Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Letters

Guarding the Collection

Thanks to the Forward’s August 12 article, “How B’nai B’rith’s Museum Went From Must-See Site to Oblivion,” readers were reminded about B’nai B’rith’s extraordinary collection of Judaica, which formed the core of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

It is true that the majority of the magnificent collection is currently in storage. However, we must disagree with the Forward’s tone and with certain assertions, which suggest that B’nai B’rith does not care about the Klutznick collection. Indeed, the opposite is true, as evidenced by the fact that throughout most of the museum’s existence, B’nai B’rith was the principal funder of museum operations, frequently funding 100% of the museum’s operating costs. B’nai B’rith’s devotion to the museum and to its mission is beyond question.

We are actively working to fulfill B’nai B’rith’s goal to partner with others in the Jewish community or to integrate the entire collection within an existing institution.

We currently have 79 pieces of the collection on display in our offices and we give tours on a “by-reservation” basis. But, we are eager for the day when all 1,800 items, many of which are unique, can once again be displayed in a formal museum setting.

Pending that, we have gone to extraordinary lengths to preserve the collection in its entirety, spending substantial funds each year on insurance and storage, protecting the collection at a secure fine-art storage facility that adheres to the highest museum standards. We continue to have a dedicated expert devoted to the museum collection.

We could have dispersed the collection piece by piece. We chose instead to protect and preserve it.

As noted in your piece, Vivian Mann, the former chair of Judaica at the Jewish Museum in New York, said, “There are horror stories of institutions who have sold off or wanted to sell off their artistic patrimony and I credit B’nai B’rith with keeping the collection together.”

During these tough economic times, B’nai B’rith, like so many other groups, has been forced to focus more on its primary missions — providing service to Jewish communities worldwide, defending human rights, assisting seniors, responding to disasters and promoting public policies of concern to the Jewish people.

Hopefully soon, the Klutznick collection will have a new home where thousands will be able to learn from its artifacts and from the illustrious history, traditions and contributions to which they bear proud witness.

ALLAN J. JACOBS

President

DANIEL S. MARIASCHIN

Executive Vice President

GWEN ZUARES

Chair, B’nai B’rith Center for Jewish Culture

B’nai B’rith International

Washington, D.C.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.