# Provocative 'Jew In The Box' Display **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403 "2013-03-31T04:15:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/1 "2013-03-31T04:15:10Z")
[Talk amongst yourselves](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/jewish-museum-exhibit-sparks-controversy-in-berlin-with-jew-in-a-box-display_n_2979115.html?ncid=webmail40) > [@](#): > > BERLIN – “Are there still Jews in Germany?” `'Are the Jews a chosen people?" > > Nearly 70 years after the Holocaust, there is no more sensitive an issue in German life as the role of Jews. With fewer than 200,000 Jews among Germany’s 82 million people, few Germans born after World War II know any Jews or much about them. > > To help educate postwar generations, an exhibit at the Jewish Museum features a Jewish man or woman seated inside a glass box for two hours a day through August to answer visitors’ questions about Jews and Jewish life. The base of the box asks: “Are there still Jews in Germany?” > > “A lot of our visitors don’t know any Jews and have questions they want to ask,” museum official Tina Luedecke said. “With this exhibition we offer an opportunity for those people to know more about Jews and Jewish life.” > > But not everybody thinks putting a Jew on display is the best way to build understanding and mutual respect. > > Since the exhibit – “The Whole Truth, everything you wanted to know about Jews” – opened this month, the “Jew in the Box,” as it is popularly known, has drawn sharp criticism within the Jewish community – especially in the city where the Nazis orchestrated the slaughter of 6 million Jews until Adolf Hitler’s defeat in 1945. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/2 "2013-03-31T06:25:05Z")
Sounds like a scene deleted from _Borat_ … on the grounds of poor taste. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/3 "2013-04-01T00:20:41Z")
I guess I fail to see why it is a bad thing ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/4 "2013-04-01T00:23:12Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I guess I fail to see why it is a bad thing Ditto. The presentation may be a little tacky, but isn’t this basically a live-action version of the various “Ask The…” threads here on the SDMB? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/5 "2013-04-01T00:28:49Z")
Having an actual Jewish person there sounds like a good idea even though I don’t know about the suggestion that this one person can generalize for larger groups of Jews. The presentation sounds totally ridiculous, but if you read the comments in the article it’s kind of poignant. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/6 "2013-04-01T00:30:39Z")
Well to be fair the whole museum seems a little on the “let’s be ridiculous to the point of provocation” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/7 "2013-04-01T02:19:45Z")
I have to feel they would have gotten the point across better if they had given the museum goers an opportunity to converse with Jews as one person to another rather than creating an artificial divide between them. They should have brought in some chairs and let people sit down and talk with each other as equals. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/8 "2013-04-01T02:54:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have to feel they would have gotten the point across better if they had given the museum goers an opportunity to converse with Jews as one person to another rather than creating an artificial divide between them. They should have brought in some chairs and let people sit down and talk with each other as equals. I agree; this seems dehumanizing and treats the person as a thing to be experienced - especially if it’s in the vein of, 'I talked to a Jew in a box about this once and they said X, ergo all Jews think X." ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/9 "2013-04-01T03:13:06Z")
Attaching the fire extinguisher with “Zyklon B” painted on the side to the box was really over the line, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/10 "2013-04-01T06:11:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have to feel they would have gotten the point across better if they had given the museum goers an opportunity to converse with Jews as one person to another rather than creating an artificial divide between them. They should have brought in some chairs and let people sit down and talk with each other as equals. ditto ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/11 "2013-04-01T06:41:57Z")
Well they need to be behind glass and well guarded otherwise they might steal people’s money!!! 😉 Seriously, this is silly. Having Jews to sit around and chat with is a great idea, but separating them off like this is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/12 "2013-04-01T07:05:14Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > Ditto. The presentation may be a little tacky, but isn’t this basically a live-action version of the various “Ask The…” threads here on the SDMB? About how it seems to me, and the people in the box are obviously OK with this or they wouldn’t participate. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/13 "2013-04-01T07:06:23Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > About how it seems to me, and the people in the box are obviously OK with this or they wouldn’t participate. Eh. It’s a living. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/14 "2013-04-01T08:00:46Z")
Reminds me of the movie [The Man in the Glass Booth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073345/combined), and not in a good way (see the link to understand why). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/15 "2013-04-01T13:44:19Z")
Back in about 1988 or so, my firm invited some German consultants to Chicago to discuss partnership. I had lunch with them, the meetings were successful and we did become friends and colleagues over the years. However, one woman (she must have been around 30 or so at the time) remarked to me that I was the first Jew she had ever met. She seemed puzzled by this. I kept my mouth shut, but I found it pretty annoying that she didn’t seem to understand WHY she hadn’t met any Jews in Germany. So, I agree that having a separation is awkward, and that a simple chat would be better, but I wonder if there was concern for security? And I wonder if they’re not exactly trying to make the point. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/16 "2013-04-01T13:49:18Z")
Somebody had a really great idea, and then had the really shitty idea of letting somebody turn it into “art.” ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/17 "2013-04-01T13:50:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Eh. It’s a living. For this we worked our fingers to the bone to send you to college? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/18 "2013-04-01T14:13:36Z")
I don’t think that actor Don Keefer is Jewish, but every time I see this title, I think of what Anthony Fremont did to [Dan Hollis](http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=651&tbm=isch&tbnid=IknUUm1qzz5VTM:&imgrefurl=http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4191263232/tt0734580&docid=hR2hkzdY-mXosM&imgurl=http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI3MzcxOTAzN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTExMTgy._V1._SX415_SY321_.jpg&w=415&h=321&ei=zpVZUczkJsTA4APf2YHQBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=2&vpy=108&dur=234&hovh=197&hovw=255&tx=76&ty=112&page=1&tbnh=108&tbnw=142&start=0&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:85). ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/19 "2013-04-01T14:24:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Somebody had a really great idea, and then had the really shitty idea of letting somebody turn it into “art.” This is exactly what I was thinking. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403/20 "2013-04-01T14:25:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have to feel they would have gotten the point across better if they had given the museum goers an opportunity to converse with Jews as one person to another rather than creating an artificial divide between them. They should have brought in some chairs and let people sit down and talk with each other as equals. > [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > I agree; this seems dehumanizing and treats the person as a thing to be experienced - especially if it’s in the vein of, 'I talked to a Jew in a box about this once and they said X, ergo all Jews think X." > [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > So, I agree that having a separation is awkward, and that a simple chat would be better, but I wonder if there was concern for security? And I wonder if they’re not exactly trying to make the point. I’m not really going to defend the display because I’m a little uncomfortable with the idea myself, but the dehumanizing/not between equals/separation aspect is exactly why they’re doing this. > [@](#): > > Yes, Porat said, Germany is a good place to live, even as a Jew. But the country could do even more to come to terms with its Nazi past, he added. He advised the would-be traveler that anything is permissible to bring to a Shabbat dinner as long as it’s not pork. > > “I feel a bit like an animal in the zoo, but in reality that’s what it’s like being a Jew in Germany,” Porat said. “You are a very interesting object to most people here.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/provocative-jew-in-the-box-display/654403.md?page=2)