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.
