‘Our story’: Tel Aviv’s Museum of the Jewish People reopens after $100m revamp

From Section:
Informal Education
Published:
Mar. 10, 2021
March 10, 202

Source: Times of Israel

 

From Queen Salome to the late RBG, from Moses to Sandy Koufax, Tel Aviv’s newly revamped Museum of the Jewish People attempts the ambitious undertaking of bringing almost 3,000 years of Jewish history and tradition under a single roof.

The museum — formerly known as Beit Hatfutsot and newly branded as ANU, Hebrew for “We” — reopened to visitors this week after more than a decade of renovations costing $100 million.

Its exhibition space has tripled, making it the largest Jewish museum in the world, officials say. Its old galleries with dioramas and models from when it first opened in 1978 have given way to cutting-edge exhibits with interactive touchscreens and original artwork.

The refurbished museum adopts a fresh approach to telling the story of the Jewish people, said chief curator Orit Shaham-Gover. It focuses on the diversity of Jewish culture and the accomplishments of the Jewish people, not just its tragedies, she said.

Scattered through 72,000 square feet (6,690 square meters) of galleries are historical artifacts and mementos: a jawza — a type of stringed instrument — belonging to 20th-century Iraqi musicians known as the Al-Kuwaity brothers, one of late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s signature collars, a Book of Esther scroll from pre-Inquisition Spain, and a monumental carved stone from a first-century CE synagogue on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Visitors can use a digital bracelet to capture memorable elements — from literary quotations to recipes and family trees — and take them home by email.

Read more at the Times of Israel.


Updated: May. 18, 2021
Keywords:
Experiential education | Jewish peoplehood | Jewish identity | Museums