$1M raised for Museum of Jewish People
New museum at Beit Hatfutsot in Tel Aviv will be largest experiential museum in Israel, world's first museum to tell story of Jewish people from Abraham till today in holistic manner
The gala was co-chaired by Eugene A. Ludwig and Leonid Nevzlin, chairman of the International Board of Governors of Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People.
Leonid Nevzlin was the initiator and leading force behind the development of the Museum of the Jewish People.
The new museum is the culmination of a comprehensive renewal process undertaken by Beit Hatfutsot with the support of the NADAV Foundation headed by Irina Nevzlin Kogan, the Israeli government and philanthropists from around the world.
The 16,000 square-meter (172,200 square feet) museum will house a new permanent exhibition covering an area of 4,200 square meters (45,200 square feet), spread out over three floors, in Beit Hatfutsot’s Nahum Goldmann building on the campus of Tel Aviv University.
Irina Nevzlin Kogan, Malcolm Hoenlein and Leonid Nevzlin (Photo: Mark Von Holden)
“It has been a long journey since the NADAV Foundation first connected to Beit Hatfutsot eight years ago, and a lot has changed,” said Leonid Nevzlin, who also established the NADAV Foundation in 2003.
“We set four goals for ourselves: To create a state-of-the-art and modern exhibition; to define and reach our target audience; to promote the Beit Hatfutsot brand; and to raise the money needed to achieve these goals.
"We have made exceptional progress and are now witnessing the re-birth of Beit Hatfutsot in Tel Aviv as a must-see destination for everyone, and kind of home for Jews from Israel and around the world.”
The new Museum of the Jewish People will be the largest experiential museum in Israel, and the first museum in the world to tell the story of the Jewish people from Abraham through today in a holistic manner.
'Source of inspiration for Jewish educators'
The aim is to inspire in visitors a sense of belonging and connection to the overall Jewish story through a variety of narrative threads, covering topics like the unity and diversity of the Jewish people; the Jewish world in modern times; the cultural influence of non-Jewish surroundings and the Jews’ interaction with it; the place of women in Jewish life; and the special significance of the land of Israel and the State of Israel for the Jewish people.
Among the participants at the event were: Irina Nevzlin Kogan, president of the NADAV Foundation, which supports Beit Hatfutsot; world-renown architect Patrick Gallagher, who was chosen to design the new Museum of the Jewish People (his notable projects include the National Museum of American Jewish History, which recently opened in Philadelphia, the Shanghai Natural History Museum, the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum); Ambassador Alfred Moses, former US Ambassador to Romania, who received an award on behalf of Beit Hatfutsot at the event; Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; and Deputy Minister Lea Nass.
“This evening symbolizes a new chapter in the history of Beit Hatfutsot. For over 30 years, Beit Hatfutsot was a center for hundreds of thousands of Jews to connect to their Jewish identity and to learn more about Jewish communities around the world,” said CEO of Beit Hatfutsot Avinoam Armoni.
“I’m elated by the fact that this new museum tells the ongoing, remarkable story of the Jewish people both in Israel and abroad using the most cutting edge methods, and will be a source of inspiration for Jewish educators. This new museum will transform how the story of the Jewish people is told.”
