Image by courtesy of the Blavatnik Archive Foundation

The Museum at Eldridge Street, located inside a National Historic Landmark 19th century synagogue, has an interesting exhibition coming up next week – and it couldn’t come at a better time. The exhibition, which is being put on in conjuction with the Blavatnik Archive Foundation (“a non-profit foundation dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of primary resources that contribute to the study of 20th century Jewish and world history”) is titled “The Jewish Ghetto In Postcards: From Eastern Europe to Lower East Side.”

The exhibition will feature postcards from both New York and Europe – with some showing “rarely seen images of shtetls in Europe that were wiped out during the Holocaust.” While European shtetl life was abruptly eradicated by the events of the Holocaust (and, in the case of Poland, the period immediately after), life in the “Jewish Ghetto” of the lower east side was gradually phased out by assimilation. Either way, the exhibition will offer us a glimpse into a way of life that no longer exists.

The exhibition coincides with a rise in anti-immigration sentiment around the country and an increase in anti-immigrant comments at New York’s Tenement Museum. As Zach Aarons, a member of the board of trustees for the Tenement Museum, wrote in The Forward earlier this month, “we must recognize the threads that bind countless American immigration stories, some centuries old and some just beginning. Nearly every American has an immigrant past.” As we debate immigration policy, tolerance for Muslim Americans, and the “whiteness” of Jews, that is, as we debate just who belongs in mainstream America, it is important to remember that in the not too distant past, we were immigrants – the postcard exhibition will hopefully serve as an interesting, sobering reminder.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The Exhibition opens on December 15th and runs through March 8th, 2017 at the Museum at Eldridge Street on 12 Edlridge Street, New York

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount