Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., June 12, 2008 Sivan 9, 5768 | | Israel Time: 06:37 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

The exterior of the New Contemporary Jewish Museum in downtown San Francisco. (Reuters) Last update - 15:16 09/06/2008 Jerusalem on the Bay: San Francisco museum details positive impact of Jews on city By Reuters Tags: Jewish museum, U.S.  The Jewish museum that opened in San Francisco on Sunday is unlike almost every other such institution in the world: It is a light-filled place focused on the future, not the darkness of the past. The Contemporary Jewish Museum does not contain permanent space dedicated to remembering the Holocaust, housing Jewish artifacts, or recording the genealogy of the Jewish diaspora. Instead, it is a fresh, happy site that asks the Jewish people to create new expressions of who they are, in a city where Jews have always thrived. Advertisement "This is a museum of life," Director Connie Wolf said. "It's not that we aren't embracing the Holocaust, that incredibly important and pivotal moment in world history. We just always want to be thinking about other issues as well." The new building is designed by famed architect Daniel Libeskind, who said working in San Francisco allowed him to take a new approach to Jewish museums, which often focus on a narrative of persecution, exile and the search for redemption. Libeskind is best-known for designing Berlin's Jewish Museum, where visitors are asked to acknowledge that the horror of Jewish and German histories are linked forever. However, the San Francisco building is designed to resemble two letters in the Yiddish word for "life." And in a reading room painted orange and pink, children giggled as they learned about William Steig, the Jewish cartoonist who created Shrek, now the protagonist in a popular series of animated movies. "Despite all the things that have happened, life is about celebrating," said Libeskind, also the master planner for the World Trade Center memorial in New York City. "This museum is not in the shadow of the history that will always be part of Europe. The optimism of this museum and America are intertwined." The sentiment could not be more welcome in San Francisco, a city founded partly by Jewish pioneers like Levi Strauss and the forefathers of Wells Fargo Bank, said Marc Dollinger, professor of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. These men came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, and because they helped build the city in its infancy, they did not face the same anti-Semitism as their East Coast counterparts. "To Jews, California was the new Zion, and San Francisco was the new Jerusalem," Dollinger said. As a result, Jews were largely assimilated: The San Francisco and Oakland area has the third highest number of Jews of any U.S. metropolitan area, after New York and Los Angeles. But there are no distinctly Jewish neighborhoods, and inter-marriage rates reach 90 percent, Dollinger said. This reality is also reflected in the museum, which has taken a decisively pluralistic approach to its exhibits. In one exhibit, two non-Jewish artists presented work inspired by the account of the creation of the earth in the Biblical book of Genesis. And parties have been held featuring a Cambodian rock group. Several visitors said they were relieved to be in a museum focused on the evolving expression of Jewish identity. The voice of Richard Aptekar, 66, cracked as he described the Holocaust museum in Washington, where photographs of the Nazi's victims stretch up walls four or five stories high. "It's very powerful, but it's also an enormously draining experience just to spend time there," Aptekar said. "Why not have a place that is just an expression of joy and identity? Bookmark to del.icio.us   Knowing when to fold Ehud Olmert tells Kadima to begin preparations for party primaries. Time for vegetarianism? Kosher meat prices in the U.S. are likely to soar after a raid on an Iowa plant.   1.   Optimism 02:21  |  Ploni 09/06/08   2.   New Museum 02:33  |  Sandy 09/06/08   3.   2 letters? 03:04  |  ron 09/06/08   4.   Is this any more than a look at popular Jewish culture? 03:11  |  Raymond in DC 09/06/08   5.   beautiful 03:16  |  wibism 09/06/08   6.   "wibism" is what its about 03:39  |  Arie 09/06/08   7.   SF Jews are confused and lost... 03:56  |  Tom 09/06/08   8.   give me a break 04:25  |  yonatan 09/06/08   9.   Ploni re: Optimism 04:27  |  CHGODMK 09/06/08   10.   I hear you Tom....and what a pity.... 04:34  |  David Vicery 09/06/08   11.   Wheres Natalie Durson,s comment? 05:43  |  royzer 09/06/08   12.   Sure, and let`s overlook the remaining 1,600 years of persecution 05:55  |  David Turner 09/06/08   13.   #11 royzer "Where is Natalie Durson`s comment?" 06:27  |  Maureen Ann 09/06/08   14.   San Francisco museum 07:23  |  joel armstrong 09/06/08   15.   It is simply a treason! 08:16  |  VLAD 09/06/08   16.   The San Francisco Jewish Museum 08:18  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   17.   re #6 `wibism` is what it`s about 08:28  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   18.   #5: wibism 08:54  |  Adam 09/06/08   19.   re VLAD #15 `It is simply a treason` 09:43  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   20.   This takes the cake 09:46  |  Nechama 09/06/08   21.   Tom : SF Jews are confused and lost...#7 09:52  |  Nechama 09/06/08   22.   The psychological function of the Holocaust 09:53  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   23.   This is a wonderful ADDITION, not a REPLACEMENT. 09:54  |  Zvi 09/06/08   24.   New Jewish Museleum 12:58  |  Gezund Heit 09/06/08   25.   Ca settlements (other than Boca Raton) be far off? 13:09  |  Natallie Durson 09/06/08   26.   They will disappear 14:12  |  Sam Schnapp 09/06/08   27.   #25 Natallie 14:44  |  Guillaume 09/06/08   28.   #17-As an Israeli..that is what I think about 15:27  |  Arie 09/06/08   29.   #25 Natallie figured out the plan 15:53  |  Philo-Semite 09/06/08   30.   Natalie doesn`t seem to understand 15:54  |  utagawa 09/06/08   31.   More importantly, how`s the gift shop? 16:25  |  Aphemia 09/06/08   32.   It represents tolerance towards Jews 16:58  |  Anonymous 09/06/08   33.   Pioneer Jews, a New Life in the West 17:10  |  Anonymous 09/06/08   34.   SF 18:11  |  Mark 09/06/08   35.   # 26 They will not dissapear 20:22  |  CM 09/06/08   36.   Pooly researched article 21:13  |  Stu 09/06/08   37.   re Natallie Durson #25 `Ca settlements...` 21:18  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   38.   re Arie #28 21:30  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   39.   re Joel Armstrong #14 21:42  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   40.   OVER THERE AND OVER HERE 21:43  |  Robert 09/06/08   41.   San Francisco is a funny place to be a Jew 21:43  |  Schtarker Yid 09/06/08   42.   re #12 `Sure, and let`s overlook the remaining 1,600 years of per 21:55  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   43.   re #20 `This takes the cake` 22:05  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   44.   What all this demonstrates. 22:11  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   45.   A little light to go with the heat: intermarriage rates 22:27  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   46.   Nechama: I Don`t Get It 22:30  |  CHGODMK 09/06/08   47.   Arie the Israeli #28 22:41  |  CHGODMK 09/06/08   48.   With 90%intermarriage they need a museum! 22:42  |  jon 09/06/08   49.   Arie: One More Thing 22:54  |  CHGODMK 09/06/08   50.   Another point on the intermarriage rate 23:29  |  Colin Wright 09/06/08   51.   Also in Amsterdam (tip for visitors) 00:36  |  Mark B. 10/06/08   52.   Gee thanks REUTERS.... didn`t Jews can have a positive impact... 01:38  |  amir 10/06/08   53.   Pardon my French, #41, but you commenting thus is the equivalent 05:08  |  Dvid Turner 10/06/08   54.   I made aliyah from SF... 14:51  |  ace 10/06/08   55.   Museum 15:14  |  LI 10/06/08   56.   My #53 Talkback was for #42, not #41: Pardon me, Schtarker Yid! 16:26  |  David Turner 10/06/08   57.   SF and intermarriage 19:51  |  Sarah 10/06/08   58.   re Dvid Turner #53 (I0 20:53  |  Colin Wright 10/06/08   59.   Royzer @ 11 re Nuttily & #13 Moron-Ann`s comment 20:38  |  Ari ben Yisrael 11/06/08   60.   #58, Colin. My purpose is not to accuse Christianity, but to draw 05:33  |  David Turner 12/06/08

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