Jonathan Persaud
Cultural Institution Paper
Urban Studies 103 This saturday I visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage for my cultural institution paper. I decided to visit this Museum because this semester in addition to my Urban Studies class, I am taking a Jewish Studies class and I believed that a trip to this museum would be a great benefit to my insight on the Jewish People. As I walked to the Museum I saw that the building was perched perfectly on the New York Harbor and the view of Ellis Island from the building was simply breathtaking. I walked through the doors stood in line to get my ticket and advanced through the museum in hopes of learning about highs and lows of Jewish Heritage. I was eager and ready to get started with my cultural institution. Since the Museum first opened its doors in 1997, visitors of all ages and backgrounds have gained a vital perspective on 20th and 21st century Jewish history and heritage. Now in its second decade, the Museum has welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors from all over the world who come away with a message of memory and hope that is of universal significance. I found that the amount of traffic that this museum has seen showcases is significant impact on the community surrounding the building. The first exhibition that I visited was The Core Exhibition in this area I was able to learn how impactful the Holocaust was on this culture. The Core
Exhibition tells the story of 20th and 21st century Jewish life from the perspective of those who lived it. Through a rotating collection of 25,000 pieces that includes artifacts, photographs, and documentary films, the Core Exhibition places the Holocaust in the larger context of modern

Jewish history. It is organized into three chronological sections: Jewish Life A Century Ago; The
War Against the Jews; and Jewish Renewal each told on a separate floor. The Core Exhibition is housed in a remarkable six­sided building symbolic of the six points of the Star of David and the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. I thought that this use of symbolic architectural design was ingenious and gave the building a unique and meaningful look. The first floor of the
Core Exhibition explores vibrant and multifaceted Jewish life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Personal artifacts and family photographs accompanied by documentary films provide a rich emotional component to the exhibition.The second floor tells the story of Europe's Jews confronting hatred and violence, of communities coping with persecution and isolation, and of their struggles to maintain humanity. These galleries present the history of the Holocaust from the point of view of Jews who lived through it, using their own artifacts, photographs, testimony, and historical footage. Chronological displays provide a framework for the historical events of the period. This was my favorite floor of The Core Exhibition because I found that the amount of persecution that the Jews went through astonishing. I am a minority and I never knew that Jewish people went through similar struggles that my culture have had to endure. The third floor of the
Core Exhibition focuses on how Jewish individuals and communities have rebuilt their lives after the Holocaust and continue to thrive in the 21st century. The exhibition concludes with how contemporary Jewry has embraced the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) and fighting for justice for everyone.
The next collection I visited was the “Against The Odds” display, found that this truly displayed how the presents of the