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Legacy
–Introduction
BarbaraKirshenblatt-Gimblett
TheLegacygalleryandthisvolumearetheoutcomeofyearsofadvocacyandresis-
tance:advocacytocelebrateJewishachievementandresistancetodoingsowithin
POLINMuseum’sCoreExhibition.TheteamofscholarsresponsiblefortheCoreExhi-
bitiondevelopedprinciplesthatwouldguideourpresentationofthethousand-year
historyofPolishJews.Weconsiderednotonlyhistorical,butalsohistoriographicis-
suesarisingfromthehistoryofhowthishistoryhasbeenwritten.Withthehelpof
MosheRosman,anoutstandingscholaroftheearlymodernhistoryofPolishJews,we
formulatedumetahistorical”principles,bywhichwemeanwaysofthinkingaboutthis
history,thatwouldinformthehistoricalnarrative.1Wewerecommittedtomeetingthe
highestscholarlystandards,toreflectingthebestrecentthinkingaboutthehistoryof
PolishJews,totakingacriticalapproachtopastwaysofwritingaboutthishistory-
andtoavoidinganapologeticapproach.
WhileshowcasingdistinguishedJewsandtheiraccomplishmentsispopular
withthepublicandanimatesmanyJewishmuseumsaroundtheworld,thisapproach
isnotsimplyamatterofjustifiedpride.2Itisatbottomapologetic,thatis,defensive.
Buriedwithinthispreoccupationisadefenseagainstcritics,fromthedefenseofJuda-
isminantiquity,asseeninContraApionembyJosephus,toseventeenth-centuryand
earlymodernefortstoproveJewishworthinessforemancipation,nineteenth-century
attemptstoanswertheuJewishquestion,”howeveritwasposed,andtheideathat
12
1
MosheRosman,“CategoricallyJewish,distinctlyPolish:TheMuseumoftheHistoryofPolishJewsand
thenewPolish-Jewishmetahistory,”JSIJ(Jewishstudies,aninternetjournal)10(2012):361-387,
http://www.biu.ac.il/JS/JSIJ/10-2012/Rosman.pdf,accessed7September2020.
2
Forarecentexample,anentiremuseumdedicatedtoJewishachievement,seeWorld’sJewishMuseum,
anambitiousnewprojecttobelocatedinTelAviv.ItsmissionistoHattesttothesignifcanceofoutstanding
Jewishcontributionsandhowtheyhaveshapedthepathofhumankind.”http://worldsjewishmuseum.com/,
accessed8September2020.
