Auschwitz, the most notorious in a network of killing sites set up across occupied Europe. The vast majority of those killed at Auschwitz were Jews, but others, including Poles, Roma, homosexuals and Soviet prisoners of war, were also murdered.

In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators. In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

While commemorations have moved online for the first time, one constant is the drive of survivors to tell their stories as words of caution.

Rose Schindler, a 91-year-old survivor of Auschwitz who was originally from Czechoslovakia but now lives in San Diego, California, has been speaking to school groups about her experience for 50 years. Her story, and that of her late husband, Max, also a survivor, is also told in a book, “Two Who Survived: Keeping Hope Alive While Surviving the Holocaust.”

After Schindler was transported to Auschwitz in 1944, she was selected more than once for immediate death in the gas chambers. She survived by escaping each time and joining work details.

The horrors she experienced — the mass murder of her parents and four of her seven siblings, the hunger, being shaven, lice infestations — are difficult to convey, but she keeps speaking to groups, over past months only by Zoom.

“We have to tell our stories so it doesn’t happen again,” Schindler said in a Zoom call from her home this week. “It is unbelievable what we went through, and the whole world was silent as this was going on.”

Friedman says she believes it is her role to “sound the alarm” about rising anti-Semitism and other hatred in the world, otherwise “another tragedy may happen.”

That hatred, she said, was on clear view when a mob inspired by former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some insurrectionists wore clothes with anti-Semitic messages like “Camp Auschwitz.”

“It was utterly shocking and I couldn’t believe it. And I don’t know what part of America feels like that. I hope it’s a very small and isolated group and not a pervasive feeling,” Friedman said Monday.

In her recorded message that will be broadcast Wednesday, Friedman said she compares the virus of hatred in the world to COVID-19. She said the world today is witnessing “a virus of anti-Semitism, of racism, and if you don’t stop the virus, it’s going to kill humanity.”
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Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

National Museum of American Jewish History In Philadelphia To Honor Magicians Houdini And David Copperfield

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia-based National Museum of American Jewish History will honor two men who entertained the world with their magic.

The museum announced on Thursday it will induct illusionists Harry Houdini and David Copperfield into its hall of fame on Dec. 12. The museum says the award recognizes the achievements and contributions of American Jews “who share and exemplify the ideals of the stories explored in the museum.” Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Hungary in 1874 and came to America when he was 4 years old. The son of a rabbi, he toured the U.S. and the world as a magician until his death in 1926 at age 52.

Copperfield, 64, was born David Kotkin in New Jersey. He has earned 21 Emmy Awards, and will accept the honor from his International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas. “From immigrant Harry Houdini to first-generation American David Copperfield, this event clearly demonstrates what’s possible when individuals are simply given the chance to be great,” said museum trustee Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum. Previous recipients of the museum’s award include the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and director Steven Spielberg.

National Museum Of American Jewish History Explores Successful Human Rights Campaign In Power Of Protest: The Movement To Free Soviet Jews

Panel Exhibition on view through March 15, 2020

Traveling exhibition Power of Protest: The Movement to Free Soviet Jews has returned to the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH), where the exhibition was created. Power of Protest explores one of the most successful human rights campaigns to date. The panel exhibition showcases Americans’ efforts in the late 1960s through 1990 to free refuseniks—Jews who lived in the Soviet Union and were denied the rights to live freely, practice Judaism, or leave the country due to their religion. It is on view at NMAJH through March 15, 2020 and is included in free admission.

“The successful movement to free Soviet Jews has compelling connections to modern-day advocacy, highlighting how grassroots efforts can have an enormous impact. This exhibition serves as a reminder of how individuals can help preserve, protect, and expand America’s unique promise of religious freedom, even for individuals on the other side of the world,” says Dr. Josh Perelman, NMAJH chief curator and director of exhibitions and interpretation.

Power of Protest: The Movement to Free Soviet Jews walks visitors through the human rights campaign that took place on behalf of Soviet Jews, one that brought together organizations, student activists, community leaders, and thousands of individuals—and reached the highest echelons of the American government. Americans staged public demonstrations across the country, held massive rallies, and called for politicians to speak out. The exhibition celebrates the struggles and successes of this movement, as well as the experiences of Jewish emigrants from the U.S.S.R. who came to the United States and have contributed in countless ways to American society and culture. Their stories of courage offer meaningful opportunities for conversations and activism surrounding immigration, the reception of refugees, and the continuing limits on political and religious freedom placed on minorities around the world.

Power of Protest: The Movement to Free Soviet Jews highlights stories of everyday Americans who performed extraordinary acts of bravery to help Soviet Jews, from Philadelphians Elaine and David Ravich who smuggled out tape recordings of conversations during their 1978 visit to the Soviet Union, to Leslie Schaffer of Reno, Nevada who used gum wrappers to discreetly transport information about refuseniks in 1982, to Constance and Joseph Smukler of Philadelphia who helped several well-known Soviet Jews win their freedom. Visitors will learn about individual refuseniks, from human rights activist and Israeli politician Natan Sharansky to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The exhibition features a number of powerful graphics, rather than physical artifacts. A handbill advertising a performance by musician Mary Travers—of Peter, Paul, and Mary—at a 1984 rally for Soviet Jewry represents the singers, musicians, and artists who raised their voices in protest. A 1981 letter written by Sheryl Sandberg (now COO of Facebook) to her bat mitzvah “twin” exemplifies the thousands of American children who “twinned” their Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies with Soviet peers denied that experience. Inspired by protest buttons popular across movements around the world, visitors can take home a pin featuring the hashtag #PowerofProtest to celebrate the exhibition, commemorate the historic milestone, and highlight the contemporary significance of fighting for one’s beliefs.

Power of Protest: The Movement to Free Soviet Jews is a small-scale, free-standing exhibition consisting of 11 panels designed to travel—giving small galleries, libraries, synagogues, Jewish community centers, universities, and historic societies across the country the opportunity to revisit and raise awareness of this important movement. To inquire about bringing the panel exhibition to your community, contact exhibitions@nmajh.org.

For more information, visit NMAJH.org/sovietjews.

The National Museum of American Jewish History was awarded a generous $150,000 grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to support the exhibition’s development. The grant is part of IMLS’s Museums for America program, which backs projects that strengthen the ability of an individual museum to serve its public.

The exhibition was organized by the National Museum of American Jewish History’s Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation Josh Perelman and former content coordinator Yigal Kotler. The exhibition’s advisory committee includes Gal Beckerman (historian, journalist, and author), Sandra Cahn (Co-Founder, Limmud FSU), Margy-Ruth Davis (Founder and Chair, Perry Davis Associates; Former Executive Director, Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry), Marina Furman (Regional Director, Jewish National Fund), Zvi Gitelman (Preston R. Tisch Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Michigan), Jerry Goodman (Founding Executive Director, National Conference on Soviet Jewry), Malcolm Hoenlein (Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Founding Executive Director, Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry), Pamela Nadell (Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's and Gender History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program, American University), Jonathan Sarna (NMAJH’s Chief Historian; University Professor and Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University), Roman Shmulenson (Executive Director, Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations), David Shneer (Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History, University of Colorado), Lance Sussman (Rabbi at Congregation Keneseth Israel), and Beth Wenger (Moritz and Josephine Berg Professor of History and Chair of the History Department, University of Pennsylvania).

Power of Protest was created by the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. The exhibition is supported, in part, through a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a government agency dedicated to advancing innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Additional support provided by Alkemy X, the Charlestein Family in memory of Malvina and Morton Charlestein, and the Genesis Philanthropy Group.
 

 

About the National Museum of American Jewish History
The National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH), located on historic Independence Mall in Philadelphia, brings to life the more than 360-year history of Jews in America. Tracing the stories of how Jewish immigrants became Jewish Americans, the Museum invites visitors of all backgrounds to share their own stories and reflect on how their histories and identities shape and are shaped by the American experience. An open door for all, NMAJH honors the past and contributes to a better future by sharing the power of imagination and ideas, culture and community, leadership and service, in ways that turn inspiration into action.

Visiting NMAJH
NMAJH is located at 101 South Independence Mall East at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets in Philadelphia. Museum hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am - 5:30 pm. NMAJH is closed most Mondays, including federal holidays and some Jewish holidays. Admission to the core exhibition is free through February 2020. Children 12 and under, Museum Members, and active military with ID are always free. For more information on hours and admission, visit NMAJH.org or call 215.923.3811. Connect with the Museum on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Free Admission In July 2019 At National Museum Of American Jewish History In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA—The National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) is pleased to announce free admission for all visitors throughout the month of July, thanks to the support of Parkway Corporation.

Free admission includes complimentary access to the Museum’s Core Exhibition highlighting more than 360 years of life in America, told through a Jewish lens, plus complimentary access to the current special exhibition, Sara Berman’s Closet.

In addition to regular Museum hours, NMAJH will now be open Mondays from 10am–5pm starting on July 8, and open late on Thursdays, from 10am-7pm, starting July 11.

“This year the Museum will be free for the entire month of July! Come and share the gratitude we have for our freedoms and the opportunities they provide all of us. Celebrate your ‘Only in America’ story by learning about our ‘Only in America’ story,” says NMAJH Board Chair, Phil Darivoff.

Parkway Corporation’s Chairman and NMAJH Trustee, Joe Zuritsky says, “Tourists and local residents come to Independence Mall, especially in July, to explore America’s founding through our nation’s most treasured buildings and artifacts. The National Museum of American Jewish History helps bring that history to life through the specific but universal stories of how an immigrant community and religious minority shaped, and was shaped, by this country.”

Parkway Corporation’s support is making free admission in July possible.

The Museum is thrilled to feature extraordinary original documents and images from defining moments in American history that speak to the ideal of freedom:

 George Washington’s handwritten 1789 proclamation establishing November 26 as a national day of thanksgiving. Washington celebrated the “tranquility, union, and plenty” that had accompanied Constitution’s ratification, highlighting “the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed.”

These words foreshadow Washington’s historic 1790 letter to the Jewish community of Newport in which he bravely proclaimed that the nation’s new government would give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,” and quoted the prophet Micah to assure “the Children of the Stock of Abraham” all Americans “shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

 And they are recalled in a signed copy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Speech, his 1941 State of the Union Address – on view at NMAJH for the first time – in which he declared that all people had a right to the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear.

 Roosevelt’s speech will be accompanied by original printings of the four iconic Norman Rockwell posters depicting each of the four freedoms, later reproduced in the Saturday Evening Post. According to a 1945 New Yorker article, these images were “received by the public with more enthusiasm, perhaps, than any other paintings in the history of American art.”

FDR’s speech and Rockwell’s posters will be displayed on the Museum’s first floor along with a visitor-centered interactive asking visitors to suggest what they believe should be a fifth freedom. “These documents and images vividly illustrate our nation’s essential values,” states Dr. Josh Perelman, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation, “and remind us about our roles as ensuring they are extended to all, now and in the future.”

On July 4, in conjunction with Wawa Welcome America, visitors are invited to celebrate Independence Day here at NMAJH. Visitors can watch Philadelphia’s 4^thof July parade from the Museum’s fifth floor terrace with sweeping views of Independence Mall, and enjoy interactive gallery talks, story time, arts and crafts projects, and meet celebrated artists Maira Kalman and Alex Kalman, who created the Museum’s buoyant current special exhibition, Sara Berman’s Closet, about Sara’s journey from Belarus to Tel Aviv to New York and making a life of meaning.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Free Admission throughout July
Admission is free for all visitors during the month of July, and includes complimentary access to the Museum’s core exhibition highlighting more than 360 years of life in America told through a Jewish lens and complimentary access to current exhibition, Sara Berman’s Closet. Advanced tickets are not required but recommended. To reserve, nmajh.org/letfreedomring.

Visitor Guides are available in five languages at the Museum and online. A new guide for July will be available in three languages.

Throughout the Summer
“Sara Berman was wild about Fred Astaire and watched all his movies.” Enjoy drop-in screenings of Sara Berman’s favorite Fred Astaire and Danny Kaye films. For dates, nmajh.org/sbc.

For more information, visit nmajh.org.