Grapevine November 24, 2024: On the move

■ IN JULY of this year, Adi Akunis, the director of International Relations at ANU, the Museum of the Jewish People, left to join her husband Ofer Akunis, who has taken up his post as Israel Consul General in New York. Less than half a year later, the Museum’s CEO Dan Tadmor also resigned to head for the United States. In his case, it’s Philadelphia, where he has been appointed the president and CEO of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.

Tadmor has accepted the challenge of growing the Weitzman into the biggest and most comprehensive museum of its kind in the US, with the goal of it becoming a Jewish version of the Smithsonian. That will be quite some task under any circumstances, but more so considering that James Snyder, emeritus director of the Israel Museum, who oversaw its impressive transformation, was last year appointed director of New York’s Jewish Museum, and took up his new role exactly a year ago.

Both men have had extensive museum experience and both have taken the cultural institutions which they headed to new heights.

Tadmor was at the ANU Museum for 12 years, arriving long before it changed its name and entered into an ambitious $100 million renewal and expansion. He is now looking to new horizons in a different country.  However, his experience at ANU will serve him well in Philadelphia as he sets out to expand the Weitzman  Museum and enhance its image.

Established in 1976 as the only museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to exploring and interpreting the American Jewish experience. The Weitzman has been in its current home, a 100,000-square-foot James Polshek-designed building on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, since 2010.

A one of a kind

“Our museum is the only one of its kind,” said Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum, co-chair of the Weitzman’s Board of Trustees. “We are the only Jewish museum that tells the story of American Jews in its entirety, making us truly the nation’s Jewish museum. It is through this unique lens that we work to counter antisemitism, bigotry, and hate by teaching broad audiences who the Jewish People are and how Jewish Americans have contributed to this country for nearly four centuries. We do this through our exhibitions, programs, and educational initiatives that reach nationwide. My co-chair, the trustees, and I look forward to expanding our impact and realizing our vision for the future under Dan’s expert leadership.”

Tadmor’s reputation has preceded him in the US, and his appointment has been hailed by political as well as cultural and academic figures.

“We are proud of all we have accomplished and we are also excited to embrace change,” said co-chair Mark Oster. “We are ready to take the best of who we are and what we do and carry it forward, but we are also poised for a new chapter in which we tell the stories of Jewish Americans in powerful and relevant new ways. That such a respected leader in the field sees the value of our mission and the opportunity of our new direction and is excited to take the helm and lead us into our next era is truly energizing. We’re thrilled that Dan Tadmor – a seasoned storyteller and fundraiser with a track record for reimagining institutions – will be leading us into this exciting new era with bold ideas and a fresh perspective.”

Prior to his work with ANU, Tadmor held executive leadership positions with major publishing and broadcast media companies in Israel. He will officially begin his Weitzman role in January 2025.

The new CEO at ANU is Oded Revivo, the former long-term mayor of Efrat, who will take up his position on December 1.

After completing his service as mayor, Revivo, a senior officer in the IDF reserves, volunteered to work with the Home Front Command in training local municipalities on procedures to follow during emergency situations. In addition, at the request of the Interior Ministry, he assisted new mayors in their initial steps as heads of municipalities.

■ AT THE recent Conference of European Rabbis (CER) in Munich, prize-winning UK-based  journalist Josh Aronson, the Diaspora correspondent for Maariv, the sister publication of The Jerusalem Post, was presented with a certificate of appreciation for his intensive coverage of the activities of Diaspora Jewry. In expressing his thanks for the recognition awarded to him, Aronson surprised the conference participants by telling them that his grandfather has been one of the founders of the organization in 1937, and would be proud to know of the honor given to his grandson.

There’s another reason that his grandfather and other family members would be proud. As a child, Aronson was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum. His parents consulted several experts and were told to treat him normally and to simply encourage him to do what he was good at. The advice proved to be sound, and Aronson has made a successful career for himself.

■ IN RESPONSE to the dire situation confronting most local restaurants and bars, the Israeli Association of Restaurants and Bars will hold an emergency meeting at Pavilion One at Expo Tel Aviv on November 27.  Many restaurants and bars in the North and South have either closed or are on the verge of closing due to the security situation and lack of clientele. Staff in the hospitality industry have lost their jobs. And even in places that are relatively safe, the lack of tourists has placed a severe strain on existing enterprises.

However, there are exceptions, such as celebrity chef Haim Cohen who is celebrating the 13th anniversary of his restaurant in Jaffa and has recently opened a new kosher fish restaurant in Bnei Brak. He also has other food-related business interests. But Cohen didn’t always have it easy. Although restaurant reviews and cooking contests on television are now highly popular as are other food-related programs, when Cohen and fellow celebrity chef Yisrael Aharoni, early in their careers, came to what was then the only television channel with the proposal for a pilot program on cuisine, they were curtly dismissed.

But it didn’t take too long before each had his own television program, with a faithful following. Both are success stories even at a time when many of their colleagues are barely keeping their heads above water.

Cohen will participate in a panel discussion that is designed to give survival and compensation tips to proprietors and workers. Several Members of Knesset, lawyers, and accountants will also participate.

The conference is part of Food Week which is an initiative of the Shriram Food Industry Limited (Greta Group).

■ EVER SINCE he came into office, President Isaac Herzog has tried to set an example of civilized behavior and cordial relations despite differences in political or religious beliefs. But his pleas and his initiatives in this respect seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

In an address last week to the Council for Higher Education, Herzog lamented the disgusting behavior toward families of the hostages, who suffer terrible indignities and humiliation from certain segments of the population as do the head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the IDF chief of staff, and the attorney general, whose opponents treat her as if she were the enemy of the state who is ready to kill them. He said he found the physical and verbal abuse intolerable.

Herzog was equally critical of those who threw flares at the Prime Minister’s home in Caesarea, accusing him of treason again and again. The president was at a loss to know what had happened to the nation. “It’s not logical,” he declared.  “Haven’t we suffered enough?”

Have we not yet understood that such behavior is harmful to the security of the state? Have we not understood that this will destroy the state?”

Citing a toll of fallen soldiers that now exceeds 800, Herzog said that there are those who sacrifice themselves on behalf of the country and pay with their lives and there are those who are destructive. He intends to fight against the latter with all his might.