Friday, May 29, 1981 15
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Diaspora Museum Attracts Israelis, Tourists
By JAMES LEWIN
World Zionist Press Service
JERUSALEM — "What
makes this museum so spe-
cial," says Miriam Ben-
Haim of Beth Hatefutsoth,
"is that nearly everyone
finds something of what he
seeks. From the ultra-
religious to the most agnos-
tic, from the most Zionistic
to the completely assimi-
lated, whether distin-
guished intellectuals or or-
dinary people, young or old,
99.9 percent have a mean-
1 and often very emo-
ti,
experience here."
Beth Hatefutsoth opened
on the 30th anniversary of
the state of Israel, in May
1978. Since then, one mil-
lion people have passed
through the portals of this
unique monument to
Jewish history.
Beth Hatefusoth is a liv-
ing reconstruction of the
historical identity of the
Jews in foreign lands. All
the exhibits have been
created to represent the
inner experience of the
Jewish people in all corners
of the world.
Under the supervision
of experts — the museum
is located on the campus
of the Tel Aviv University
— historical veracity has,
of course, been scrupul-
ously maintained. But,
unlike the ordinary
museum which only of-
fers remnants of the past,
Beth Hatefutsoth, in its
six sections, represents
the major themes which
exemplify the Jewish
struggle to survive.
Using the most modern
audio-visual techniques,
the museum presents many
films and displays, typified
by the section on Jewish
communities, depicting
some of the variety of
Jewish life in different
times and environments. A
slide-show, with narration,
graphically portrays the
communal closeness, the
stubborn courage and joy
overcoming sorrow, as well
as the awesome sacred light
of study and religious ob-
servance of the generation
of Jewish martyrs in East-
ern Europe.
Jewish communities also
dwelled in warmer regions
of the earth, with less per-
sistent persecution. There
are exhibits on the Jews of
Morocco, the Jews of
Salonika, and scores of
other communities.
For Jewish tourists to Is-
rael, the museum provides a
boost for their self-respect,
portraying the arduous
wanderings and long strug-
gles which have brought the
Jews to their present posi-
tions, both in the state of Is-
rael and the Diaspora. For
Israelis, expecially the
younger generation for
whom the Diaspora is only
known from books, the
museum offers an essential
link with a seemingly in-
comprehensible past.
Among the special fea-
tures of the museum are
four study areas, in
which short documen-
tary films on topics - re-
lated to Diaspora Jewish
life and history can be
selected from a catalogue
* * *
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and viewed on TV-size
screens. Films are avail-
able in Hebrew, English
and other languages. The
study areas also have a
booth containing a com-
puter with information
on Jewish Diaspora
communities around the
world.
The requested informa-
tion, printed on a take-away
sheet, is given to the visitor
when he leaves the
museum. Another computer
program offers "historical
games" giving the visitor
the opportunity to test his
knowledge of Jewish his-
tory.
To help the visitor gain a
chronological frame of
reference and to put the ex-
hibits in perspective, the
Museum also features the
Chronosphere, a hall re-
sembling a planetarium on
whose dome and walls a
half-four audio-visual diap-
lay on Jewish world history
is presented by 35 syn-
chronized projectors.
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•
Violence
Topic of NCJW Book
NEW YORK — "Domes-
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sh Women, addresses
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