The pioneering achievements of Jewish women in modern times cover a wide field-including social welfare, to the arts, to medicine and physics. The variety of their experiences is documented in letters, books, memoirs and other written materials in the archives of the LBI but is especially visible in the diverse imagery depicted in the Institute’s art collection.
The exhibit will showcase works of such prominent artists as Max Liebermann, Lesser Ury, Julius Schulein, as well as works by artists who did not necessarily rise to prominence. The paintings evoke the contemporary Zeitgeist as well as the ever-changing status of the Jewish population from the 18th through the 20th centuries.
This exhibition was on display at the Museum Carolino Augusteum in 2002 and is now shown at the LBI with additional materials from the LBI’s collections.
September 18 – December 11, 2003.
Together with Chaim Waizmann and David Ben-Gurion, Goldmann helped create Israel, but never thought that a Jewish state was the answer for all Jews. Rather, Goldmann believed there must be vibrant Jewish organizations throughout the Diaspora and helped found the World Jewish Congress and the Conference of Jewish Organizations.
The life of Leo Baeck (1873-1956) has been documented several times through biographies, writings, and letters. But it is in his capacity as the last leader of a united German Jewry during the Nazi years, and in his unswerving commitment to serving that community’s organizational and spiritual needs, that we honor him in this exhibit.
Diane Samuels, whose work is a centerpiece of the Great Hall of the Center for Jewish History creates are that deals with with language, text and context, using the letters of the alphabet to create alternative approaches to communication, both between ordinary people and as a link to the Divine. The exhibit includes projects from Germany, Slovakia, Poland, and the US.
In 1995 the New York Leo Baeck Institute established a fascinating new project: Young Austrian conscientious objectors came to New York to do the equivalent of their military service by working at the Leo Baeck Institute interviewing Austrian refugees from their grandparents’ generation. These encounters have evolved into the Austrian Heritage Collection at LBI.
The social and political turmoil following Germany’s crushing defeat in World War I paved the way for daring innovations and profound changes in all areas of cultural and public life. Jews came to exemplify “modernity” in the Weimar Republic because so many Jewish artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs were on the forefront of change.
This exhibit takes a close look at the experiences various artists underwent prior to their emigration and explores the phenomenon of emigration itself as an existential experience. The lives of these artists are as diverse as their artistic styles, but there are some commonalities: Most went from country to country, often unable to secure work or the right to stay.
Leo Baeck Institute receives major support from the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. More info...
