Dedication and official opening slated for Jerusalem Day eve
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation announced the opening of its Chain of Generations Center, after more than two years in which a major renovation and the coronavirus pandemic kept the site closed to the public. The dedication and official opening will take place on May 09, 2021, which coincides with the start of Jerusalem Day.
The Chain of Generations Center has been completely revamped to include enhanced, integrated content using state-of-the-art technology, and housed in a newly designed space meant to give visitors a memorable and highly personal experience.
Established by Mortimer B. Zuckerman in honor of daughters Abigail and Renee Zuckerman, and by Ira and Ingeborg Rennert, the Chain of Generations Center tells the story of the Jewish people throughout the generations, emphasizing their eternal connection to Jerusalem. The large subterranean complex is divided into four main spaces and showcases a magnificent display of abstract art and glass columns, depicting the chain of generations of the Jewish people.
Using interactive, high tech equipment, visitors will take an emotional journey through the Center’s four central themes: Faith, Values, Hope, and Tradition, an integral part of what preserved the Jews as a people through many trials and challenges. The “journey” is narrated by Israeli singer and composer Eviatar Banai, with a special musical arrangement written by Israeli musician Assaf Amdursky.
The visit begins with faith: Visitors meet Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, who established his faith in one God and handed it down to his children; the Children of Israel passed down values when they became a nation in the Land of Israel. Next is the Hall of Destruction, in which the visitor encounters hope. And finally, in the Hall of Yearning – there is tradition; the Jewish people survived the Holocaust with faith, values, hope and tradition, to experience a rebirth.
The experience concludes with a personal connection to the story. Scattered among the glass columns that become columns of faith, values, hope, and tradition, will be photos of visitors taken at the Center’s entrance, as they become the next links in the Jewish “Chain of Generations.”
Entrance is with advance reservations and payment at +972-2-627-1333 and through the Kotel website, https://thekotel.org/en/book-a-tour/
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation looks forward to welcoming visitors again to its new space. “We are proud of the newly-designed Chain of Generations Center and invite the public to embark on a unique journey through the generations of Jewish history; to experience the excitement that passes from family to family, from generation to generation, at the Judaism’s most significant site, of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. The Foundation invested significant resources to create quality content that connects all visitors, regardless of where they are from, to the heritage of the Western Wall and the Jewish nation’s Chain of Generations.”
The exhibit is currently open in accordance with the Health Ministry’s Tav Hasegol and is available only in Hebrew at this time. An English translation will be available in the near future.
