Israel’s vast history and vibrant culture has translated into a plethora of fascinating museums. In fact, Israel has the most museums per capita of any country on earth. Indeed, the Dead Sea Scrolls at the world-renowned Israel Museum are a must, as are the powerful stories and images of Yad Vashem. But what about the lesser known hotbeds of Israeli culture which fly under the radar?
Here is a diverse list of ten Israeli museums you need to check out.
1. Museum of Underground Prisoners- Jerusalem
Central to Israel attaining statehood in 1948 was the activity of three underground organizations– Haganah, Irgun and Lehi– during the decades under the British Mandate. The Museum of Underground Prisoners, located in the Russian Compound district of Jerusalem, commemorates the hundreds of Israeli prisoners who resisted the British and were imprisoned in the very building where the museum is now situated. One of its most intriguing exhibits is the Escape Room, a cell in which twelve Irgun and Lehi prisoners dug a hole underground that connected to a sewer, allowing them to escape and join the fight for Israeli Independence in 1948.
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2. Janco-Dada Museum – Ein Hod
Dadaism emerged as one of the defining artistic movements of the 20th century, and the Janco-Dada Museum in Ein Hod is an artistic shrine to one of its pioneers: Israeli artist Marcel Janco. Opened by his friends in 1983, the museum colorfully displays a combination of Janco’s work and installations from contemporary Israeli artists. The museum serves as a bountiful resource for art students of all ages, as well as those who simply want to experience one of Israel’s most impactful artistic legacies.
3. Design Museum – Holon
Countless museums in Israel focus on the nation’s rich history, but one in particular has become a symbol in recent years of the country’s impact on contemporary culture and design. Design Museum Holon is a feat in design itself; renowned architect Ron Arad designed the building in 2010, imbuing the museum’s exterior with five breathtaking ribboned bands of steel and an iconic look. Inside, the museum contains interactive installations and tasteful exhibitions which highlight the intersection between design, culture and everyday life.
4. Keren Sahar Classic Car Museum – Kibbutz Eyal
Kibbutz Eyal in Israel’s Central District may not seem like it would be home to one of the country’s more eye-opening museums. But Uri Sahar’s unbelievable classic car collection, which he has transformed into the Keren Sahar Classic Car Museum, is a stunning sanctuary to vintage automobiles. The museum holds a vast collection of mostly British cars from the 1930s and 1940s, including a 1930 MG Midget Sports Car which uses cloth that is stretched over its ash frame in its design.
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5. The Israel Children’s Museum- Holon
The Israel Children’s Museum provides interactive experiences and workshops for children and adults alike to learn about what it means to be human. Located in Holon’s Shimon Peres Park, the museum’s exhibits are centered around a variety of topics such as emotional intelligence, imagination, communication and tolerance. Two notable special exhibitions include “Dialogue in the Dark,” an interactive exhibit led by sight-impaired guides which focuses on the senses, and “Invitation to Silence,” a workshop about communication led by guides who are deaf.
6. Hebrew Music Museum – Jerusalem
Music can serve as a unifying language between cultures, and one of Israel’s museums puts this sentiment on full display. The Hebrew Music Museum is home to a diverse array of ancient and rare instruments from a wide variety of cultures and diasporas. Interactive guided and independent tours take visitors on a journey across the world to explore music in all of its forms. The museum utilizes virtual reality in several of its exhibitions, and even gives people the opportunity to play some of the instruments.
7. The Israeli Cartoon Museum – Holon
The Israeli Cartoon Museum not only treats cartoons as a form of art and expression, but also as a lens through which people can think critically about Israeli society and culture. Opened in 2007, the museum has presented over fifty exhibitions on a variety of cartoon-related concepts, and features work ranging from local Isareli cartoonists to the top cartoon artists in the field. The museum also routinely holds artist master classes for cartoonists to hone their craft.
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8. Hermit House – Herzliya
Nissim Kahlon’s Hermit House in Herzliya may not technically qualify as a museum, but nonetheless it is a must-see feat of vernacular architecture. Kahlon, nicknamed “the caveman,” started constructing this sandcastle-type structure by hand out of a mixture of random debris that washed ashore, such as beer bottles, sea glass, and plates in the 1970s. The result is a building which contains dozens of chambers and tunnels into the side of a cliff. This architectural anomaly is visible from the outside, but every now and then Kahlon leads tours inside his masterpiece upon request.
9. Matkot Museum – Tel Aviv
Take a stroll down the beach in Tel Aviv and you will almost certainly see two people in an intense Matkot rally. However, few people know that what Israelis commonly consider their national beach sport has an entire museum dedicated in its honor. Amnon Nissim has turned his residence in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood into a Matkot shrine, displaying over 350 paddles of all kinds of materials and backstories and a host of other Matkot-related paraphernalia. Make sure Nissim is home before planning a visit, and see paddles, trophies, clocks in the shape of rackets, and other accessories which makes his house the true home of Israel’s favorite game.
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10. Saba’s Little Museum – Jerusalem
They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and there is no greater example of this than at Saba’s Little Museum. The concept is simple: the museum takes random, unwanted trinkets and household objects from the past— old radios, outdated appliances, children’s toys– and uses them as a vehicle to collectively tell different stories of the Jewish people. The warehouse-like building resembles a cluttered attic, but the museum’s disorganized appearance can be deceiving; each object has a particular, nostalgic story which the owners of the museum will happily tell.
Bonus: The Knesset’s Hidden Jerusalem Reunification Room
Tours of Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem are common for the country’s museum-goers. However, a recently revealed secret of the building has made this experience even more special and is something we had to include on this list. Inside the Knesset is a small, hidden shelter room, which happens to be the very location where Levi Eshkol’s government made the history-altering decision to unify Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. On the first day of the war, a government conference had to be relocated to this unassuming shelter room due to Jordanian bombardment of the surrounding area, and it was there where Menachem Begin and Yigal Allon’s plan to liberate Jerusalem was authorized. Until recently, this room was used for storage, but now it stands as both a historic landmark and a must-see stop in the building, even as it is surprisingly left out of the standard tour.
Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Aaron Silverstein is an English, Creative Writing and Philosophy student at Colgate University.
He is a Summer 2022 intern for HonestReporting.
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