Visiting Israel: Beit Hatfutsot

When in Tel Aviv, you will want to make a visit to the Beit Hatfutsot Diaspora Museum on the Tel Aviv University Campus. This is not a museum filled with old artifacts hidden beneath closed plastic cases; this is an interactive museum that tells the story of the Jewish Diaspora. Charting the 2,500 year history of how the Jews were ousted from their homeland all the way up through to when they reclaimed Israel, this museum masterfully tells their story in a unique and interesting way.

Here you will find a multitude of multimedia methods that are used to tell the story of the Jewish people and how they have grown and evolved over the centuries. You will get a deeper and fuller understanding of Jewish history through the large collection of photographs, films, maps, documents, and music as you make your way through the museum.

One of the most interesting things you will see in the museum is a miniature model of a 13th century Jewish town that features miniature models dressed in period clothing and engaging in a variety of different daily activities as they might have appeared eight hundred years ago. There are also several scale models of famous synagogues and other buildings to see.

If you are interested in doing some genealogical research into your own Jewish heritage, the museum has a research center that you can use and will also provide you with a computer printout of information for a small fee. You might also want to add your own family history to the collection as they are continuously researching Jewish heritage and history around the world.