Targetted museums have a fascination to me because of their focus. The Jewish Museum in Melbourne is a rich small record of the history and culture of one of the world’s great people and the religion of some of them.
The long first room is an analysis of the time line of the Jews over the last several thousand years. It walks the visitor from creation through Abraham to kingdoms and their dispersion regathering and dispersion again. The text and pictures on the walls and floors are detailed and sequential. Modern people often see Jews through either the Holocaust or their wars against and the oppression of the Palestinians since 1949. This museum takes a much more global and deeply historical approach.
The second room traces the presence of Jews in Australia since the first fleet of European arrivals of 1788. It deals with the waves of arrivals and the contributions the various groups have made to our history and society.
The third room weaves a picture of the calendar that shapes the lives of a Jewish community. it is a lunar calendar and rotates through feast days and other markers of their priorities. The displays are clear and weave artifacts and text well.
The fourth room is a place for their ceremonies. There are weddings and sabbath and passover activities portrayed with manikins furniture and other museum techniques. This room was very engaging for me. The ceremonies have great history and mystery to them and made for great reading and learning.
I loved the museum for its big picture approach and the quality of the content. I will go back next time I am in Melbourne because there is lots more to learn from this place.
There was a no photographs policy (hard to understand) so no pics with this post,
http://www.jewishmuseum.com.au/