Judaica at the Smithsonian: Cultural Politics as Cultural Model
Grossman, Grace Cohen, and Richard Eighme Ahlborn. Judaica at the Smithsonian: Cultural Politics as Cultural Model. Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, number 52, 252 pages, 142 figures, 1997.—This study surveys the history of the Smithsonian Institution's ethnographic Judaica collection from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century to the present. It investigates how the particular cultural perspective of the curators and collectors plays a significant role in shaping acquisitions policy and interpretation of the collection through exhibitions and publications. In large measure, the analysis focuses on the period from 1887 to 1927, during which time the collection was substantially formed. The establishment of the Smithsonian's Judaica collection is framed in the context of the contemporaneous development of the field of Jewish cultural history, the general museum world as represented by the United States National Museum, and the study of Semitics in the academic realm. Special emphasis is given to Cyrus Adler, the founding curator, and to Ephraim Deinard, whose personal collection forms the majority of the Smithsonian's current Judaica holdings. This volume represents the culmination of the Smithsonian Judaica Project, a decade-long effort to document the entire collection, and the essay is followed by an illustrated catalog of selected objects and a comprehensive database. There is also a basic glossary of Judaica terms and a bibliography. It is projected that this presentation of technical and cultural information regarding the Smithsonian's Judaica will provide a reference source and a model for additional typological and social studies. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Annals of the Smithsonian Institution. COVER DESIGN: "Star-Spangled Banner" scroll, catalog number NMAH-PH 31842. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grossman, Grace Cohen Judaica at the Smithsonian : cultural politics as cultural model / Grace Cohen Grossman with Richard Eighme Ahlborn. p. cm.—(Smithsonian studies in history and technology : no. 52) Includes an illustrated catalog of selected objects from the Smithsonian Judaica collection and a comprehensive database. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Judaism—Liturgical objects—Catalogs. 2. Judaism—Liturgical objects—Pictorial works. 3. Smithsonian Institution—Catalogs. 4. Jewish museums—History. 5. Jewish art and symbolism. I. Ahlborn, Richard E. II. Smithsonian Institution. III. Title. IV. Series. NK1672.G766 1997 296'.074'753—dc21 96-45219 ® The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48—1984.
Jacob H. Schiff and the Beginning of Biblical Archaeology in the United States
Jacob Schiff, the well known banker, Jewish community leader, and philanthropist, has been the subject of scholarly study for the better part of a century.1 While many of Schiff's contributions have been thoroughly analyzed, however, there is one important aspect of his career that has not received the scholarly attention it deserves: his longstanding involve ment with Harvard University's Semitic Museum and his near complete funding of the first American archaeological excavation in Palestine. Indeed, Schiff's influence at Harvard led to a major shift in the direction of biblical archaeology in the United States. Schiff's financial support of Harvard, its Semitic Museum, and its excavations at the site of biblical Samaria are well documented. In fact, scholars such as Naomi W. Cohen, Paul Ritterband, and Harold Wechsler have pointed to Schiff's Harvard involvements in their works on the American Jewish entry into higher education and the rise of American Jewish philanthropy.1 However, what is not well explained in existing scholarly accounts is the fact that Schiff's philanthropic involvement with archaeology in Palestine was unique at the time, and that the excavation he funded was also unique for American archaeologists. First, no other major philanthropist, Jewish or not, had shown interest in excavations in Palestine. Second, and more striking, no American university had ever conducted excavations in Ottoman Palestine, nor did any intend to do so. Schiff's personal and financial contributions to Harvard completely changed how archaeologists perceived both Palestine and the funding
Mathematical Time and Physical Time in the Theory Of Relativity
In the Theory of Relativity time is an imaginary quantity that can not be observed; it is a multiplication of a number that indicates duration of material change and number i that is an imaginary number. i on the square is -1. Time i⁄t is a mathematical time that describes the speed and the duration of material change. In the Universe one can observe physical time only as a stream of material change. It is not that change run in physical time, change itself is physical time.. Distinction between imaginary mathematical time and visible physical time opens some new perspectives into interpretation of Theory of Relativity. c