Forum
FORUM Leibowitz's Article Is Insulting The cover article in the October issue "Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring?" (October 1989) was insulting to anyone who is able to appreciate the beauty of...
...Hadassah Harris New Haven, Connecticut Interest In Kosher Products Skyrocketing "Brachos for Breakfast" (Notes & News, December 1989) reflects a nationwide skyrocketing interest in kosher products...
...Who would have believed that such an institution would come into existence...
...So, I'd like to explain my approach to training the docents for the current exhibition at the San Francisco Jewish Community Museum, to offset just that danger, undernourished boredom...
...We all know people who consider the Grand Canyon boring, and the Metropolitan Museum a waste of time...
...I wonder, however, if Mr...
...While there were only about 1,000 kosher items available in 1979, there are now almost 18,000...
...Are there such passages in one's life...
...In the ancient Near East sacrifices were uncovered underneath thresholds...
...Does that mean that there is something wrong with Mozart...
...The groom carries his bride across the threshold...
...A stadium, a hospital...
...It is clear from Wendy Leibowitz's article, ' 'Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring...
...They then went together, with open eyes...
...Many cultures record rites that take place when you cross a threshold...
...October 1989) was insulting to anyone who is able to appreciate the beauty of religious art works...
...British culture is a questionable commodity— mediocre painting, insipid classical music (The Beatles produced the first interesting music to come from a truly British source since Purcell), and a gastronomic tradition which is a universal joke...
...It is estimated to constitute a SI.5 billion market, with 40 percent of supermarket shelves in the Northeast now containing kosher certified products...
...it is never discussed at our Jewish conventions and forums...
...Avrum I. Ashery Potomac, Maryland Are Diaspora Jews Really Free...
...Her bigoted stance is as much a function of ignorance and ennui as it is the shortcomings of Jewish museums...
...But don't step through . . . yet...
...October 1989), that her attitude towards Jewish museums was negative before she ever darkened their doorways...
...But when my son, in Europe for his junior year, told me he was going to visit Dachau, I sent him the issue with the relevant article, "Memory and Myth: Holocaust Memorials Mix History with National Ideals" by James E. Young (June 1989...
...In my opinion, you selected Wendy Leibowitz to write this article on the basis of her extremely provincial attitudes...
...with "Nothin...
...Thus, their museums reflect the richness and diversity of our people down through the centuries and encompass all aspects of life...
...We should not condone or tolerate such brutality, but neither should we condemn this people and culture to the kind of stereotypic characterizations presented to us by David Pryce-Jones...
...This extraordinary exhibit has been traveling throughout the United States for two years and has been accepted in many prestigious museums...
...Ingredients: Symbolism...
...As a visual communicator with 20 years of experience in producing works for both Jewish and secular clientele, I see this problem as an academic issue that the organized Jewish community has yet to understand...
...Netzach Tisrael loyeshaker [the Eternal of Israel would not have lied...
...The museum itself has beautiful architecture and is worthy of a story by someone who is able to appreciate it...
...We call it sacred space, and the way into sacred space is through a sacred portal, a kind of holy doorway...
...Israelis (inside the Green Line) are free people in their own land...
...But—not every exhibition is a blockbuster...
...Rabbi Philip J. Bentley Temple Or-Elohim Jericho, New York Changed Her Mind About Renewing I had intended not to renew my subscription to MOMENT...
...They have been brutalized and there is a great deal of brutality in the Arab world...
...An afterthought came up: A sacred portal doesn't have to be physical...
...the absence of this nourishment is Leibowitz's real lament...
...For years I've heard them say, "We value education more than other ethnic groups...
...A catalogue of the atrocities committed by the British would fill several issues of MOMENT...
...And it's about time that the shapers of American Jewish opinion, the Chafetses and the Friedmans did a little soul-searching about their own Jewishness and how their biases distort their "objective" portrayal of the world...
...by David Pryce-Jones and "Understanding David Pryce-Jones: 'A Racist Manifesto...
...They have left their mark on every continent except Antarctica...
...Menachem Lubinsky President, LUBICOM New York, New York...
...Isn't this a history lesson similar to that which Miss Leibowitz so admired at Beth Hatefutsoth...
...There is negligible violent crime...
...Elders come for a morning activity which consists of one hour of instruction and a second hour in which they interact individually with small groups of children visitors taking them through the current exhibit and engaging in personal dialogue...
...Vivian Perlmutter Greensboro, North Carolina Criticism Is More Fashionable Than Praise With reference to Wendy Leibowitz's article, "Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring...
...Wendy Leibowitz's question "Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring...
...Some people bow...
...Effective communication continues to be a non-issue...
...I believe that Jews want to be spiritually nourished at a Jewish museum...
...Small wonder then that much of our people's contribution to this land is to FORUM be found in non-Jewish museums where all Jewish identity is either suppressed or deliberately avoided...
...It is, however, the Jews who maintain the laws of kash-ruth who are the linchpin and driving force behind this flourishing market...
...It is a good thing that they finally allowed Jews and others into their island kingdom so that they could boast the likes of Benjamin Disraeli and Salman Rushdie...
...No other empire fought more wars against more different peoples...
...They were supposedly bringFORUM ing culture—"The White Man's Burden"—to peoples who had flourishing civilizations when the illiterate Britons were still painting themselves blue and worshipping oak trees...
...Stephen M. Cohen, Esq...
...Where else have you experienced a different quality of space when you pass from one area to another...
...No matter how wonderful they are, they are probably behind glass, untouchable and inaccessible emotionally...
...October 1989), we found it rather surprising that she found the photographic exhibit that was prepared by Beth Hatefutsoth in honor of Hadas-sah's 75th anniversary boring...
...Of course, you know that not all space is alike...
...It has served as an excellent vehicle for educating the public on Zionist history...
...Inevitably, the results range from first-rate to pareve [neither milk nor meat] to poor...
...Close your eyes for a moment...
...Of course, museums owe the public innovative and well-conceived presentations...
...Teller becomes a regular contributer...
...They may not look like this majestic portal that we are passing through at the entrance, but they all have something in common: They can all open in some obvious way or some mysterious way, and they let you into sacred space...
...Allan Baer Hackensack, New Jersey Oops!-Ed...
...There is simply no justification for a Jewish magazine to publish this kind of trash, even with a response...
...It is the only visit to the United States of the Italian Renaissance Jewish artifacts of the Emilia Romagna region...
...Their scientific achievements likewise come from similar sources...
...Melinda Mandelbaum Stein Savannah, Georgia Jewish Museums Need Our Support, Not Our Chastisement I was sorry to see that you decided to publish the Wendy Leibowitz article to stir up controversy about the state of the Jewish museum today...
...Because we think a lot about making a connection with God, so we have many images of opening a door into God's space...
...for Jews there is the pious touch of the hand...
...also a part of Jewish thinking...
...The divorce rate remains low...
...Apparently Leibowitz prefers to be entertained...
...For entertainment try a circus...
...Visitors may not touch the 200-year-old Italian mezuzah, but I have brought my bag of props...
...Additionally, according to Ad Week, consumers who are fueling the growth are those who associate kosher certification with better ingredients and more diligent quality control...
...Can you translate your experience into a color, a flavor...
...We talk about different materials that can be used for portals: silver, fabric, parchment, wood...
...Our problem is not lack of money but rather lack of true freedom and pride...
...Why not lay the blame for this problem at the feet of our Jewish leadership...
...Well, I'm not inclined to believe all of this anymore...
...She reminds me of the students in an afternoon Hebrew school of which I was principal for many years: After a two-hour session that included a short prayer period, modern Hebrew, a Jewish computer game played in teams, a discussion of Israeli politics, and a video of sights in Jerusalem, the kids would return home and answer their parents' question, "What did you do in Hebrew school today...
...All they have to their credit is an excellent tradition in literature and theater and that is largely the product of the Celtic peoples the English subjected to their forcibly united kingdom...
...We know how to fund-raise better...
...in the same issue, in which Ze'ev Chafets states that in Israel Jews are ' 'off of the plantation" and free to be anything they wish...
...How many such sacred portals can you find in this room...
...Take a peek...
...They are committed to living in Israel...
...We are more culturally astute than others...
...It has received wonderful media reviews...
...I hope the talented Mr...
...And getting drunk and making fun of religious people...
...In many, if not in all, of their nations there are progressive individuals and groups that seek an Arab expression of modern civilization (whatever that may mean...
...To a believer this is certainly evidence of Divine Providence...
...Why don't we ever hear of the power of the religious community in accomplishing exactly what the secular state tries to accomplish in controlling crime, in controlling drugs, in controlling alcoholism...
...While I am pleased that my "client" Vladimir Dashevsky is able to study and practice his cultural and religious identity, I continue in my outrage at his continued imprisonment in a hostile nation that is allowing "glasnost" to produce an ever-growing anti-Semitism...
...And let us not forget Ireland...
...However, there's usually something for everyone...
...Freudenheim, the effectiveness of Jewish museums is only one part of a greater picture...
...It's about time we realized the beauty and power of the religious life and what it contributes to the Jewish world...
...The space on the other side is totally different...
...It is a big part of religious thinking...
...The Arabs have beautiful and noble elements in their history, culture and religion which once surpassed those of Europe...
...Her need to have an entertainment center serve as an educational tool for all is not shared by most adult museum visitors...
...The others include Seventh Day Adventists, Muslims and others whose religious beliefs require diets similar to those of observant Jews...
...As noted in the article, I am an American attorney who has visited the Soviet Union to meet with refuseniks and to speak on the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate...
...Thank you for helping me to educate my son...
...I pass them out and point out the biblical passage on the parchment...
...Chafets and presumably Friedman who quoted him so extensively, are ' preoccupied with enjoying life—parties and fun and chasing girls on the beach...
...If there is no improvement in quality, I will not renew next year...
...Topic: The Sacred Portal...
...For all of us, the threshold is both the symbol of passage and the process itself...
...Sadly, criticism is more fashionable these days than praise...
...Having spewed out such disgusting muck, I apologize to your readers for subjecting them to such a display of prejudice...
...One of the particularly innovative features of the San Francisco Jewish Community Museum is its inter-generation program...
...October 1989) is answered quite succinctly in another article, Thomas Friedman's "Whose Country Is This, Anyway...
...Blend well...
...If you could paint the space on the other side of this passage, what color would you choose...
...It would have been far more helpful if you had printed an article covering the latest exhibit at the Jewish Museum on Italian Jewish art...
...Charlotte Jacobson Chairman Hadassah 75th Anniversary New York, New York "You Want You Should Be Entertained...
...Why is it that on page 52 of your December 1989 issue there is a map of FORUM the Middle East* that depicts the West Bank as being within the boundaries of Jordan...
...Thus the museum succeeds in creating programs in which visitors interact both with the content and symbolism of the exhibit and with informed persons, both professional and lay...
...Their museums are exciting because, unlike our Diaspora museums, their exhibits are not limited to religious artifacts and manifestations of religious life...
...Jo Milgrom Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California Jews Must Learn To Communicate Effectively Thank you Wendy Leibowitz ("Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring...
...However, the reality of this dream should not blind us to the continuing tragedy of the refuseniks...
...Rabbi Leonard Oberstein Baltimore, Maryland The Possible Dream And the Continuing Nightmare The recent opening of Xheyeshiva in Moscow, as described in ' 'The Possible Dream" (October 1989), captured not only the facts surrounding its creation but also the spirit that is emerging within its walls...
...He shared it with another young man who had already, visited the memorial...
...I hope I never see such a thing in MOMENT again...
...Nor does Freuden-heim respond to this need when he reminds her of all the wonderful exhibitions she hasn't seen...
...The interest is so intense and pervasive that it prompted Ad Week to cite kosher food as one of the "hottest" products of 1989...
...Mickey Teicher Miami Beach, Florida How TV Makes an Exhibit Come Alive Both Wendy Leibowitz's "Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring...
...The decimation of Native Americans and of Australian aborigines begins with the British...
...This is exactly what Pryce-Jones has done to the Arabs...
...Wherever the exhibit has appeared, it has had an enthusiastic and wide audience...
...In Israel there is minimal concern about maintaining a commitment to living in Israel and preventingjimWa [emigration] among the religious...
...Even from a purely Western point of view, we should be able to see that the Arab peoples are suffering the evil effects of centuries of occupation and colonialism...
...Caveats: Facts alone don't nourish...
...In the religious community in Israel and in America there are no drugs...
...I find it insulting to have paid money to receive this issue...
...But wouldn't it be absurd to take it as a fair essay on the British...
...Leibowitz is actually reacting to a major problem in the Jewish community of which the Jewish museum as an institution is only a part...
...There is negligible adultery and resulting family tragedies...
...The following, therefore, is a partially reconstructed conversation between me and the docents to model an interactive dialogue soon to take place between the docents and the museum visitors...
...One such issue per year is worth the subscription price...
...Perhaps you could help educate people: I am sure that you thought that the cover article would be provocative...
...Joel Dimitry National Chairman Canadian Society for Yad Vashem Downsview, Ontario, Canada A Vile Racist Diatribe Shame on you for publishing such a vile racist diatribe as "Understanding the Arabs: 'Self-Imposed Despotism...
...No group of people who are afraid or ashamed to be themselves can expect to have exciting museums reflecting their achievements...
...MOMENT and Arab Periodicals It is always interesting to see how the same events can be interpreted completely differently, depending on one's point of view—for example, "Understanding the Arabs: 'Self-Irnposed Despotism...
...Muhammed Hallaj would allow David Pryce-Jones similar rebuttal space in a major Arab publication...
...Now this idea of special space has several names...
...and Tom L. Freudenheim's reply, "Thank You, Wendy Leibowitz" (October 1989), set me thinking about my role as midwife at Jewish museum exhibits...
...For years our leadership and professionals have failed to understand the need to make effective communications a high priority...
...Rabbi Reuven Tradburks Knesseth Israel Congregation Birmingham, Alabama The West Bank in Jordan...
...The information in the magazine changed the perspective of their experience...
...The answers moved from the physical (the Torah mantle, the mezuzah) to the metaphoric (the Torah itself...
...Jewish museums today need our support, rather than our chastisement...
...Imagine you have a big fat paintbrush in your hand and buckets of different colors of paint at your feet...
...Often, museums work with, limited money and space as well as less than perfect curators and researchers...
...Intrigue your visitors...
...Perhaps if we put the shoe on the other foot and let Pryce-Jones know what it feels like to be the object of such slander, he might see himself for the bigot that he is: Pryce-Jones is British, which makes him a member of the most blood-soaked, rapacious empire in human history...
...However, I am not sure an Arab publication would allow the same freedom of expression and opinion...
...People like Friedman and Chafets shape much of Western Jewish thinking and they display a disdain for the religious community while they embrace all the negative aspects of the Western world...
...It is little wonder that individuals whose raison d'etre has little to do with Jewish values and the power of Jewish living should constantly quote religious scholars with disdain...
...The docents and I are standing by the magnificent portal of this synagogue entrance: "We're about to pass over a dramatic threshold...
...Michal Sharron Seattle, Washington Amid the Criticism, A Yasher Koach Tosher koach [more power to you] on Hanoch Teller's article on the Moscow yeshiva, ' 'The Possible Dream" (October 1989...
...Let us work to eliminate the nightmares and expand the dreams...
...Some highly educated people hate classical music...
...Don't lecture...
...Judgment took place at the gate...
...and no thank you Tom Freudenheim ("Thank You, Wendy Leibowitz," October 1989...
...As a Borscht-belt comic might put it, ' 'You want you should be entertained in a museum...
...You can feel a different energy there...
...by Muhammed Hallaj (October 1989...
...I found the new format to be neither interesting nor relevant...
...Because MOMENT is a democratic Jewish publication, all views can be expressed...
...This is a good place to note the function of the mezuzah...
...October 1989) provides a telling glimpse into those people who shape our view of Israel...
...Yet, every statement in the foregoing paragraph is arguably true...
...focus them on one thing and send them on a mystery search, a treasure hunt...
...You see, Mr...
...Of the six million Americans who customarily eat kosher food, only 1.5 million are Jews...
...It is a singular exhibit, a credit to the director, Linda Steinberg...
...Beth S. Gersh-Nesic Adjunct Professor of Art History, Simmons College Boston, Massachusetts Shame on Wendy Leibowitz Shame on Wendy Leibowitz for her diatribe about Jewish museums in your October 1989 issue ("Why Are Jewish Museums So Boring...
...Palm Beach, Florida Crime, Drugs and Alcoholism Absent From Religious Community Thomas Friedman's "Whose Country Is This, Anyway...
...Stir in the senses generously...
...There is next to no alcoholism...
...Museums are one of many tools we need to use to communicate to Jews and non-Jews, and so long as effective communication is not a priority in the Jewish community, we will continue to fail at our attempts to get across whatever messages we might wish to convey...
...I explain that the threshold is the boundary, the frontier between two worlds, secular and sacred, where two worlds meet and communicate...
...Would you ask these people to write an article about classical music concerts...
...Everywhere the British were, you will find civil war and racial strife down to the present day— India, Pakistan, South Africa, and of course the Middle East, where they did everything they could to rule by setting local peoples against each other...
...Jews in North America have a very fascinating and often colorful history of achievement but our museums do not reflect this because Jews here are too busy trying to be ' 'white Americans" and "Americans of the Jewish faith...
...Or should I say, the ineffectiveness...
...The upstairs is replete with gorgeous Torah accessories, and the downstairs with the precious realia of the Jewish home...
...And keep your distance, don't even think of parking your little finger on anything here...
...Friedman freely quotes Ze'ev Chafets, including expressions that belong in a locker room, not in the mouths of supposed intellectuals and certainly not in the pages of a cultured magazine...
...The charitable organizations are magnificent...
Vol. 15 • February 1990 • No. 1
