United States President Joe Biden signed a bill, passed by the Senate, that explores the possibility of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia joining the Smithsonian: a federally owned museum complex in Washington, DC.
The bill, carried by Debbie Wassermann Schultz, a Jewish Democrat from Florida, provides for the creation of an eight-member commission. This commission should be formed within 90 days, their report on the feasibility of the project will be presented to it within the next two years.
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History was founded in 1976 by Congregation Mikveh Israel. This private museum traces the history of Jewish immigration to the United States with the exhibition of nearly 30,000 artifacts, some dating back 300 years. It already has a partnership with the Smithsonian, allowing it access to its collections of Jewish artifacts, and also to benefit from their educational resources and expertise in conservation areas.
One of the reasons justifying this rapprochement is the fragile economic situation of the museum. In 2020, weakened by the Covid 19 pandemic, he had to file for bankruptcy and put himself under the protection of the courts. It had a debt of $30 million (28 million euros), which was incurred following the construction of its current building on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. A donation of $32 million (30 million euros) made in 2021 by entrepreneur Stuart Weitzman allowed him to avoid liquidation; in return the museum took his name. Affiliation with the Smithsonian will provide economic security, it would no longer depend only on donors but also on funding from the federal government.
This bill is supported by Dan Tadmor, the new director of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, who previously headed the ANU – Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv. His appointment in 2024 as head of the Weitzman Museum came in a context of anti-Semitism exacerbated by the conflict between Israel and Hamas ongoing since October 7, 2023.
It is interesting to note that this commission project was voted unanimously by the Democrats but also the Republicans in the House of Representatives in September and in the Senate in December. Perhaps a way of tying the hands of Donald Trump, a supporter of the disengagement of the federal state.
