Governor Hochul Grants $4.5 Million to Jewish Children’s Museum

By COLlive reporter
Photos: Shalom Ross/COLlive

Governor Kathy Hochul made a special visit to Crown Heights on Wednesday, speaking for a small crowd at the Jewish Children’s Museum, a landmark in the Brooklyn neighborhood.

The Governor announced that New York State will be awarding a grant of $4.5 million dollars to the museum for their new fifth floor exhibit, which will showcase a journey through the ages focusing on antisemitism and will be dedicated to Ari Halberstam.

Governor Hochul spoke of her longtime friendship with Devorah Halberstam, co-founder of the Museum which is named for her son Ari, who was murdered in a terror attack in 1994.

“Devorah has channeled her personal tragedy into triumph for others, making sure that no mother, no parent, ever again has to endure the pain of losing a child to horrific acts of barbarism.

“She lost her son Ari 30 years ago, and Ari lives though all of us. Many others would have retreated into their pain,” Hochul said. “But there are those who walk among us who have been blessed with the courage and the belief that they can leave this world a better place than they found it or what the world was for her own family,” she said.

Devorah’s dedication to helping others “is the conviction, the passion, that brings me here today, but also has changed the laws, changed how people deal with hatred and antisemitism and how we deal with terrorism,” Hochul said. “Thousands of people view the world differently because they saw it through the eyes of a grieving mother.”

The Governor praised the museum as an institution that is part of the solution to antisemitism and hatred, through education.

“Antisemitism is not something that has just crept up now, it has been there for centuries, thousands of years, but always the story of the Jewish people is one of resiliency…they never allow themselves to be beaten down, always rising up,” she said.

She praised the Museum’s education of thousands of children “when their minds are still forming and their hearts are still open. No child is born understanding what hate is – that is a learned reaction,” she said. “To foster the sense of understanding that becomes part of who they are when they become adults.”

The Governor also spoke out against antisemitism which is on the rise in New York state and around the world.

“As Governor it is my responsibility to protect every one of you. You have a right to go to your synagogues or yeshivas without fear of not just physical attacks but verbal attacks,” she said.

“I will continue funding law enforcement and our units to fight hate crimes…and I will continue to call it out on the college campuses as well.

“I will not stop until we turn the tide. There is no harboring of hate in the great state of New York,” she said.

Devorah Halberstam thanked the Governor for the grant and said that the Museum knew the answer to antisemitism 20 years ago – education.

“We have had over 3 million visitors from schools across the city, state, and country,” Halberstam said. “Culture through education – what better way to teach kids?

“When public school children come through the museum, their eyes are bright, they hear and they listen, and they accept and they embrace,” Halberstam said.

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