Just a short distance from the popular hub of Ben Yehuda Street in the heart of Yerushalayim stands the ultra-modern, interactive, multimedia Friends of Zion Museum. The Museum was established six years ago by founding chairman and Israel’s ninth president, the late Shimon Peres, who paid tribute to the project. “We are so grateful to all those who created this miracle including Friends of Zion, Jewish and non-Jewish… Nothing is greater than the cause of friendship among human beings.” Founded by Mike Evans, the Friends of Zion Museum has over 31,140,626 supporters on social media to date.
This museum offers visitors, ages 7 and up, a fascinating tour through the history of the Jewish people and those figures who were the most influential in ensuring the survival and perpetuity of the Jewish nation. The tour begins with a 3D flight over the land of Israel highlighting the 12 tribes and where they settled. Next we board a time elevator, which takes us to a 24-meter long wraparound screen offering an animated introduction to Biblical figures beginning with Abraham, exploring the early history of the Holy Land.
The third and fourth areas of the multimedia exhibit tell the stories of the “Dreamers” and “Visionaries” who raised their voices during the early 19th century through the early 20th century in support of the Jewish right to return to its promised land. Among those featured are prominent Jewish figures as well as world-renowned non-Jewish figures whose support lent credence and strength to the Jewish cause. These include leading British dignitaries such as Lord Arthur James Balfour and David Lloyd George, and the lesser-known Dutch couple William and Elizabeth Ten Bloom and John Henry Dumont. Here we learn that historian and professor George Bush, progenitor of two future American presidents, published a widely read work entitled “The Dry Bones Revived” in which he confirmed the godly promise to the Jews to return to their land.
The fifth section is devoted to the “Lights in the Darkness,” the Righteous Among the Nations who saved Jews during the Holocaust at great risk to their own lives and the lives of their families. Among those celebrated are well-known figures such as Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, as well as lesser-known figures such as Chiune Sugihara and Irena Sendler, who also deserve to be singled out for their heroism in saving thousands of Jewish lives.
“Here’s to the Brave,” Section 6, traces the path to Jewish Statehood highlighting those who fought alongside the Jewish people in the battles leading to the establishment of the Jewish State. We hear President Harry Truman’s impassioned speech welcoming Israel into the State of Nations. We hear of General George Wood Wingate, stationed in Israel and enabling the Jews to reclaim their homeland.
The final section, “Here Am I,” urges in-person visitors as well as those touring the Museum through a 3D virtual online tour to come aboard and support the cooperative efforts of the Friends of Zion in protecting and preserving the Land of Israel.
Tours of the Friends of Zion Museum are offered in person and online in 16 languages. To find out more about touring the Museum, located at 20 Yosef Rivlin Street, in Nahalat Shiv’a, Jerusalem, go to [email protected] or call 972-2-532-9400.
By Pearl Markovitz
