{"id":558111,"date":"2026-07-24T22:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/558111\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:53:14","slug":"at-corning-museum-in-new-york-some-israel-depictions-walk-on-broken-glass-israel-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/558111\/","title":{"rendered":"At Corning museum in New York, some Israel depictions walk on broken glass – Israel & Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(July 24, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n

Nestled in Corning, N.Y., a picturesque city with some 10,500 residents, the Corning Museum of Glass draws on 50,000 works to tell the story of 35 centuries of glassmaking on its 10-acre campus.<\/p>\n

The museum, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, displays everything from dice forerunners\u2014called \u201castragali\u201d and made in the Mediterranean between 200 BCE and 100 CE\u2014to presidential glassware, and from church windows and mosque lamps to paperweights.<\/p>\n

A section centers on glass making in ancient Egypt, and another addresses trick glass, which was made in Europe between the Middle Ages and the 18th century and some of which was \u201cdesigned to be as difficult as possible to drink from without spilling the contents,\u201d per an object label. <\/p>\n

Another vitrine is full of roemer green glass cups, which have prunts on their handles and are often seen in 17th-century Dutch still life paintings.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Corning<\/p>\n

The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Among the most surprising objects in the collection is a glass work made from a tire mold by renowned \u201cready-made\u201d artist Robert Rauschenberg. In the work, a \u201crubber tire, practical and usually dirty, is reimagined in clear glass and displayed as an object of beauty,\u201d a label states.<\/p>\n

Many of the objects on view are beautiful and delicate, and glisten in the light. Others involve looking through a glass darkly, like one piece said to be about \u201cwhite supremacy\u201d and the \u201cwhiteness\u201d of the glass field. <\/p>\n

Nearby, Czech artist Marian Karel\u2019s \u201cBlack Cube\u201d draws inspiration from the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, while elsewhere, an 18th- or 19th-century Chinese snuff bottle with scented tobacco is decorated in a way that, per the label, \u201ccould reveal something about who the owner was, similar to the way a phone case might today.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the museum tells the story of religious objects, some objects are explored through rose-colored glasses, while others, including some Jewish ones, appear to hit a glass ceiling.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Corning<\/p>\n

A display at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

A display of \u201cglass in religious observances,\u201d which JNS viewed on a recent visit to the museum, referred to the many ways that glass has been used \u201cfrequently\u201d in Christian services, including \u201ccandleholders, lamps, altar crosses, chalices, patens (plates for the Eucharistic bread) and reliquaries.\u201d An altar cross, holy water fonts, a spoon and an aspersory, or holy water holder, were presented, all spanning the 17th and 18th centuries in Venice.<\/p>\n

Another section\u2014on Byzantine glass, mixed Jewish and Christian objects in the same glass case, although there was one bottle with Jewish symbols\u2014dated from the late sixth to early seventh centuries, alongside several with Christian symbols.<\/p>\n

Although the museum used dates with years in \u201cBCE\u201d and \u201cCE\u201d elsewhere, it referred to the bottle with Jewish symbols with \u201cAD.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Corning<\/p>\n

Reddish vase, on bottom left, which the Engel family hid in Austria when they fled the Nazis, on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

A vase<\/a> designed around 1914 and manufactured over the next six years by a Bohemian company is a gift to the museum from Roberta Elliott, whose paternal grandparents, Elisabet and Hugo Engel, bought it in Vienna.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Nazis annexed Austria in March 1938, the Engel family was forced to flee because they were Jewish,\u201d a label near the vase states. \u201cThey hid their belongings with a business associate in Vienna, escaped to Italy and eventually arrived in the United States on Dec. 7, 1941.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis Elliott, Roberta\u2019s father, reclaimed the family\u2019s property \u201cmiraculously\u201d in Vienna after the war, according to the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vase remained a treasured heirloom until 2017, when Roberta Elliott donated it to the Corning Museum of Glass, so that the vase and its story will be preserved and shared for generations to come,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n

A workshop, which costs an extra fee beyond admission, in which visitors can make their own glass includes an option to make a mezuzah. And one<\/a> of the objects on view in the collection, Australian artist Blanche Tilden\u2019s 2008 \u201cYom Hashoah Ritual Sash,\u201d references Holocaust memorial day.<\/p>\n

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\"Corning<\/p>\n

Blanche Tilden, Australian, born 1968, \u201cYom HaShoah Ritual Sash\u201d (2008), cast glass, cut, ground, polished; sterling silver, stainless steel, at Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlanche Tilden creates jewelry out of such unusual materials as used gear chains and richly colored cut glass with oxidized or distressed metals,\u201d a label states. \u201cThe museum\u2019s long sash can be worn like a necklace or across the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

The museum adds that \u201ctwo colors are inspired by the tallith (Jewish prayer shawl), which is traditionally white with blue stripes.\u201d Many Ashkenazi Jews have blue stripes, though many others have black ones, and Sephardic prayer shawls are often all white.<\/p>\n

Two artists, whose works were on view when JNS visited, were identified as Israeli. Noa Hagiladi, born 1978, is identified as such alongside the 2006 work<\/a>, \u201cThis Is My Baby, He Used to Say.\u201d The glass forms, suggesting \u201cstacked leaves,\u201d honor the artist\u2019s late father \u201cand his bond with their family\u2019s mango grove in Israel,\u201d the museum says.<\/p>\n

Dylan Brams, an American and Israeli born in 1979, layered 19 photos of daily attempts to blow glass to form a traditional Venetian pitcher called ampolina. The photographs form \u201c039 to 058,\u201d which Brams made from 2003 to 2018.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Ghosts<\/p>\n

A work titled \u201cGhosts\u201d with an anti-Israel label on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Israel is seen with something other than glassy eyes in \u201cGhosts,\u201d which was designed in 2019 by Dima Srouji, identified as Palestinian and born in 1990. The Twam Family in \u201cJaba, Palestine\u201d made the work in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlass making has been a foundation of the economy, culture and identity of people living in the area that is now Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Egypt for thousands of years,\u201d a label states. \u201cMany objects in the gallery around you were made and found there. They came to Corning through the art market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese wavering, ephemeral forms designed by contemporary artist Dima Srouji mimic ancient glass containers. The Twams, a Palestinian family that has been making glass in the occupied West Bank for generations, made them,\u201d the museum states. \u201cThe transparent objects here are ghosts of the meaningful archaeological objects that have been taken from the region and from the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jay Greene, director of research at Do No Harm, which aims to \u201csafeguard healthcare from ideological threats,\u201d has researched field trips and museum visits, among many other topics related to education.<\/p>\n

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\"Corning<\/p>\n

A display at the Corning Museum of Glass with ancient bottles made in Israel, Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, the way art is selected, displayed and explained in art museums can be very important,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cThe consumers of art museums tend to be well above average in their education and wealth, so they have disproportionate political and social influence, and their understanding of the fashionable elite opinion on issues can be shaped by what they see in museums.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArt museum curators, who make most of the decisions about selection, displays and explanations, tend to be far-Left and have often embraced active hostility toward Israel,\u201d Greene said. \u201cThis is a problem all over the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has also been a conscious strategy to claim that everything Jewish and Israeli was actually previously developed by \u2018Palestinians,\u2019\u201d he told JNS. \u201cThere was even a recent claim that the bagel actually originated among Arabs. The goal is to deny Jews ownership over anything and to cast everything Israeli as stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Museums that intend to display works and artifacts by Israelis and Arabs \u201cshould either carefully explore the historical record before repeating these kinds of claims or simply avoid the dispute and allow people to appreciate the art without too much explanation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Corning<\/p>\n

Ancient glass objects made in Israel on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Jacob Wisse, associate professor of art history at Yeshiva University\u2019s Stern College for Women and former director of Yeshiva University Museum, told JNS that he visited the Corning Museum of Glass with his children years ago, and night lights they made in a workshop \u201cstill get quite a bit of use in our home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being impressed by the museum, which makes me disappointed, though not too surprised, to hear that they\u2019re trotting out fashionable political jargon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what kind of real impact blatantly propagandistic museum wall texts and object labels have,\u201d Wisse told JNS. \u201cI suspect most visitors recognize when they\u2019re being preached to and don\u2019t necessarily appreciate the experience or take the most heavy-handed of the Stalinist jargon too seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wisse told JNS that he is concerned \u201cwhen museums, which I value for the rigor, depth and richness of their curatorial voice, fall back, lazily, on untruths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat should be a concern for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Corning<\/p>\n

Ancient glass objects made in Israel on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Not far from the anti-Israel display, the museum shows dozens of glass objects on a platform which contains a map of the Roman Empire, including Jerusalem, Haifa, Jalame and Beit She\u2019arim.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany small factories produced glass in the Syro-Palestinian region during the fourth century AD,\u201d the museum states. \u201cOne of these factories was located at Jalame, in Upper Galilee. Its craftsmen acquired raw glass, re-melted it and formed it into household products.\u201d<\/p>\n

A joint University of Missouri-Columbia and Corning Museum of Glass expedition worked at Jalame in the 1960s; in 1963, the team found a \u201chuge slab\u201d of glass at Beit She\u2019arim in Israel.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Corning<\/p>\n

A boy makes a glass mezuzah at a workshop at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Nachama Soloveichik.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe slab weighs 18,000 pounds. It is the result of a failed attempt to make glass,\u201d the museum states. \u201cIf the melt had succeeded, it would have provided enough glass to make 60,000 small bottles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisse told JNS that he hopes viewers will take away \u201cwonder and awe\u201d from seeing indigenous Jewish objects from Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see ancient objects firsthand, created in the same place where the creators\u2019 and users\u2019 Jewish descendants continue to live, practice and thrive should be a source of amazement and, frankly, reassurance or comfort for Jews and non-Jews alike,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Greene told JNS that \u201cthe significance of ancient artifacts made by Jews and found in the land of Israel is that it helps support the Jewish claim that they have had a lengthy and continuous connection to that land.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1 of 8<\/p>\n

\n Ancient glass jar with Jewish symbols on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

2 of 8<\/p>\n

\n Ancient jars with Jewish and Christian symbols on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

3 of 8<\/p>\n

\n Noa Hagiladi, Israeli, born 1978, \u201cThis Is My Baby, He Used to Say\u201d (2006), pa\u0302te de Verre, on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

4 of 8<\/p>\n

\n Dylan Brams, American and Israeli, born 1979, \u201c039 to 058\u201d (2003-2018) on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

5 of 8<\/p>\n

\n Ancient glass objects made in Israel on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

6 of 8<\/p>\n

\n A display at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

7 of 8<\/p>\n

\n Katherine Gray, Canadian, born 1965, \u201cForest Glass\u201d (2009) on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

8 of 8<\/p>\n

\n A display at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.\n <\/p>\n

Gallery of the Corning Museum of Art in Corning, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Ancient glass jar with Jewish symbols on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Ancient jars with Jewish and Christian symbols on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Noa Hagiladi, Israeli, born 1978, \u201cThis Is My Baby, He Used to Say\u201d (2006), pa\u0302te de Verre, on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Dylan Brams, American and Israeli, born 1979, \u201c039 to 058\u201d (2003-2018) on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Ancient glass objects made in Israel on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

A display at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

Katherine Gray, Canadian, born 1965, \u201cForest Glass\u201d (2009) on view at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n

A display at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., in June 2026. Photo by Menachem Wecker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(July 24, 2026 \/ JNS) Nestled in Corning, N.Y., a picturesque city with some 10,500 residents, the Corning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-558111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}