The Yeshiva University Museum has some new and exciting exhibits planned for this year. As part of the Center for Jewish History, the Yeshiva University Museum collaborates with four other Jewish organizations—the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research—to educate the public about unique aspects of Jewish history. According to director Dr. Jacob Wisse, the museum, which is conveniently located near Union Square, is a face for Yeshiva University in the public sphere, promoting the values of the University while reaching out the public.
“We’re really looking to enhance the educational experience,” said Dr. Wisse. Using almost exclusively real artifacts in exhibits, the museum takes historical facts and cultural ideals and displays them in a modern way. One of the highly anticipated upcoming displays will be called “The Sacred,” an exhibit revolving around a beautifully decorated ark door from the Ben Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo, also called Fustat. The Ben Ezra synagogue is an extremely important location in Jewish history. It’s where the Cairo Geniza was found and was the center of the community that both Rambam and Rav Yehuda HaLevi were a part of.
As a synagogue is usually the center of a community, and the ark is the center of the synagogue, this ark door is “like a doorway to the Ben Ezra community,” explains Dr. Wisse. The exhibit will showcase how the Jews of this time and place lived; their customs, practices and how they interacted with the Islamic and Christian communities surrounding them.
The exhibit is not the only way the museum plans to feature the Ben Ezra community. There will also be public programming to supplement the exhibit. From October through February, while the museum is on display, Yeshiva University plans on hosting a symposium with various historical scholars to discuss the importance of the Geniza and its role in Jewish history. Additionally, there will be a musical event with themes from the Ben Ezra community.
Another upcoming exhibit which is titled “Light and Shadows” explores the history of Iranian Jews. This exhibit, which was jointly built by the Yeshiva University Museum and the American Sephardi Federation, is adapted from an exhibit in Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of Jewish People, formerly the Diaspora Museum, in Israel. “Light and Shadows” surveys the history of the Iranian Jewish community, beginning with ancient communities and ending with the modern Iranian Jewish community in New York. Also, the Yeshiva University Museum has worked with the Leo Baeck Institute to create the “Transcending Tradition: Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Academic Culture” exhibit.
In addition to creating interesting and unique exhibitions, the Yeshiva University Museum also aims to build and maintain a connection with Yeshiva University students. At the Senior Art Show every year, graduating seniors of the Studio Art major at SCW exhibit and curate their art at the museum.
A valuable resource for Yeshiva University students and the general public, the Yeshiva University Museum spotlights many different Jewish historical experiences through the generations. The new exhibits comprise just a small sampling of the many dynamic programs the museum has to offer.