“Israel is known as a Sparta-like nation that fights for existence with military might and Jews are remembered as people who suffered through the Holocaust,” claims Eliyahu Tal, a communications and public relations expert who initiated the idea of building a Jewish Hall of Fame in Jerusalem, a project aimed at educating the world about the contributions made by Jews to civilization. Tal says that the achievements made by Jews to the world have been forgotten.
“We must show what we have done, in a tasteful, serious and unexaggerated manner,” he says. The Hall of Fame is also necessary to educate Jews, he adds. Tal suggests that the building be constructed near the Yad Vashem Memorial or near the government buildings there. He claims that about $12 million would be required to construct the first 12 wings, each one devoted to a specific field of endeavor.
Tal, who has traveled to Europe and the United States explaining his idea, maintains that raising money for the Hall of Fame will not pose any problem. He met, he says, with enthusiastic interest wherever he went. Tal mentioned a few names he thought should be included in the Hall of Fame: Karl Marx, Amedeo Modigliant, Julius Reuter, Franz Kafka, Edward G. Robinson and Bob Dylan.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
