Search Results

Recent Posts

Recent publications

Recent Posts

Recent years

Blog

סדר פסח בבית משפחת חננאשווילי. טביליסי, גיאורגיה (בריה"מ), 1924 (בית התפוצות, ארכיון התצלומים, באדיבות לובה דניאלוב, חולון)

Bloody Matsot? Passover, Blood Libels and Kidush Ha-Shem

As Prof. Israel Yuval was standing with his three daughters at the bottom of the deep cistern under the famous basilica in the German town of Trier, he felt it was a life changing moment for him. 900 years beforehand, at that very spot, Jewish parents were willing to throw their children into the pit before the crusaders walk into town. The awe that held him as he was picturing the horrid view, set Prof. Yuval on a pioneering research journey at the end of which his article “Revenge and Curse – Blood and Libel” was published, in 1994. It[]

Continue reading

“Vamos a reírnos – el Humor Judío alrededor del mundo” (Inauguración: 29 de marzo de 2018)

Comience a ejercitar sus músculos faciales para reírse, y mucho, cuando lancemos una nueva y especial exposición que investiga el humor judío. ¿Qué hace a los judíos tan graciosos? ¿Y cómo, el “Pueblo del Libro”, trajo al mundo brillantes escritores, productores y comediantes? El museo ofrece una risueña perspectiva de los orígenes del humor judío y la gran contribución de los judíos al surgimiento de esta industria global. Esta exposición trata de develar el misterio de por qué los judíos toman sus chistes tan en serio. Muestra la diversidad y la vitalidad del humor judío, e investiga cómo los elementos[]

Continue reading
צילום: ארכיון התיאטרון / בית אריאלה

Forget the Troubles and Laugh – 30 years of Dzigan and Schumacher

The comedy duo Dzigan and Schumacher was for three decades the most successful pair on the Jewish-Yiddish stage, more than any other comedian or ensemble. Their story is also the story of Jewish entertainment, and also the historical story of the Jewish people in the 20th century. Their repertoire included dozens of acts in Yiddish, and a few in Hebrew, that evoked cultural changes in the Jewish world in Europe and in the young State of Israel like no other duo had. After their split and Schumacher’s death, Dzigan went on performing on his own for 20 more years. Born in Lodz, Poland,[]

Continue reading

Who knows three? Enigmatic drawings in the Gutwirth-Zucker Haggadah

By: Yair Achituv, Bar-Ilan University   The text of the Gutwirth-Zucker Haggadah, an 18th century manuscript written in Prague in 1707 and exhibited in Beit Hatfutsot in Tel Aviv, is accompanied by drawings. Drawings in illustrated Haggadot are usually related to Passover customs and Passover-related events, the Exodus. However, there are drawings in the Gutwirth-Zucker Haggadah whose connection to Passover is obscure. Three of these appear in sequence at the end of the Haggadah. One depicts the prophet Jonah thrown from the ship and vomited out from the mouth of the fish. The second shows four cows and a woman[]

Continue reading
דיוקן מוערך של הרבנית אסנת בראזני (ויקיפדיה)

Osnat Barazani – The Brilliant Woman Who Headed a Yeshiva

It is safe enough to state that humanity is progressing, even without delving into philosophers such as Hegel. True – slavery still exists, classes still count, women and minorities are still being discriminated – but not as much as they used to. In a long perspective, human history is indeed moving forward. On the other hand, we often see phenomena that undermine this assumption (perhaps hastily made). Philosopher and essayist Nassim Taleb calls them “Black Swans” – manifestations that do not settle with social norms and generate a dissonance in people’s minds. This kind of abnormality took place in 17th[]

Continue reading
גירוש יהודי ספרד, בעקבות צו הגירוש מ-1492. כ-200,000 יהודים גורשו מספרד, אלפים טבעו בים. ציור מאת פיטר פאר, סטודיו גארדנר, לונדון, 1977 (בית התפוצות, תצוגת הקבע)

The Smoke and Flames of the Spanish Inquisition – Columbus’ Jewish Interpreter

Who are we to blame for the common anti-Semitic stereotype about the Jews as contaminators of mankind? Can we blame it on the Jewish interpreter Luis de Torres, the man who brought the first cigarettes to Europe? We most certainly can not. For one thing, the hazards in smoking were not yet known in the 15th century, and also, the anti-Semitic image of the polluting Jew is a modern one, referring to epidemics. Still, in the history of smoking Luis de Torres played a significant role, getting Europe addicted to Tobacco. To balance things out, let us bear in mind[]

Continue reading
גירוש יהודי ספרד, בעקבות צו הגירוש מ-1492. כ-200,000 יהודים גורשו מספרד, אלפים טבעו בים. ציור מאת פיטר פאר, סטודיו גארדנר, לונדון, 1977 (בית התפוצות, תצוגת הקבע)

El traductor judío de Colón en su viaje al Nuevo Mundo

¿Será que el estereotipo antisemita sobre los judíos, que son un factor contaminante se originó en relación al intérprete judío Luis de Torres, quien es en gran parte el responsable por la llegada de los primeros cigarros a Europa? No, no tiene nada que ver. Los antisemitas modernos les atribuían a los judíos la culpa por las infecciones epidemiológicas y, al mismo tiempo, los efectos del tabaquismo aún no se habían descubierto. Aun así, en la historia del tabaquismo, Luis de Torres tiene un lugar privilegiado en la adicción de Europa al tabaco. Afortunadamente para nosotros, el uso de la[]

Continue reading
קרב ימי בין צי אירופי לפיראטים ממרוקו. ציור של לורנצו א. קאסטרו, המאה ה-17

Y El Resto Son Sólo Goim: El Pirata Judío –  Más Famoso De La Historia

Hubo tiempos pasados en que a la palabra “Explorer” tenía implicaciones de vida y muerte y no de un navegador web, y “Trafic” representaba un movimiento físico en el espacio y no algo que publicistas ávidos de fama juran en su nombre. Eran tiempos en los cuales la floreciente industria marítima del siglo XVI atraía a las mejores mentes de la época. La “nación start-up” de aquella época en esa industria fue Portugal, que dio al mundo a exploradores famosos como Fernando de Magallanes y Vasco de Gama. Al igual que hoy, muchos inventos y desarrollos marítimos surgieron de las[]

Continue reading
קרב ימי בין צי אירופי לפיראטים ממרוקו. ציור של לורנצו א. קאסטרו, המאה ה-17

Samuel Pallache – The Famous Jewish Pirate

Back in the 16th century, “explorer” and “traffic” certainly did not mean what they mean today. These two concepts actually used to mean physical motion through lands and seas. Those were the days of the flourishing seamanship industry, in which some of the sharpest minds of that period were involved. The leading “startup nation” of that industry was Portugal, from which the great explorers Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama came. Much like in our era, marine developments and renovations filled the brains of Jewish mathematicians, physicists and cartographers, such as Abraham Zacuto and Pedro Nunes, who developed navigation tools[]

Continue reading
משתטחים על קברו של הבאבא סאלי, מרוקו 2004. (צילום: דורית בר זכאי, ישראל, בית התפוצות, המרכז לתיעוד חזותי ע"ש אוסטר)

Under the Shechina’s Wings – the Mystic Element in Visiting the Graves of Sages

Praying at the graves of sages is an old Jewish custom, recorded in Talmudic and Midrashic literature. Various medieval Jewish scholars discussed this religious practice, whether they approved or rejected it. A significant change regarding the prostration on graves occurred some 500 years ago, and since then it became a popular custom practiced by the social elites. Jews started to visit graves of Tanaim, usually on Shabath eve. The renown Kabbalists of Safed, especially rabbi Moses Cordovero (Ramak) and rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (author of the famous piyut LECHA DODI)  used to do it for mystical purposes.   Descendants of families[]

Continue reading

Free admittance for Israelis evacuated from the south and north, and soldiers.

Plan Your Visit

Visiting Hours

Sunday
10am-5pm
Monday
10am-5pm
Tuesday
10am-5pm
Wednesday
10am-5pm
Thursday
10am-5pm
Friday
10am-2pm
Saturday
10am-5pm

Admission Prices (NIS)

Regular
52
Israeli Senior citizens
26
Persons with disabilities, college/university students, “olim”
42
Children under 5 years old
Free entrance
Soldiers in uniform
free entrance (please show I.D.)

Agents and Groups

Phone

Our Location

Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv Entrance from gate #2 (Matatia gate)