Special Guest: Nobel Laureate Claude Cohen-Tannoudji

The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot had the pleasure to host today the Nobel laureate in physics, the Algeria born French-Jewish physicist, Prof. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who now visits Israel within a scientific conference, as the President’s guest. Tannoudji, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997, toured the museum, accompanied by […]
Beit Hatfutsot at the GPO Jewish Media Summit

In a summit held this week in Jerusalem, Irina Nevzlin, Chair of the Board of Directors of The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot, chaired a panel moderated by journalist Zvika Klein (“Makor Rishon”), titled: “Israel and the Diaspora: united we stand?” Before the panel, the audience enjoyed the video “You are part […]
The Jewish Publisher Who Took St. Petersburg by Storm

Though he wasn’t the first to publish a modern newspaper in Hebrew; though the paper wasn’t the largest, nor the most popular; though he sometimes copied from his adversaries; and though he didn’t stand out in his education among his colleagues – still, the paper “HaMelitz” and its publisher and editor, Aleksander Zederbaum (“The Cedar”) have […]
The Patria Disaster: Forgotten Zionist Mass Tragedy

November 25, 1940, 9 am. The illegal immigration ship “Patria” is docking in Haifa port. Suddenly, a loud blast rips the side of the ship. Huge amounts of water flood the ship and within minutes the old ocean liner, carrying 2,000 passengers, starts to sink. Chaos and panic all around, old people slip and fall […]
A Prostitute, a Thief, and Jesus Walk into a Tavern: The Tragedy of the Jewish Dickens

Radical works of art may raise arguments and debates about whether they belong in the public arena and might even destroy the career of an appreciated author, who only wished to push some boundaries. That was the case of the Yiddish author Shalom Asch. Ash was born in 1880 in Kutno near Lodz, Poland, to […]
Is Turkey Even Kosher: Jewish Thanksgiving

Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a quintessentially American holiday, one that not only ushers in the winter holiday season, but also tells a story about the country’s founding and its values. Thanksgiving as a holiday whose purpose is to set aside a time for […]
The Mysterious Childhood of King David

You can tell a lot about religions by their archetypal protagonist. Generally speaking, Christianity is fond of pure, untarnished guys, those who turn their other cheek. The Muslims adore men who sacrifice their lives to reach paradise, whereas the Buddhists respect he who can live an entire life doing one thing – avoiding. Avoiding over […]
The Great War in Visual Memory: Rare Jewish Photographs from World War I

This week a hundred years back, the first World War ended, in which 18 million people died, out of which 8 million were civilians. Not only was is a devastating war on its own, it also left us with some of the horrible illnesses of the 20th century: Nazism, Fascism, Bolshevism, to name a few. […]
Black Hole: When the Worst Holocaust-Denier was Defeated

If we had to choose a date for “The Memorial Holocaust Denial Day”, it must be November 11. On this day in 2005 the historian David Irving, considered the greatest Holocaust deniers in the world, was arrested. This dubious title Irving owes to Deborah Lipstadt, a Jewish Professor from Emory University in Georgia. Lipstadt came from […]
The Australian-Jewish General Who Re-Designed Modern Military Strategy

When John Monash arrived in Cairo from Australia during World War I, he had no formal military training. But he did have an extensive education, and notable achievements as a civil engineer. The son of Jewish immigrants to Australia, Monash earned academic degrees in law, art, and engineering. He was a reservist officer in the […]
You Bastard! The Mysterious Book That Made Fun of Jesus

In 1979, when the film “The Life of Brian” by the Monty Python group was released, it immediately provoked fury and insult, as Jesus Christ, rather than a saint martyr born to a virgin, was presented as a foolish loser who found himself in ridiculous situations and somehow made the Jews believe he was the […]