Museum of Jewish Heritage

82 years ago today, the St. Louis set sail from Hamburg on its way to Cuba with 900 Jewish refugees on board. Denied permission to land in Cuba, the boat then tried the United States and Canada before turning back and returning to Europe. Judith Koeppel Steel told her story of being on the St. Louis and her survival as a hidden child in one of the Museum's Stories Survive programs.

"Should anything happen to me in Israel..." * * * Every day I read about our complicated world in the news. And I ask myself: What would my father think about ...this issue, or that issue? And what would he do? Many days, it's not easy to know. But today is a day where the answer is clear, and the clarity is a relief. Because rockets have been launched at Ashdod, Ashkelon, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. And I know exactly what he would do. He would do what he did every time Israel was in danger. He would do what he did during every one of her wars since 1948. He would fly to Israel, just to be there. My father appreciated that many diaspora Jews supported Israel by raising money and defending her actions to a hostile world. He understood that other diaspora Jews expressed their passion for Israel's future by criticizing her choices and blaming them for her troubles. He had opinions, but for the most part he felt it was for Israel's citizens to decide how best to achieve peace and security. And he was deeply grateful that Israel existed. Israel was a dream his grandmother had whispered to him as an infant. And she was the only reality that could guarantee to him that the Jewish people would never again be decimated. For him, the consequence of that gratitude was simple. He would stand with her. Thirty years ago, with Iraq's Scud missiles falling on Israeli soil, my father went towards the danger. And he wrote me a letter in the event of his death. My mother gave it to me, unopened, after he passed. "Should anything happen to me in Israel," he wrote, "I hope you will remember at least some of the things I tried to share with you". And here were the things he enumerated: "Remember my father after whom you have been named." "Remember that you are a Jew." "Remember that, even within the doubt, there is a God - the God of Israel." There was more, but as powerful as his words was their circumstance: the instinct of a survivor running to stand with his people in their moments of danger. In my mind's eye, I can see him in the fluorescent light of a bomb shelter, gas mask at the ready, scratching these instructions quickly into a page and putting it into a pocket. And I can see him standing with Israel today, witnessing everything, there to be counted among our people, with all of the attendant dangers that face us. Some dangers are external: Gaza rockets, fired from behind the protection of civilian shields, land on an Israeli school in Ashdod; a senior citizen and her caretaker are killed before they can get to safety. Arab rioters stone cars and threaten to lynch Jewish drivers. They trash synagogues in a scene reminiscent of the pogroms we had hoped were relegated to history. And alas, other dangers are internal: extremism, injustice, anger, naivete. Two weeks ago, Extremist Jews from Lehava added fuel to the explosive situation by conducting their own violence against innocent Arabs. The courts agonize over cases in Shimon HaTzadik / Sheikh Jarrakh that risk perpetuating two standards for property law. We see otherwise empathetic individuals express callousness to the tragedy of Palestinian casualties as Israel responds to rocket attacks. And some Jews abroad cry for the US to condition aid to Israel as punishment for not being ready to fully withdraw from the West Bank that could become a future Palestine. They do this even as Iron Dome saves countless Israeli lives, they do this as though the reality of how the Gaza withdrawal and previous peace talks unfolded is something that can be ignored. I listen to the sirens and screams of young children as my cousin, on the phone with me just outside Tel Aviv, dives to the sidewalk as missiles fly overhead. I do not know how this will end. But I know that the hatred of Jews is real, and did not disappear in 1945. I know that I will observe Yartzeit tomorrow night for my grandparents and aunt who met their death in Auschwitz. And I know we now have a country and an army devoted to making sure that no more Yartzeits need be observed for defenseless Jewish men, women and children murdered by the enemy. And I know, as my father did, that Israel will survive because she will fight when she needs to fight, and she will make peace when peace is possible. She will do what needs to be done. My father stood with Israel. Will you?

It is Jewish American Heritage Month. What better way to celebrate than to watch the Museum's program Pioneers: Remembering The First Jews In America. Emigrating to America long before the 1870's these early Jewish settlers represented a wide diversity of backgrounds and experiences, and the rich communities they formed together in New York, Rhode Island, Georgia, and elsewhere became the foundation for close to 370 years of American Jewish life. You can see the program here https://buff.ly/3o12cYF

Have you heard about our new adult education course? Now you have the opportunity to learn our complete introduction to the Holocaust, culminating with a discussion with a survivor. Learn more and register here: https://898a.blackbaudhosting.com/898a/page.aspx

How does a hate symbol become a hate symbol? And what becomes of its legacy? Join Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and South Asian American Voice -SAAVOICE on Monday to explore these questions. Register here:... bit.ly/JCRCNYSAAVOICE See more

We are sad to share the passing of Holocaust survivor Judy Meisel. We were honored to speak with her grandson, Ben Cohen, in our most recent GENerally Speaking public program. We invite you to commemorate her life by watching with us:

It’s official: Golem will be joining us for our Generation to Generation Virtual Event! Register here: http://mjhnyc.info/GentoGenRegister

If Prue Leith from The Great British Bake Off thinks New York doesn’t have good babka, then she hasn’t tried ours! Next time you’re in the city, stop by Lox Cafe at the Museum to find out what you’re missing. Ann Curry said it was the best babka in the city.

Looking for a new book to read? Our new online bookstore carries titles from our recent and upcoming public programs. Check it out.

What is the playbook used by authoritarians from Mussolini to the present day? What can we learn from the past? Ruth Ben-Ghiat in conversation with Jason Stanley. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the expert on the strongman playbook employed by authoritarian demagogues from Mussolini to Putin. In her upcoming book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, she explains the blueprint these leaders have followed over the past 100 years, and empowers us to recognize, resist, and prevent their disastrous rule in the future. She also tracks the use of anti-Jewish propaganda as a common element connecting Mussolini, Hitler, and some of today’s European strongmen. Jason Stanley is the author of How Fascism Works. Both books are available on the Museum's online bookstore: https://bookshop.org//books-from-museum-of-jewish-heritage

Holocaust survivor and educator Sally Frishberg is the subject of the first episode of our new podcast, co-produced by the Fortunoff Video Archive. Read the feature by the Brooklyn Eagle. #ThoseWhoWereThere

What we do as individuals makes a difference. We are less than one week away from Election Day! Listen to this important message from the Museum’s President and CEO Jack Kliger, and don’t forget to vote.

Today marks only two years since the worst antisemitic shooting on American soil. The Museum has published an article by Beth Kisseleff, co-editor of "Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy," which you can read below. May we keep the memories alive of those eleven killed.