JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Cabinet approved a proposal to construct a Bible museum in or around Jerusalem.
Recommendations for the Heichal Hatanakh Museum, which also will serve as a conference center, will be submitted to the Cabinet within 60 days.
"The Tanakh is where the Jewish People – in Israel and the Diaspora – was forged. The goals for its establishment are directed both inward toward Israeli society, and toward the peoples of the world and the academic community," according to the Cabinet’s decision.
The museum will feature biblical manuscripts that have been translated into 2,000 languages and dialects, as well as artistic drawings and photographs that tell the stories of the Tanakh, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
"The great value of this project is not only in the heritage of the Tanakh," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "but also in its accessibility to the public at large in Israel and around the world. It is absurd that in the land of the Tanakh, there is no place dedicated to it. The Tanakh belongs to billions of people around the world, and its museum must be in Jerusalem."
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