JUNE 9 • 2022 | 9

present day palatable. I appre-
ciated the balance the curators 
appeared to strike between the 
“lachrymose” school — Jewish 
history as a series of disasters — 
and the long periods of creativity, 
stability and autonomy enjoyed 
by Jews from North Africa to 
Middle Europe. The exhibit also 
tries hard to restore women to 
the Jewish story: I counted at 
least four main displays center-
ing women.
But Mosaic, subtitled “Identity 
and Culture in Our Times,
” was 
to me the most engaging of the 
three main permanent exhibits, 
and the one that succeeds the 
most in transforming this from 
a “museum of the diaspora” to a 
museum of world Jewry. There 
are crowd-pleasing touches like 
a wall (and, on the first floor, 
an entire temporary exhibit) on 
Jewish humor (trust me, Seinfeld
is as big a phenomenon here as it 
is back home), and the kinds of 
interactive features that I suspect 
are more intriguing to kids than 
adults. There is a wall dedicated 
to Jewish literature, from Cynthia 
Ozick to Clarice Lispector to the 
Israeli Nobelist S.Y. Agnon, and 
images of Jews in all their vari-
ety: Persian, Turkish, Brazilian 
and Canadian, to name a few.
One highly symbolic corner 
celebrates Yiddish, on the one 
hand, and the revival of Hebrew 
as a day-to-day language, on the 
other. My arguments with Elli 
are a recapitulation of the tension 

these languages represent. Israel’s 
founding generation was seen 
to look down on Yiddish, 
partly out of the expediency of 
nation-building and partly out 
of a none-too-subtle disdain for 
the diasporic ways that Yiddish 
represented. The museum tack-
les this head on in one kiosk, 
asking “Who Will Reign in Zion 
— Hebrew or Yiddish?” and 
acknowledging how the debate 
often turned vicious and even 
violent.
There is also an animated film 
depicting Jewish literary, artistic 
and music greats accompanied 
by a Hebrew rap song about 
their accomplishments. I found 
it a little ironic that they chose a 
rap song — perhaps the popular 
art form with the fewest success-
ful Jewish makers (and yes, I am 
aware of Drake). Then again, it 
was in Hebrew, and that kind of 
cultural synthesis — and, OK, 
flat-out appropriation — is part 
of the Jewish mosaic as well. 
Like any effort to cram 
so many arguments and 
information in a limited space, 
the Identity and Culture section 
could feel a little thin. And yet 
for this diaspora Jew, it also felt 
validating. I didn’t feel chided 
for living in galut, nor defensive 
about regarding Israel as just 
one of many paths in the Jewish 
journey. In the history section, 
Israel, like the Holocaust, is 
treated in just one room, this 
time with wall-sized videos 

displaying highlights of the 
country’s 74-year history.
Elli said the museum played 
fair in its presentation of the 
global Jewish story. “It didn’t 
celebrate Zionism nor diss 
Zionism,
” he told me. “It told 
that story within the context of 
the history of the Jewish people.
” 
But when I goaded him and 
asked if that was satisfying, he 
dropped the gloves: “One can 
walk away thinking that there 
are so many more chapters to 
write about the future glory of 
diaspora Jewry, when in fact the 
story is virtually over. It won’t 
survive the 21st century.
”
I left thinking that if the 
museum has a Zionist agenda, it 
doesn’t need a wall label or “gate 
of return” to make its point. You 
only need to exit the museum 
and find yourself surrounded by 
buildings representing the life 
sciences, engineering, biotech, 
security studies and “cereal 
crops improvement.
” To catch 
the train back to Jerusalem, you 
walk along a bluff that offers a 
spectacular view of the high rises 
of Ramat Gan and downtown 
Tel Aviv.
And as you consider the 
present-day vitality or the nearly 
inconceivable accomplishments 
of the Jewish state, you think, 
“Touché, Israel. Touché.
” 

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief 

of the New York Jewish Week and senior 

editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 

letters

Response to 
‘An Open Letter 
to the Detroit 
Community’

Regarding the letter on 
May 26, “An Open Letter 
to the Detroit Community” 
(page 8) the letter signers 
wrote, “We call for a 
thorough and transparent 
investigation.” 
Who will conduct the 
investigation? The U.N., 
the Palestinian Authority, 
the media? CNN has 
already condemned Israel, 
although one authoritative 
source offers the truth: 
“Col. Richard Kemp: 
Nothing in CNN report 
proves IDF killed journalist 
— Former commander 
of British forces in 
Afghanistan accuses CNN 
of irresponsibility, ‘flimsy’ 
reporting on death of Al 
Jazeera journalist.” 
Why is it the Palestinian 
Authority has not allowed 
Israel to study the bullet, 
review if there was an 
autopsy or any forensics? 
Reason: to control and 
incite their unfortunate 
population for the benefit 
of their ruling class.
The bottom line is facts 
don’t matter, and the event 
will be used by Israel’s 
enemies to undermine 
Israel and the Jewish 
people, but on this Yom 
Yerushalayim we remember 
the miracles of 1948, 1967 
and 1973 — our enemies 
then and now will not 
deter us.

— Ed Kohl

West Bloomfield

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL

A wall at ANU-
Museum of the 
Jewish People in Tel 
Aviv honors Jewish 
literary greats.

