Ground-breaking Jewish Museum Opens in San Francisco

Sunday June 8 saw the opening of the Jewish museum in San Francisco. The museum is different from the other museums as it does not focus on the hard times of the past, but more on the way forward. That essential difference in approach makes it a much lighter place to be in than most places dedicated to Jewish history.

The Jewish museum does not have any permanent connection to the sad memories of the past – nothing permanent in remembrance of the Holocaust, storing old artifacts, and recording the Jewish genealogy. Far from it, the place actually is about happiness, and about asking Jews to bring out their own identities.

Speaking about the museum, Director of the Jewish museum Connie Wolf said, “This is a museum of life. Its 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.”

Famous architect Daniel Libeskind, who designed the building, is highly elated about his work. He was happy because working on this one gave him the leeway to architect a Jewish museum using a fresh approach. In most Jewish museums, the focus is on the past, tracing the story of the suffering that has been so much a part of Jewish history.

Libeskind should know, for he designed of the famous Jewish Museum in Berlin. He is also the brains behind the design for the World Trade Center memorial in New York.

The San Francisco museum, on the other hand, is a far cry from the starkness of the other Jewish museums. Here, children can visit one of the reading rooms and read not about the Holocaust, but about the creator of Shrek, the Jewish cartoonist William Steig. In what can only be called a positive approach, the museum itself is designed in the shape of two letters from the Yiddish word that means ‘life.’

Libeskind puts it all into the right perspective when he says, “Despite all the things that have happened, life is about celebrating. 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.”

Libeskind’s statement assumes even greater significance when you consider the location of the museum, San Francisco. This is a city where Jews have always done well for themselves. Among the city’s founders included Jewish pioneers like Levi Strauss and the Wells Fargo Bank’s predecessors, according to Marc Dollinger, San Francisco State University’s Jewish Studies professor.

The difference in approach has been a welcome change for many of the visitors as well. Many of them expressed happiness and relief that here was something that was attempting to look at the different ways in which Jewish identity was developing today, instead of at the dark days from the past.

The museum has striven to stay away from the individualistic approach that has so dominated other Jewish museums and is a reflection of the perfect way in which Jews have blended into the life of San Francisco.