Jews in the LA Mosaic Exhibition

By: Leora Tofler

On December 15, we went to the LA Mosaic at the Autry Museum. The location is beautiful and I reminisced about personal experiences as a child going to the museum and surrounding parkland. At the museum, we were taken to a room where we worked in groups to gain a rounded idea of Community and a better picture what it meant to us. Through various activities and conversations about community, our community began taking shape.

My favorite activity, “Jews on an Island,” introduced the difficulty of creating a utopian society made up of Jews. First there were many logistical questions: would there be weapons? What could we build? What supplies did we have? How could we each practice Judaism without rabbis or the Torah? Since each of us is of varying degrees of religiosity, what would then happen? We saw that the creation of a society was no simple thing; diversity, conflict, and adversity would have to be accepted as the norm, and perhaps our society would survive a year abandoned on an island.

Our communities were imperfect, but we brought our varied views together and put them in perspective: what does each person want from a community? Usually it includes fellowship, safety, responsibilities, common goals, and interests. We found an answer of sorts in our own Los Angeles community. After a delicious lunch from Got Kosher we were taken to the LA Mosaic exhibit and given a personalized tour.

The tour took us back in time to the mid-nineteenth century when California was bought by the United States from Mexico after the Mexican war. Our history lesson brought us a host of characters.  Cowboys, gold miners, and movie stars were all part of the cast that made up the California and Los Angeles that we know today. We learned of the loose social structure that California began with, which contrasted with the stratified east coast. Los Angeles was painted as a haven of acceptance for the Jews, who flourished as merchants, doctors, bankers, movie stars, and more. We saw the growth and spread of the Jewish community from neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and Fairfax. The legacy of the Jewish community is in its influence over culture, economy, and industry that shaped the Los Angeles area, giving it its unique flavor that draws tourists from all over the world to this day.

While the exhibit was at once engaging and interesting, our docent seemed less than well informed about many Jewish cultural traditions, and many times during the tour gave trivial comments about Judaism, distracting from the otherwise brilliant exhibit.

As a history fanatic, I enjoyed myself immensely and I hope we visit more museums in the future. As a Jew, I learned surprising facts about the Jewish communities’ contributions to LA’s development. I hope everyone enjoyed our day as much as I did.

Have a happy new year; we’ll see each other next in 2014.