A bird’s eye view of the park (Photo: Studio Urbanof)
On a warm afternoon in mid-July, the MUZA Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv held a festive ceremony marking the opening of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel MUZA Park. The 22-acre park, which is open to the public free of charge, connects the museum with the city and people of Tel Aviv. The park was built at a cost of 74 million shekel (20 million US dollars), thanks to a grant from the Mandel Foundation and matching funds from the Tel Aviv-Yafo Foundation.
The ceremony was held in the presence of Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo and chairman of the Tel Aviv Foundation; Steve Hoffman, chairman of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation; Moshe Vigdor, director general of the Mandel Foundation–Israel; Ami Katz, CEO of MUZA; and former Minister Limor Livnat, chairwoman of MUZA. Professor Jehuda Reinharz, president and CEO of the Mandel Foundation, was not able to attend the event due to illness.
Left to right: Ami Katz, Moshe Vigdor, Limor Livnat, Ron Huldai, and Steve Hoffman at the launch of the Mandel MUZA Park (Photo: Dana Kopel / Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel MUZA Park)
The park includes a man-made pond, a reconstructed olive press and flour mill, a planetarium, archeological exhibits from the museum’s collection, and a pavilion with a beautiful collection of Judaica. Visitors are able to stroll through winding paths lined with mulberry trees and local flora, grapevine trellises, quiet seating areas, and water fountains. The park, designed by landscape architect Leor Lovinger of Studio Urbanof, will be used as a venue for cultural events and exhibitions.
The ecological pond and planetarium (Photo: Mandel Foundation–Israel)
Speaking to the assembled guests, Mandel Foundation chairman Steve Hoffman recounted how the Mandel Foundation came to sponsor the renovation of a public park, as flora and fauna are not usually in its realms of giving. He explained that urban renewal is one of the Foundation’s areas of engagement and that the Foundation has awarded grants to connect Cleveland’s neighborhoods with the Lakefront, in order to strengthen the neighborhoods and enhance the quality of life of their residents. He also told a story about the time that he, Professor Jehuda Reinharz, and the late Morton Mandel, founding chairman and CEO of the Mandel Foundation, visited a lookout named for Mort’s brother Jack, and Mort commented that sitting under the trees and looking out at the Judean mountains was a deeply satisfying experience. Steve expressed the hope that the new oasis of green in Tel Aviv will bring similar happiness to the people of the city.
Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, and Steve Hoffman, chairman of the Mandel Foundation, at the dedication ceremony (Photo: Dana Kopel / Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel MUZA Park)
Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, said that the park will remove the division between the city and the museum, bringing the heritage of culture and art to the residents of the city, and thanked the Mandel Foundation warmly for its partnership, vision and concern for the welfare of the city’s residents. “Today we are seeing the birth of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel MUZA Park” said Ami Katz, CEO of the museum. “A baby is born, and as usually happens in families, the baby will change reality forever,” he continued. Ami thanked the leadership of the Mandel Foundation and all the parties involved in the project for “developing this wonder” in the city of Tel Aviv.
Musicians at the opening ceremony of the Mandel MUZA Park (Photo: Dana Kopel / Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel MUZA Park)
