September 10, 2006
An Amazing Visit
Finding myself with a couple of spare hours on September 7, I stopped at the opening-day exhibit on Pope John Paul II at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan. It is at 36 Battery Place, adjacent to the boats for the Statue of Liberty. The title of the exhibit is “A Blessing to One Another, Pope John Paul II & the Jewish People.”
I have never visited the Jewish Heritage Museum, which is a splendid facility facing New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty. The New York Sun, a paper that generally treats Catholic subjects very fairly, spoke highly of this exhibit. If you have a chance, I would strongly suggest that you visit the exhibit, which will be on until mid-February.
Not only has the exhibit been properly called a knockout, splendidly done with all kinds of documents, but it is an outstanding tribute to Pope John Paul II. As much as I knew about our great Pope, I learned a number of things at the Jewish Museum that I had never known. Of course his relationship with the Jews, even when he was a young boy, was part of the emphasis. I found out, for example, that a letter from one of the Pope’s Jewish neighbors in his hometown says that only he and his father always avoided any prejudice or anti-Semitic remarks.
I was not able to visit the other galleries of the Jewish Museum because of time. It is not expensive, and if you are visiting the New York area, the museum would certainly be worthwhile.
One of the most touching parts of the museum is the opportunity to write out a little card to place in the kotel, or what we sometimes call the wailing wall of the temple. It is a custom of devout Jewish people to write a little prayer intention and fit it into the cracks of this remnant of the old temple. There is a beautiful photograph of the pope inserting his message into the wall, and you can receive a copy at the museum. In fact, you can receive a couple of copies and use one to write your own message on.
In recent years I have been following the controversy over Pope Pius XII and the Nazi persecution of the Jews. I have been astonished by the calumny and detraction aimed at Pope Pius by some authors, including a number of people who identify themselves as Catholics. According to Rabbi David Dalin and his book, The Myth of Hitler’s Pope, Pope Pius XII saved more Jewish people than any other single person during those dreadful times. I could not fail to hope that eventually an exhibit correcting the lies against Pope Pius XII would be shown at the Jewish Museum.
I met Fr. Ray Roden at the museum by accident and expressed my hope that this would happen. He too was hopeful, and in fact convinced, that someday it would. In the meantime, if you are in the New York metropolitan area before the middle of February 2007, do yourself a favor. Visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage and a beautiful exhibit called “A Blessing to One Another.”
Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR
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