Tel Aviv University : Historic Designation for TAU's Cymbalista Synagogue & Jewish Heritage Center; Campus landmark is currently the most modern structure with protected status from top Israeli conservation authority.
ENPNewswire-July 29, 2022--Tel Aviv University : Historic Designation for TAU's Cymbalista Synagogue & Jewish Heritage Center; Campus landmark is currently the most modern structure with protected status from top Israeli conservation authority
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Release date- 28072022 - The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center at Tel Aviv University was designated as a protected 'Heritage Site' by one of Israel's top conservation authorities, TAU announced this week.
Completed in 1998, the building is currently the most-modern from around the country to hold the status from the Council for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel. The designation of this status signifies the building's unique qualities, both in its architectural and social aspects. The designation ensures the physical preservation of the Cymbalista Synagogue as a building of historic significance.
The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center is located at the heart of the campus. With its broad rectangular base rising into two spiraling towers emblematic of a Torah scroll, the impressive building is a landmark work of architecture on campus and in Israel. It functions as a synagogue. The Center also serves as an academic and cultural meeting ground and includes a study room, a library, an auditorium, and a museum. Those affiliated with TAU can use the synagogue as a venue for weddings and bar mitzvahs.
In the Spirit of Respect
Swiss real estate developer, philanthropist, and TAU Honorary Doctor and Governor Norbert Cymbalista and his wife Paulette commissioned the building. It was devised to house a synagogue and bridge the gaps between religious and secular segments of Israeli society-and between the different denominations of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform-in an academic environment.
'I am thrilled about the new designation, which reaffirms my decision to create a space in the spirit of respect for tradition, but also in the realization that dialogue and acceptance of different viewpoints are essential for Israel's development as a democratic society,' says Cymbalista.
Cymbalista explains that the building's initial construction plans were solely for a synagogue. However, the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli Jew reinforced Cymbalista's fear that the most dangerous challenge facing Israel was the rift between the religious and secular segments of the population...
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