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Jewish World Review
June 27, 2012/ 7 Tamuz, 5772
Holocaust Survivor, Museum Founder, Fired by Phone
By
Alan Douglas
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In 1997, Jay Ipson, a Holocaust survivor called on his friends Mark Fetter and Al Rosenbaum to put in $500 to start the Virginia Holocaust Museum in the back room of Richmond's Temple Beth El. In 2012, the Virginia Holocaust Museum has grown to 120,000 square feet, it offers Teacher Education Institutes so Virginia's public school teachers can teach Holocaust education, and it is host to the Carole Weinstein Holocaust Research Library. Last week, Jay Ipson says he got a shock when he got a telephone call telling him that despite the previous plans made last year for his retirement as the Museum's Executive Director, that he was to clear out his office, vacate the premises, remove his belongings within two weeks, and that he would no longer to hold any title or position at the Museum he founded.
The Virginia Holocaust Museum has stated that they hope to continue "Jay Ipson's legacy" but has not commented on Ipson's ouster or the plan to exile him. Ipson says he wasn't given a reason for the change. My call to Simon Sibelman, the Museum's Assistant Executive Director, who is being promoted to fill Ipson's Executive Director position, was not returned, as of the filing of this article. The Museum leadership has not issued the usual politically correct clichés, "We don't comment on personal matters," "It is a private, internal issue," or "He's a person of interest." Ipson might be an angel or he could be controversial, offensive, even a dastardly villain; but he deserves an answer. As a public organization the public is entitled to some indication as to what happened or what it means for the Museum's future.
I asked Jay Ipson, "What do you really want?" He told me, "I want to keep my office, that I always had, on the first floor, where all my pictures and awards were. There I can see, and greet people as they come in." In the days of the Tea Party and Wall Street Protest it was hard for me to comprehend someone who wants to volunteer to continue to serve the place he was fired from, by telephone. I mean, Walmart has to pay people to be greeters, you would think that Ipson's request would make a not-for-profit museum happy.
Jay Ipson is not alone. Some members of the Jewish community in Virginia have created a page, "Jay Must Stay" on Facebook and printed "Jay Must Stay" tee-shirts. And in what can only be described as a modern miracle, Ipson told me he was grateful for expressions of support, from Rabbi Creditor of Temple Beth El, a Conservative congregation, Rabbi/Dr Jack Spiro, former Rabbi at Reform Beth Ahabah and Virginia Commonwealth Professor of Religion, and Lubavitch Rabbi Josel Kranz. This threesome of Rabbinical Support would be the "hat trick" in hockey and the Triple Crown in horse racing, perhaps even more rarely than any of those, is it seen in the Jewish community.
At 77 years of age, having survived the Holocaust, and founded a Museum, Jay Ipson has every right to be tired and discouraged. But he isn't just sitting around waiting for a letter or telephone call from the Museum giving him the courtesy of a response and explaining why he was fired ahead of schedule and banished. Next week, Ipson will go to Washington, D.C., an ambassador without portfolio, a private citizen, to meet with a Congressional Judiciary Committee to push for reform of insurance laws that bar claims by Holocaust survivors.
Ipson has won a lot of awards and recognition in his life, including the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award for service in educating the world in lessons of the Holocaust, but what he says he "really wants" now… is to keep working.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor, Alan Douglas, an author, media executive, award winning screenwriter (not produced), and attorney, lives con brio- except when he is grumpy.
Previously:
Florida Attorneys to Shake Hands with the Devil
Holiday for the fallen and failed
Black History Month, Politics, and the Ice Cream Scoop
Friends With Benefits
Pilgrimages
Moneyball, Economics and Medicine
Justice, My Aunt, and Gretsky
Hurricanes, Earthquakes and Home Depot
Glenn Beck, Norway, Hitler and Me
D Day: The Ripple Effect
What are you paying for?
Law, Etiquette and 5 Rules
Inspiration
Confusing Kindness with Weakness
When Katie Couric Got Pulled Off the Air…
Don't second guess the deceased
Pain and legacies
Being in the No
The Sixth Sense
Dogs in Danger
Facebook, LinkedIn and the Zuckerberg Exit
Simon Bolivar Would Tell Glenn Beck to, Put A Sock In It
Children and Grandchildren
Swearing, Shoes, and Mark Twain How my poor man's Porsche, Virgil, prepared me for life
Leases and Landing Gear
The Oscars, Obama and Job Creation
Damages and Penalties
Obstacles with Impossibilities
Making Others Feel Bad
Referrals and Recommendations
Woodpecker Frustration
Phrases, Not Resolutions
I Was A Crime Fighter and Super Hero
Comforting with Sympathizing
Nautical Worry Killers
Can You Keep A Secret?
Holiday Card Hazards
Gifts
Sharing, Transparency and Dumping
Red Alert
Readers Respond Regarding Rabbi
Readers: I Need Your Help with my Rabbi
Humphrey Bogart and P. T. Barnum on Fighting with Family and Friends
Columbus, Honors and Hound Dogs
The Free Lunch
When your child suffers
Conversational Transmitted Diseases
Conservative, Liberal or American
Paris, Antarctica and Shopping
Personal Protection
Dispute Resolution
Jumped or Pushed?
Friends and Acquaintances
Revenge and Vindication
© 2010 Alan Douglas
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