“The Unemotional Museum of German Jewry”
As one might expect in downtown Manhattan, I found a museum with a name that peaked my interest, The Center for Jewish History. Having toured Israel and Europe extensively, as well as having attended many events and galleries here in America about Jewish history, I was nearly certain that while I may pick up a few tidbits of information, I would not be exposed to a whole new perspective of a very well known era. The Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History opened my eyes to a newfound world of Jews making an impact in math and engineering in a compelling fashion.
When one thinks about Jewish history they may think back to biblical times, famous rabbis, or the State of Israel. However, very few people take a look at individuals who made contributions to the secular world. When one thinks of galleries, they may think of abstract paintings, ancient cultures, or indecipherable languages. One would certainly not expect to find books on explosions or thesis statements on advanced statistics. Well, this gallery took the unconventional and made it relatable and intriguing to all different types of people.
The Leo Baeck institute is a room filled with textbooks, syllabuses, and theories composed by German Jews from the early to mid 1900’s. Obviously, being a German Jew in that time period was impossibly challenging, with the Nazi regime gaining power and the Holocaust looming. Businesses were destroyed, houses were evacuated, and families were ripped apart from each other; very few people think of anything productive or revolutionary when it comes to German Jews in that era. The Baeck institute completely flipped the tragedy of the era and, while obviously not ignoring the tragedies that took place, chose to look at that era through a different lens.
Jews in Germany during the early 1900’s were the most prominent people in the country in many fields – art, science, and business to name a few. Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Franz Kafka (!!) are just some of the most famous names that contributed timeless breakthroughs during that era, and all would be considered German Jews. At the gallery, a visitor learns about pioneers in math such as Richard Courant, who studied in the University of Gottingen, gained a full professorship there, and in 1933 after being uprooted by the Nazis, formed an institute for graduate studies in applied mathematics at NYU. In fact, NYU currently has a division titles the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
Book titles such as A Simple Method for Evaluating Blast Effects on Buildings by Stephen Fraenkel and The Calculation of Census Through Interpolation would not normally gouge the interest of a typical college freshman. Surprisingly, when these books are displayed in a way that displays groundbreaking work by men facing extreme challenges in a volatile era, they become fascinating. Sometimes, context is everything, and the Baeck institute is able to transform the mundane to the astounding by giving the visitor vital background information.
Very understandably, Jewish history is a murky topic. Ask ten people about an event that took place in Jewish history, and one can get ten very different answers. Whether this is because of religion or the fact that history can be blurred over time I do not know, but I do know it was refreshing to see bias taken out of the equation when it came to a Jewish history exhibit. At first it was surprising, almost alarming to see a Jewish exhibit not stress religion, sacrifice, or triumph in the face of adversity, but the fact that an undergraduate freshman from a business school, two old ladies speaking Yiddish (old mix of European languages), and a tour group from Israel consisting of mostly people in their young to mid twenties were all able to look at the same pictures, documents, and artifacts with the same view was extremely unique.
There are no feelings of self-pity or defeat, just a people working hard to make their mark in a complicated field while trying to ignore the political upheaval that surrounds them. In almost all museums or exhibitions relating to German Jews, very graphic pictures from wartime will be blown up to enormous sizes to evoke emotions of sympathy and/or pride, the Baeck institute purely focuses on accomplishment in many formidable areas of study.
That is not to say that the institute is naïve or turns a blind eye to what was going on at the time, it simply chooses to focus on a different aspect of the time period. Many Jews from the time period who excelled in academia had their work burned, stolen, or lost, so one can only imagine how much more impressive work would have been developed from that era had Germany been in the status quo.
Being in the cultural center of the world, downtown Manhattan, the Center for Jewish History could have drawn vast amounts of visitors by taking an “easier” approach; just show Jews from all different eras being persecuted, giving firsthand accounts of their horrid predicaments, and then give a few samples of Jews who made it out stronger than ever. The museum, especially the Baeck institute, does something bold. They acknowledge the impossible conditions that German Jews faced, but dwell on their accomplishments instead of highlighting their struggle.
The museum had other exhibits such as Jews in sports and Moroccan Jews in New York City, but those exhibits, while informative and enjoyable, did not have the same grasp as the Baeck institute because of how rare the vantage point of the Baeck institute truly is on a given time period.
So go on and take a subway, scenic walk, or drive to a fascinating gallery that sure not only to inform and impress with its content, but also will give a totally indiscriminate view of professionals of a certain religion climbing the ladder to success. It may not be all that emotional, but it will nonetheless leave quite an impact on the visitor.
