Beth Hatefutsoth

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The Museum for Jewish Diaspora, Tel Aviv University.

Beit Hatefutsot or Beth Hatefutsoth (Hebrew: בית התפוצות, "The Diaspora House") — the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, was established in 1978, and is located on the Tel Aviv University campus in Ramat Aviv, Israel. Its president is Natan Sharansky.

When it opened in May 1978, Beth Hatefutsoth was regarded by many museum experts as one of the most innovative museums in the world.

The museum uses modern techniques and audio-visual displays to trace the history of communities of the Jewish diaspora through the ages and throughout the world and to convey the story of the Jewish people from the time of their expulsion from the Land of Israel 2,600 years ago to the present.

This is a non-artifact museum and the exhibitions are arranged thematically, with a study area on each floor.

The idea to establish Beth Hatefutsoth was proposed by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, the founder and President of the World Jewish Congress. The idea was to create a monument to the Jewish diaspora, past and present. The concept of the Museum was based on the proposal of the poet Abba Kovner to divide the Permanent Exhibition into six thematic parts.

According to Jesaja Weinberg, the first director of the museum, "Beth Hatefutsoth was born, I believe, out of a strong though inarticulated need to recover or recapture and preserve something that was in danger of being lost: Jewish historical identity. Its purpose was primarily educational. It was conceived as a channel of communication for future generations too, but primarily for that generation." [1]

The permanent exhibition contains the following thematic sections: