EDUCATING AUDIENCES OF ALL
AGES WITH DYNAMIC INTERPRETATIONS OF JEWISH LIFE, PAST AND PRESENT
Since its founding in
1973, Yeshiva University Museum's (YUM's) changing exhibits have
celebrated the culturally diverse intellectual and artistic achievements of over 3,000
years of Jewish experience. YUM provides a window into Jewish culture throughout the world and throughout history in
its acclaimed multi-disciplinary exhibitions 
and award-winning publications. Renowned scholars and expert curators provide
unique skills that weave together art, artifacts and text to create innovative exhibits. These comprehensive historical exhibitions reveal
the panoramic landscape of Jewish cultural life in communities the world over - from
Germany to Ethiopia, from Turkey to Morocco, from Birobidjan to Dubrovnik, and from Israel
to the United States.
OVERVIEW OF EXHIBITIONS
Yeshiva University Museum presents exhibitions with
an interdisciplinary focus that reflects the diversity of the Museum's collection of more than 7,000 artifacts. “Our primary focus is the interpretation of
Jewish history from a multi-disciplinary perspective, and we produce two types of
exhibitions, usually shown concurrently,” explains director Sylvia A. Herskowitz. “One exhibit examines a Jewish community
or historic event; the other features emerging or contemporary living artists.”
As a resource for scholarly research, YUM’s exhibitions provide unique opportunities for artists, historians, collectors,
and ethnographers to examine and compare objects, ideas, and techniques. These shows also provide the public with
an exciting up-to-date survey of art currently being created by Jewish artists
throughout the world. The Museum regularly draws on Yeshiva University's
special expertise in many significant areas of Jewish history.
PROGRAMS
Yeshiva University Museum stimulates both the
intellectual and creative imagination of its broad audiences by presenting a
vast array of public programs, including craft workshops, lectures, concerts and
multi-lingual exhibition tours in English, Spanish, Russian, Yiddish and other
foreign languages. With its wide-ranging cultural offerings and programs, YUM attracts young and old
alike, Jewish and non-Jewish.
Yeshiva University Museum's expert educational staff has developed nationally
recognized outreach programs that include working with administrators and
teachers in New York City public schools to provide young students with hands-on
activities that supplement their school curricula. By undertaking an
ongoing, year-round commitment to school-age children, the Museum addresses the
needs of NYC's culturally diverse neighborhoods, as well as Jewish schools
throughout the tri-state area. By hosting thousands of children annually
from Jewish schools, private schools, and inner-city neighborhoods, the Museum
continues to build bridges to the many different communities that are part of
the American mosaic.
Preservation
One of the founding members of the Council of American Jewish Museums, YUM has taken a leading role to develop conservation and preservation methods for Jewish artifacts. Continually seeking to improve such techniques enables the Museum to pursue its mission to collect, preserve, and interpret Jewish life. YUM collects and carefully maintains an incredible range of objects that reflect Jewish culture from the fields of fine art, architecture, anthropology, folk art, history, literature, music and science, and include ceremonial objects, textiles, rare books, manuscripts, photographs, ethnographic material, and ephemera.