LearningCenters, Israel

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem is Israel’s largest cultural institution and is ranked among the world’s leading art and archeology museums. Founded in 1965, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem was extensively extended and refurbished reopening in 2010. The focus of the museum is on the art, Judaica and ancient artifacts of the Land of Israel and beyond, featuring the most extensive holdings of Biblical and Holy Land archaeology in the world. The museum has a collection of nearly 500,000 objects, representing a full scope of world material culture. While there is loads to see at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, there are a number of stand-out highlights. The Shrine of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls which are some of the oldest Biblical scrolls ever found. Adjacent to this is an amazing model of Second Temple Era Jerusalem which reconstructs the topography and architectural character of the city as it was prior to its destruction by the Romans in 66 CE. https://www.touristisrael.com/the-israel-museum-jerusalem/411/

Azrieli Center is a complex comprised of three distinct skyscrapers one circlular, one triangular and one square in the center of Tel Aviv. Named after the founder, Architect David Azrieli. T he Circular Tower is the second tallest building in Israel. It was completed in 1999 and has 49 floors. The building’s top floor boasts a restaurant, as well as an observation deck with a clear view of the entire city. The Triangular Tower was finished in 1999 and has 46 floors. With 42 floors, including the thirteen-floor Crowne Plaza City Center Hotel, the Square Tower was the last to be completed in 2007. Many of Israel’s most prominent companies are based in or around the Azrieli Center. At the base of the three office buildings lies one of Israel’s largest shopping malls. The Azrieli Center Mall boasts over 30 fast food and high-quality restaurants and cafes. The shopping opportunities include branches all of Israel’s finest stores, as well as flagship international brand names like H&M, Gap and Mango. The Azrieli Center Mall also houses a fitness center, grocery store, educational learning centers and a rooftop Gymboree. The Azrieli Center is located on the corner of Begin and Hashalom Streets. It is just a minute from the Hashalom entrance to Ayalon Highway. It is connected by bridge to the Tel Aviv Hashalom Train Station. A bridge in the opposite direction also connects the mall to Hakirya, the Tel Aviv branch of the IDF military intelligence unit. http://www.bookingisrael.com/israel-attractions/azrieli-center

Beit Hatfutsot' - The Museum of the Jewish People (The Disapora House), the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University. The Museum of the Jewish People tells the story of the Jewish People from its expulsion from the holy land 2,600 years ago to the present day. The Museum of the Jewish People exhibits the diverse histories of the many Jewish communities around the world. It connects visitors with their roots, offers reproductions of beautifully designed synagogues, pictures depicting the differing religious customs and cultural traditions of various communities, and describes the complex and ongoing journey of the Jewish people “Among the Nations.” http://www.bookingisrael.com/israel-attractions/disapora-museum

The Haifa Educational Zoo is an ideal place for families to visit while in Haifa. Originally built in 1949 by Pinchas Cohen as an education center for a neighboring school. After renovations in 2002 the zoo now hosts more than 100 species of wildlife, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plantlife. Built on a beautiful nature reserve on Mount Carmel with views of the Mediterranean Sea, the zoo covers 35 dunams (8.6 acres) making it perfect for everyone, especially families with small children. Some of the zoo’s mammal features include; Lemurs, brown capuchin monkeys, meerkats, Bengal tigers, leopards, alpaca, honey badgers, lions, Syrian brown bears, baboons, and caracals. The zoo also has a special climate-controlled reptile house containing pythons, vipers, cobras, anacondas, racers, boas and various lizards. Birdlife in the zoo ranges from the nocturnal owls to the free- roaming peacocks which swarm the entrance to the path. Many of the zoo’s animals are natives of Israel including the Israeli wolf (also known as the Arabian wolf), ibex, porcupine (an orphan found in the area), camels, wild boars, jackals, foxes, black cobra, Palestinian viper, Griffon vultures and the rare Persian fallow deer who lives almost exclusively in the Upper Galilee on the small nature preserve of Nachal Kziv. https://www.touristisrael.com/haifa-educational-zoo/4871/

The Madatech National Science, Technology and Space Museum in Haifa, is a large museum crammed with hands-on activities that will please both adults and children. Not far from the Bahai Gardens, in the Hadar neighbourhood of Haifa, the museum is housed in the large edifice which is the old Technion building. The Madatech building was built in the early 1910s, visited by Albert Einstein in 1923 and then made into a museum in 1984. Today the museum hosts some 200,000 visitors annually, many of them children on school trips. The Madatech National Science, Technology and Space Museum can be broken up into five parts for mapping out. The ground floor of the main building contains the front desk, a café, a children’s play area, a gift store and several exhibits such as the history of the printing press and The Road to Safety Exhibition. In the Road to Safety Exhibition children and adults can sit side-by-side on crash simulator, operated only by a museum guide, which proves the need for seatbelts while driving. Be prepared, the crash is quite a jolt! Continuing up a narrow staircase (elevators are also on-site), the first floor comes to view. On the first floor are exhibitions such as the Natural Science Room with over 100 stuffed animals and birds all found in the Haifa area including eagles, mongooses and jungle cats. Other exhibitions include Puzzles & Games, Green Energy and Acoustics & Waves, all going into depths with hands-on displays and tools for everybody to benefit from. In the Green Energy exhibition children can learn about combustion, solar power and light power, many of the displays featuring little lights that illuminate with the power generated at the display. Children can also race sailboats on a table with fans, mapping out wind currents with guided lines on the table. Also on the first floor is the Einstein Hall where an exhibition was made in honour of Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first and only astronaut. Included in the exhibit are some of his personal belongings found at the crash site of the Columbia space shuttle that tragically crashed on descent over Texas. https://www.touristisrael.com/madatech-science-technology-museum-haifa/5294/

Just above the Bat Galim Promenade, at the foot of Mount Carmel in the city of Haifa, is the Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum. A large museum with many hands-on exhibits including two retired ships and a submarine on display and open for exploring, the museum is operated by the Israeli Navy and Ministry of Defence so don’t be surprised to find the front door locked – the guards will open it for you and ask for identification. Once inside, a short video presentation is shown giving a brief overview of the Israeli Navy’s history and then the large collection of both clandestine immigration and naval maps, photographs, articles and souvenirs can be browsed. Also, for those interested, a database of war medal and decoration recipients is available behind the guard’s booth. n the main room, the “History of the Navy” exhibit, learn about the Battle of Tel Aviv where the Israeli Navy’s first warship, the INS Eilat – originally a icebreaker for the Canadian Navy and then the US Coast Guard, intercepted a group of Egyptian ships in June 1948 with just a few machine guns and a dummy wood cannon. Read about Operation “Pirate” and the 1953 Assistance to Greek Earthquake Victims exhibit, with a life-size dummy dressed in a 1950s commando diving suit completed with weaponry. Look at the pictures of Squadron 788 and their twenty-year stint as guardians of the Sea of Galilee – constantly under fire from Syrian MiG fighter jets and artillery. Learn the amazing story of the capturing of the Egyptian warship Ibrahim El Awell by the Israeli Navy and how it was turned into the INS Haifa. Be mystified at the tale of the Israeli Naval submarine INS Dakar and its disappearance in the Mediterranean Sea in 1968, only to be found in 1999 with the help of the US Navy and modern technology. https://www.touristisrael.com/clandestine-immigration-and-navy-museum-haifa/5072/

The Haifa City Museum is located in the Haifa’s German Colony, at the foot of the famous Baha’i Gardens. Celebrating Haifa’s rich cinematic past, the museum was created within an old Templar Community House originally built in 1869 and recently restored in 2000. Within the museum’s old walls visitors can be taken back to the the age of the silver screen and the years that followed. The Haifa City Museum can be enjoyed by anyone, from film buffs to wide-eyed toddlers with no understanding of the cinematic legends such as Clark Gable, Alfred Hitchcock and Marilyn Monroe. With full blueprints of Haifa’s historical movie-houses, letters on official movie-house letterheads and even opening night invitations in “The Palaces of Haifa” exhibition, you too can be transported back to the time where glamour and fame cycled around the movie industry. A special curtained-off area of the museum’s first floor holds a screen and projector where you can sit and watch old film trailers and old Israeli pre-movie advertisements. Also on display are old film reels and a photo collection donated by a local resident featuring Hollywood’s stars of yesteryear such as Gregory Peck, James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. Largely featured in the Armon Theatre which was established in the Haifa’s Downtown area, not far from the German Colony, in the year 1935. The original theatre had 1800 seats and an electric removable roof for pleasant summer evenings. On opening night, the Armon Theatre showed “The Merry Widow”, an Oscar-winning musical comedy. The theatre met its demise with its closing in the late 80s and was eventually torn down. https://www.touristisrael.com/haifa-city-museum/5537/

Experience sea life underwater without getting wet at the Underwater Observatory Marine Park in Eilat. With the vast coral reef that runs along the Red Sea in Eilat, it is no wonder this is such a popular site. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the park every year, excited to observe and learn about the marine life just below the surface. Students and researchers also use this park as an informational center and a location to conduct research. There are a variety of different displays within the Underwater Observatory Marine Park to explore during your visit. Watch turtles and stingrays glide by in their pools or stop by the Rare Fish Aquarium to see an interesting collection of fish and corals. There is also a photography station there called Photo Aquarium. For an additional fee, visitors can ride Coral 2000, a glass-bottomed boat that sails out of the park and back over the coral reef. https://www.touristisrael.com/underwater-observatory-marine-park/16625/