Leading U.S. Philanthropists Donate Combined Unprecedented $10 Million To Beit Hatfutsot - the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv

NEW YORK, March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Maltz Family Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, established by Milton Maltz and his wife Tamar, and Ambassador Alfred Moses and his family, have committed a pair of significant gifts of $5 million each for a combined $10 million to Beit Hatfutsot, The Museum of the Jewish People, in Tel Aviv.

Milton Maltz, founder of Malrite Communications Group, Inc., and his wife Tamar Maltz are no strangers to founding and building museums.  They were involved in the establishment of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland, Ohio, and conceptualized and created the widely-popular International Spy Museum of Washington, D.C.  Milton is a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Tamar serves on the museum's Accessions Advisory Committee. Their most lasting and inspired gift to the Cleveland museum was for the development and installation of Gallery One, a group of highly interactive and nationally-acclaimed galleries that blends art, technology, and interpretation.

So why the interest in yet another museum -- this latest being in Israel?  They believe that today's youth, who more and more use non-print media to discover their relevance in the world around them, and who will become tomorrow's museum patrons, can be engaged through a museum's educational platform that tells stories in profound, interactive, and transformative ways.

Alfred Moses, a prominent lawyer and businessman and Chief Strategy Officer, Senior Partner and Co-Founder of Promontory Financial Group, co-chair of the Board of Governors of Beit Hatfutsot, who served as liaison to the Jewish community during President Carter's Administration and as Ambassador to Romania and in other capacities during President Clinton's Administration, has earmarked a $5 million gift to building the Great Hall of Synagogues at Beit Hatfutsot. The Hall of Synagogues will show three millennia of Jewish life with its many faces to serve as inspiration for a vibrant future Jewish life.

Ambassador Moses believes that it is important to show the far-reaching depth of the Jewish people, "The Holocaust with its devastating tragedy was neither the beginning nor the end of Jewish history.  It was a period of twelve catastrophic years over a span of three millennia." "Beit Hatfutsot is a locus of discourse about the history, values, ethical issues and future challenges facing the community."

"The Great Hall of Synagogues, to be built at Beit Hatfutsot, will portray unity but also diversity in its creation of synagogues, old and new, from many lands, presenting the different architecture, different styles, braiding together myriad threads of the Jewish spirit into one theme, as a gathering place for Jews to celebrate their Jewishness.  Synagogues have always been a communal home for culture, learning, celebrating and just congregating," adds Ambassador Moses. 

"Beit Hatfutsot is a singular place, in the heartland of Judaism, the land of Israel," says Milton Maltz. "It is a focal point for world Jewry and those interested in the Jewish story and its universal lessons. It embraces the total of Jewish history, all view points, past, present, and future.  It presents the Jewish narrative in stimulating, impactful, current, appealing, and varied educational approaches relying on technology and geared to young people."   

According to Irina Nevzlin Kogan, Chair of Beit Hatfutsot, "These two significant gifts, which were pledged within weeks of each other, are important milestones in making the museum one of the key builders of the Jewish future. The museum will tell and chart the narrative of our people as a whole, preserve many individual stories, and serve as a platform for Jews worldwide to connect to one another. These gifts will further the mission of Beit Hatfutsot both as a museum and as a global center and will augment its various components: the museum's core exhibition and special exhibits; its vast database; the international School of Jewish Peoplehood Studies; the genealogy center; and the Jewish web portal."   

Beit Hatfutsot is a steward of Jewish civilization, heritage and future direction. The stories and experiences it highlights are transformative and universal. It inspires people to tell their personal and family histories as part of the remarkable and ongoing story of the Jewish people.  For more information regarding Beit Hatfutsot, The Museum of the Jewish People, visit: www.bh.org.il.

SOURCE Beit Hatfutsot: The Museum of the Jewish People