Tel Aviv - Diaspora Museum

Exterior of Diaspora museum

Steven today attended an international workshop entitled, "From insulin mimetics to the artificial pancreas." I, on the other hand, went out exploring.  Because there had been a drizzle this morning, I decided it would be a good day to go to a museum, so I picked Beit Hutfutsot (Museum of the Jewish People). The museum, which opened in 1978, sits on the campus of Tel Aviv University, the largest university in Israel, with 30,000 students, and a very reasonable $10,000/year tuition.  (My Gett taxi driver told me many Americans attend the university due to its good reputation and low cost.)

Entrance to the musuem is via one of the guarded stations to Tel Aviv University

I approached the museum after passing through a security gate, a not uncommon feature of Israeli life.  The university is ringed with such gates, but once inside, it's feel like any modern university campus.   

David "Chim" Seymour photo.  Source and more photos here. 

The museum is being completely renovated, so just a few exhibits are available.  One is an exhibit of David Seymour ("Chim") photographs.  Chim, a Polish Jew who escaped the Nazis, was a photojournalist who co-founded Magnum Photos with Robert Capa.  He was killed in 1956 while on assignment.  He captured the effects of war in Europe, particularly on children.

Model interior of the Aleppo synogogue in Syria

The other exhibit provides architectural models of great synagogues, many of which were destroyed during WWII.  Legend has it that the earliest synagogue was built by King David's general, on what now is the site of The Central Synagogue of Aleppo, in modern day Syria.  This latter synagogue was built in 1418, and destroyed by fire in 1947. 

For a touch of modernity, a Torah cover handmade in 2016 was displayed.  I'll let the picture do it full justice.  All the animals in the Song of Songs were embroidered on this cover.