After leaving the jungles and islands of Thailand on Thursday, I arrived at my final destination: Hong Kong. The official purpose of my visit was to be scholar-in-residence at the Ohel Leah shul. It’s a truly remarkable community. The magnificent shul, built over 120 years ago, sits nestled among the skyscrapers after overcoming those who wanted to tear it down. Adjacent to it is the JCC complex featuring a kosher store along with a meat and dairy restaurant. It was great to meet the rabbis and people in the community, along with the Carmel school, and to see how Jewish life operates in such a far-flung place. The JCC Sunday barbeque reflected the diversity of the community - you could choose from the Asian, American or Middle Eastern sections!
But I had actually wanted to visit Hong Kong for a different reason. With my work over last year-and-a-half on developing a Noah’s Ark exhibit, opening in a few weeks at the Biblical Museum of Natural History, Hong Kong was on my wishlist of destinations. The reason is that they have a life-size Noah’s Ark museum, along with a collection of model arks.
Noah’s Ark Hong Kong, built by wealthy Chinese Christians, was very, very different from the Ark Encounter in Kentucky (and, it must be said, overall very much inferior). It looked impressive from the outside, especially with all the animals pouring out of the door. But inside, there was absolutely no feeling of being in the ark, unlike with the Ark Encounter where you are always very conscious of being inside a gigantic wooden vessel. The Hong Kong ark contained a collection of gaudy rooms, most of which were simply about general science topics and had absolutely nothing to do with the Ark.
One of the five floors, however, was dedicated to an exhibit about the Ark. This included a movie about the story of Noah, in which he and his family were played by Chinese actors!
Interestingly, their presentation of the story of a global flood as history was very different from the Kentucky museum. The Hong Kong exhibit very modestly and briefly explained that the account of a global flood and all the world’s animals and nations being repopulated via the ark was viable (for Jewish responses to those challenges, see this post), and the major focus of the exhibit was on the beauty of the story and the idea of caring for nature (see their introductory sign below). This is in stark contrast to the Kentucky museum, where they were much more forceful in disputing the heresies of modern science, and presented the story of the ark as one of harsh punishment against sinners.
Another difference was regarding non-accurate models of Noah’s Ark. The Kentucky museum has an entire exhibit about how problematic cute models are, claiming that they detract from historic accuracy and trivialize the account. The Hong Kong ark, on the other hand, which is much more positive in outlook, enthusiastically embraced such representations (as indeed the vast majority of Christians do), as making the ark more appealing, especially for a younger audience.
I have to admit that I approached their exhibit of model Noah’s Arks with some trepidation. Would it be superior to the collection that we are assembling at the BMNH? Would there be models that I would be upset about lacking?
Well, I needn’t have worried. While the room displaying the arks was impressive, the arks themselves was rubbish; nothing like the spectacular artistic models that we have collected, which reflect both artistic skill and cultural/zoological uniqueness. The sign said that they were arks from all over the world, but virtually every single one was made in China. And I mean mass-produced kitsch and plastic children’s toys, not genuine Chinese art, such as the extraordinary carved wood Chinese arks that we have at the BMNH, one of which is this amazing Noah’s Dragon Boat:
But while the Noah’s Ark was somewhat of a letdown, Hong Kong itself was a fabulous surprise - especially from the perspective of nature and animals. More about that in a forthcoming post!
P.S. - I'm available in the US as scholar-in-residence for Shabbos July 15th. Please be in touch if you want to arrange this for your community.
P.P.S. - If anyone can bring some small items for our exhibit from Teaneck to Israel, please let me know!
"... the Kentucky museum ... presented the story of the ark as one of harsh punishment against sinners."
So as opposed to the Hong Kong museum which, if I may say, only presented the fluff, while the flood's actual point went over their heads.
Although that is basic enough not to need corroboration, allow me to mention a well-known Ramban.
...לכך אמר רבי יצחק שאין להתחלת התורה צורך ב"בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא", והסיפור במה שנברא ביום ראשון ומה נעשה ביום שני ושאר הימים, והאריכות ביצירת אדם וחוה, וחטאם ועונשם, וסיפור גן עדן וגירוש אדם ממנו, כי כל זה לא יובן בינה שלימה מן הכתובים. וכל שכן ספור דור המבול והפלגה, שאין הצורך בהם גדול....
... Rabbi Yitzchak said that it was not necessary for the Torah to begin with the chapter of In the beginning G-d created and the narration of what was created on the first day, what was done on the second and other days, as well as a prolonged account of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin and punishment, and the story of the Garden of Eden and the expulsion of Adam from it, because all this cannot be understood completely from the verses. It is all the more unnecessary for the story of the generations of the flood and of the dispersion to be written in the Torah for there is no great need of these narratives...
ונתן רבי יצחק טעם לזה, כי התחילה התורה ב"בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים" וסיפור כל עניין היצירה עד בריאת אדם, ושהמשילו במעשה ידיו וכל שת תחת רגליו, וגן עדן – שהוא מבחר המקומות הנבראים בעולם הזה – נעשה מכון לשבתו, עד שגירש אותו חטאו משם. ואנשי דור המבול, בחטאם גורשו מן העולם כולו, והצדיק בהם לבדו נמלט, הוא ובניו. וזרעם, חטאם גרם להם להפיצם במקומות ולזרותם בארצות, ותפשו להם המקומות למשפחותם בגוייהם כפי שנזדמן להם. אם כן ראוי הוא, כאשר יוסיף הגוי לחטוא, שיאבד ממקומו ויבוא גוי אחר לרשת את ארצו, כי כן הוא משפט האלהים בארץ מעולם. וכל שכן עם המסופר בכתוב כי כנען מקולל ונמכר לעבד עולם, ואינו ראוי שיירש מבחר מקומות היישוב, אבל יירשוה עבדי ה' זרע אוהבו, כעניין שכתוב (תהלים קה מד): "וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אַרְצוֹת גּוֹיִם וַעֲמַל לְאֻמִּים יִירָשׁוּ בַּעֲבוּר יִשְׁמְרוּ חֻקָּיו וְתוֹרֹתָיו יִנְצֹרוּ". כלומר, שגירש משם מורדיו, והשכין בו עובדיו, שיידעו כי בעבודתו ינחלוה, ואם יחטאו לו – תקיא אותם הארץ כאשר קאה את הגוי אשר לפניהם.
Rabbi Yitzchak then gave a reason for it. The Torah began with the chapter of In the beginning G-d created and recounted the whole subject of creation until the making of man, how He [G-d] granted him dominion over the works of His hands, and that He put all things under his feet; and how the Garden of Eden, which is the choicest of places created in this world, was made the place of his abode until his sin caused his expulsion therefrom; and how the people of the generation of the flood were completely expelled from the world on account of their sin, and the only righteous one among them — he [Noah] and his children — were saved; and how the sin of their descendants caused them to be scattered to various places and dispersed to different countries, and how subsequently they seized unto themselves places after their families, in their nations, as chance permitted. If so, it is proper that when a people continues to sin it should lose its place and another people should come to inherit its land, for such has been the rule of G-d in the world from the beginning. This is true all the more regarding that which is related in Scripture, namely that Canaan was cursed and sold as a servant forever. It would therefore not be proper that he inherit the choicest of places of the civilized world. Rather, the servants of G-d — the seed of His beloved one, Abraham — should inherit it, even as it is written, And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took the labor of the peoples in possession; that they might keep His statutes, and observe His laws. That is to say, He expelled those who rebelled against Him, and settled therein those who served Him so that they know by serving Him they will inherit it, whereas if they sin against Him, the land will vomit them out, just as it vomited out the nation before them.
https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Genesis.1.1.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
Essentially, even after the fascination that we have with creation and the flood, they earn no place in the book of books except to teach us that G-d's grace of allowing us to live in the promised land, "the choicest of places of the civilized world", is dependent on being His [G-d's] servants, keeping His statutes, and observing His laws. And if not, the land will vomit us out, ח"ו, just as it vomited out the nations before us.
(And even the episode of Canaan with his being cursed for his sin isn't relevant on its own except as regards that hence he was disqualified from inheriting the promised land and that the Jews were justified in taking it from him.)
This is Zionism 101.
It was lost on the Chinese.
Hopefully, It wasn't lost on us.
"Another difference was regarding non-accurate models of Noah’s Ark. The Kentucky museum has an entire exhibit about how problematic cute models are, claiming that they detract from historic accuracy and trivialize the account"
Considering that the "original" Ark was almost certainly a round Babylonian reed-and-wood affair waterproofed with bitumen against periodic floods it's a little problematic to say these are less or more accurate than Ken Ham's Big Grift.