nation / world
Israel to Build a Museum Dedicated to Albert Einstein
An $18 million museum dedicated to the legacy of Albert Einstein will be built in
Jerusalem, JTA.org reported.

The Israeli government approved a plan on Oct. 23 to establish a new home for
Einstein’s extensive materials, including some 85,000 documents, on the campus
of the Hebrew University, which Einstein helped found a century ago.

It’s the world’s largest collection of papers and objects related to Einstein and
includes his Nobel Prize and the original notes he produced while developing the
general theory of relativity in 1916, according to Benyamin Cohen, who is writing
a biography of the physicist.

“Albert Einstein is an asset, the biggest brand name in the world for intelligence,
science and genius,” Israel’s alternate prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said, adding
that he expects the museum to become “a pilgrimage site for anyone who wants
to become familiar with Einstein, Jewish intelligence, and intelligence in general.”
A third of the funding for the museum will come from the Israeli government
and the rest from the university and its donors, including art collector Jose Mugrabi.

Taliban Approves Conservation Work on Historic Afghan Synagogue
Though the Jews of Herat in western Afghanistan haven’t lived there in decades,
the city’s historic synagogue, thought to have been built around the turn of the
20th century, is set to undergo a conservation project with the backing of the
Taliban government, JTA.org reported, citing the Art Newspaper.

The 16-month project, set to start in November, is aimed at preventing the col-
lapse of the Yu Aw synagogue’s structure. It is being planned by the Herat munic-
ipality and other local organizations, and it is being funded with nearly $500,000
from the Aliph Foundation, a Swiss group aimed at protecting cultural heritage
sites in conflict areas. The community mikvah, known as the Hammam-e
Mosaie, will also be repaired as part of the project.

The synagogue last underwent a two-year restoration project that was com-
pleted in 2009, with funding from another Swiss organization. For a few years,
it served as an educational center for women and children, but it was shut down
again in 2014 due to seepage from a “poorly constructed, UN-funded municipal
drainage channel in the adjoining road,” the Art Newspaper reported. It is also
not explicitly a Jewish heritage project.

“This is a cultural and historic site, which is not used as a place of worship,
and the local government will support its preservation,” Zalmay Safa, the head of
Herat’s monuments department, told the Art Newspaper.

IDF Adopts All-female Tank Crews for Border Defense
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Oct. 27 that it will permanently adopt
the model of all-female tank crews for border defense missions, JNS.org reported.

In a statement, the military said the decision follows a lengthy and comprehen-
sive examination process that began two years ago, and which included a training
period and a significant operational activity period.

An initial pilot program began in 2018, but the IDF chose to launch a second
program in 2020.

Tank crew members are chosen according to clearly defined criteria and must
undergo an exam based on professional parameters, the IDF stated, before being
placed in border protection tank deployments.

The first four female tank commanders in the IDF completed their grueling
training course in 2018, before beginning operational duties.

Israel Ranks Sixth Worldwide in Marriage Rate
An analysis conducted by Confused.com of Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development data showed that Israel has the sixth-highest
marriage rate in the world, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel was the highest-ranking country outside of Europe, tallying 5.3 marriages per
1,000 people. That ranks just ahead of the United States at 5.1 marriages per 1,000.

Cyprus topped the list with 8.9 marriages per 1,000 people in 2019.

Hungary ranked second at 6.9 marriages per 1,000 people, followed by Turkey
at 5.8. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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