By Moishe Smith, president, B'nai B'rith International and Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice president, B'nai B'rith International

Since B'nai B'rith International moved its offices six years ago, BBI has worked to find a new format and new home for the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum. Re-creating a National Jewish Museum™ is an endeavor B'nai B'rith eagerly embraces.

The need to create a new major Jewish museum in Washington is compelling.  In a city that draws millions of tourists each year, it is essential that the story of the Jewish people, who have found a haven of tranquility and freedom in the United States and who have played such a prominent role in the nation's history, be told.  The vital and extraordinary contributions of the Jewish people to our nation – in all aspects of our national life, from the sciences, to the arts, to government, to entertainment, to business - need to be told in a comprehensive and instructive manner, using the most sophisticated contemporary museum techniques.

By reason of its location in Washington, such a new museum would have certain advantages not available to Jewish museums anywhere else.  Such a new museum would be in a position to borrow from the vast collections of Judaica and Jewish artifacts of the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress, both of which contain thousands of unique and important items that are rarely placed on display.  Although it can be expected that many Jews would visit a national Jewish museum, the real audience for the new museum would include the millions of non-Jewish Americans, including the multitude of school children who visit the nation's capital annually, as well as the numerous foreign visitors who come each year.

New York has two museums that tell the story of the Jewish people.  Chicago and Los Angeles have each created major Jewish museums.  Last month, San Francisco inaugurated a new museum devoted to Jewish themes.  Philadelphia is building a Jewish museum near Independence Hall.  It seems anomalous that the capital of the United States remains devoid of a major Jewish museum.

The impressive success of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the dramatic role that it is playing in Washington has made the need for a national Jewish museum here even more pressing.  There is a vital need to make certain that visitors to the nation's capital, having learned the lessons of the Holocaust, are not left with the limited perspective of Jews as victims of the Holocaust.  Rather, these visitors need to have the opportunity to see the vast panoply of contributions to world civilization made by Jews throughout history. 

Just as the Holocaust Museum stands as a powerful affirmation against those who would deny the terrible events of the Shoah, so a well structured national Jewish museum – a stand-alone museum or partnering with a significant institution – would stand as a critical bulwark against those seeking to denigrate the Jewish people and disseminate anti-Semitism.  In an age where anti-Semitism is tragically on the rise, at a time when Jews are increasingly principally identified with violence in the Middle East, there is a pressing need for a Washington institution to tell the full story of the Jewish people.  Displaying the tangible evidence of the outstanding accomplishments of Jews over the course of over 4,000 years of history and over four centuries of American history would be eloquent testimony to the extraordinary and constructive role of our people in the life of our nation and the world.

B'nai B'rith has been the steward of the Klutznick Museum for a generation.  The need for an expanded Jewish museum in Washington has now grown to the point where B'nai B'rith cannot stand alone.  A world-class museum requires the support and generosity of the Washington Jewish community and of the national Jewish community.  B'nai B'rith, with its core collection of artifacts, its decades of experience in running the Klutznick Museum and its 165-year commitment to the Jewish community, remains prepared to be a principal player in this effort.  It is imperative that others who share B'nai B'rith's vision for this museum join with us so that together we can make this vision a reality.

To read the article on Washington Jewish Week's website, click here