Mel Lifshitz’s Museum Affair

The love of traveling and discovering new places leads Melly Lifshitz to stumble upon better discoveries in life.  One of these discoveries is his fondness of museums.  Aside from checking the finest golf courses every time he goes abroad, he now visits cultural museums and heritage centers every time he  travels to a new destination.  Missing a museum trip during travel means missing a great deal of knowledge tripping about the place’s history, culture, and people.

For Mel Lifshitz, a museum is like a miniature of the past that reflects the soul and uniqueness of a country’s culture and tradition.  Below are the two museums that this blog will feature in the next days to come.

• The Tower of David Museum - A place rich in history. For centuries it guarded the Western entrance to Jerusalem. It was built at this specific location because it was considered the weak link in the city's defense.

• Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum - The museum's artifacts represent many different periods in ancient Israel such as the Hellenistic period and the immersion of Christianity. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian empires are also depicted within the museum's vast collection. The museum also displays the traditions of other peoples mentioned in the Bible such as the Philistines, Arameans, Hittites, Elamites, Phoenicians, and the Persians.

The Tower of David Museum and Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum are both located in Israel where Mel Lifshitz and family often visit.  These two are if not the best, the most distinctive heritage centers in the country that promote the bravery and beauty of the Israeli culture and lifestyle.

Another museum in Israel that’s already been featured on this blog is the Eretz Israel Museum and its Ceramic Pavillion.  It displays selected artifacts from Tel Qasile and an archaeological site, where you can enter and explore a rebuilt typical house from the pre-Israelite Canaanite period.

Mel Lifshitz Visits Menachem Begin Museum

 After posting an entry about the Eretz Israel Museum and another entry about its Ceramics Pavilion, let’s now move on to Menachem Begin Museum, a state of the art heritage center  inspired by the life and leadership of Menachem Begin, a former Israeli PM and Nobel Prize Winner.  This is among the top museums in Israel that Mel Lifshitz often visits.

Since he was a child, Mel has already been exposed to Israeli politics.  This is the very reason why he loves to visit the Menachem Begin Museum in Jerusalem.  Its design represents the modesty and dignity of the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin.  

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center was built by Menachem Begin’s long-time friend, Harry Harry Hurwitz.  It displays Begin's research in the form of original documents and photographs. The structure was also built atop an archaeological site and a replication of the findings are exhibited in the museum. Also in the center are conference rooms, a café, an auditorium, and even a small synagogue. A small replica of the Knesset has been built so as to educate students on the legal processes of the Israeli government.

Mel Lifshitz encourages every Jew to support and promote the Menachem Begin Heritage Center’s advocacy -  to serve as an educational outlet for young people and help bring about strong and passionate Israeli leaders. This advocacy is inspired by Begin's own work and his personal philosophies.

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center is a living memorial and the nation’s tribute to a courageous fighter and fearless leader who worked for the freedom, future and security of the Jewish People in its own land. The Center is being built on the Hinnom Ridge, overlooking the Old City. One of the most important archeological sites in Israel lies behind the Center. In one of the burial caves was found the silver scroll pendant containing the Biblical Priestly Blessing in ancient Hebrew script.

Mel Lifshitz and his wife, Rochelle, often visit the museum’s White Nights dairy restaurant and coffee shop where they unwind and talk about politics and current events.

Official Google Blog: Explore museums and great works of art in the Google Art Project

As this blog is all about Mel Lifshitz's fondness in visiting museums, we thought of sharing this link from Google Blog that may interest every museum lover out there. It's a project featured on the Official Google Blog: Explore museums and great works of art in the Google Art Project.

Here's an excerpt from Google Blog.

One of the things I love about working at Google is that you can come up with an idea one day and the next day start getting to work to make it a reality. That's what happened with the Art Project—a new tool we're announcing today which puts more than 1,000 works of art at your fingertips, in extraordinary detail.

It started when a small group of us who were passionate about art got together to think about how we might use our technology to help museums make their art more accessible—not just to regular museum-goers or those fortunate to have great galleries on their doorsteps, but to a whole new set of people who might otherwise never get to see the real thing up close.

Read more here.