Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection
This spring, a small group of Big Apple Greeter volunteers boarded an express bus from Midtown Manhattan to Riverdale in the Bronx. In less than an hour, they arrived at one of the city’s unsung treasures, the Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection.
Housed in the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, a residential facility for older adults, the museum offers visitors a trove of fine art and Jewish ceremonial objects, along with stunning views of the Hudson River and the Palisades cliffs on the New Jersey side of the Hudson.
Photo from Derfner.org
Jacob Reingold, executive director of the Hebrew Home from 1958–1995, founded the art program in the 1960s to bring art and culture to people who were no longer able to visit museums or other cultural institutions.
Reingold said, “We wanted to bring the beauty that is art into the lives of people. We’re trying to remove the invisible wall that often separates an institution from the community.”
That vision and mission continue to guide the work of The Art Collection. After opening with an exhibit of objects loaned by The Jewish Museum on 5th Avenue, the Hebrew Home began acquiring its own permanent collection. Many of the more than 4,500 pieces in The Art Collection were donated by residents or family members of people who lived at the Hebrew Home. Artists whose work is represented in the museum galleries and on the walls of the residential facilities include Marc Chagall, Louise Nevelson, Joan Mitchell, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol.
In addition to viewing fine art, visitors can get a glimpse into life in 20th Century-immigrant New York via the Pickles and Egg Cream exhibit of miniatures handcrafted by Ruby G. Strauss. The pieces illustrate everything from holiday dinners to vacations in Miami Beach. The Yankees Dugout exhibit features gear and memorabilia, including seats from the old Yankee Stadium, all curated by actor and comedian Billy Crystal.
The Derfner Judaica Museum was founded in 1982 with a gift of 800 Jewish ceremonial objects from Riverdale residents Ralph and Leuba Baum, who were refugees from Nazi persecution. The Derfner offers a variety of exhibits and educational programs for both visitors and residents. Highlights include 18th-Century German Torah instruments, an illuminated 19th-Century marriage contract, and a recreation in miniature of the people and buildings in an Eastern European shtetl.
Visitors can also enjoy the Sculpture Garden, the only sculpture garden in the Bronx, which displays 47 pieces in styles ranging from figurative to abstract. For photographers, the Sculpture Garden is the best place to capture the amazing views across the Hudson River.
The Sculpture Garden – Photo from Derfner.org
The Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection, located at 5901 Palisade Avenue in the Bronx, are free and open to the public from 10:30–4:30, Sunday–Thursday. The collections are closed on Friday and Saturday, and on Jewish holidays. Check the website for specific closure dates and other information.
You can reach the museum via the BX7 or BX10 express bus from Midtown, or via the Hudson Line on Metro-North Railroad from Grand Central Terminal. Check the MTA website to plan your trip. A tip: If you take Metro-North, you’ll need to walk up a steep hill to the museums. Bus riders will have an easier, and flatter, walk to the Hebrew Home.