Menachem Begin Museum Review

Posted by DMiller | 2:49 AM | ,

Yesterday I visited the Menachem Begin Museum (at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center). 

The museum, as you guessed it, is about Menachem Begin, the 6th Prime Minister of Israel. The museum is a multi-media tour: A tour guide leads you and ~20 people through a maze of large screens where you see video footage of Begin's life (with some reenactments). There is some original Begin memorabilia such as furniture from his home in Tel Aviv, but not much. 

Pros:
1) Gives an inspiring overview (although with significant bias) of an important Jewish/Israeli figure. 
2) The tour guide forces the tour to move along so that you don't have time to get bored.
3) Learning through video and audio is generally easier than reading for most people. 
4) Knowledgable and friendly tour guide.

Cons:
1) Lack of original memorabilia.
2) The entire museum could really be a video instead. 
3) Tour guide doesn't give much time to read the writing on the walls.
4) Museum is biased in favor of Begin. It would have been more interesting if we could have heard a bit about his opposition.

Overall: The museum is best for someone that wants a general overview of Menachem Begin. If you know nothing about him, this is a good place to get an overview of who he was and what he stood for without having to read a book. If you really want to delve into him though, one biography about him will teach you much more than the museum. (A reading of Wikipedia will give you most of the information you'll get at the museum, but the museum will tell it to you with more feeling.)

I still don't know if any man really deserves an entire museum for himself. I thought the same thing when I visited Rothschild exhibit in the Tel Aviv museum. 


Where: It's near the Inbal Hotel/windmill. Basically go to the fountain with lions near the beginning/end of Emek Refaim and there is a sign to the Begin center. 

Cost: 25 shekel, (20 shekel for students and elderly).

Tips: Order a spot in advance as I had to wait an hour to get a spot on the tour. 
Tours are in several languages including English and Hebrew and they give you headphones to translate the Hebrew videos.