The Cleveland-based Mandel Foundation has given $12 million to the Israel Museum to complete the museum’s $100 million expansion campaign, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
From the Plain Dealer:
The Mandel’s gift will pay for the reconstruction and the reinstallation of the museum’s newly named Jack, Joseph and Morten Mandel Wing for Jewish Art and Life.
Five million dollars will go to endow and support the wing’s future programming, operations, and acquisitions.
At its completion, the wing will include four original synagogue interiors from European, Asian and American cultures, and will give visitors an understanding of the practices of Jewish communities from around the world.
It will also trace the diaspora, or expulsion of Jews from the Middle Ages to the present.
"My brothers, Jack and Joe, and I are committed to enhancing the quality of Jewish education in Israel and around the world," Morton L. Mandel, chairman of the Mandel Foundation, said in a statement. "We view the collections of the Israel Museum — particularly in the fields of Jewish art and life — as a unique treasure, illustrating the world legacy of Jewish life and enhancing the understanding of world Jewish heritage.
"We are honored to support the renewal and endowment of the Museum’s Jewish Art and Life Wing as a meaningful component of our mission."
The three Mandel brothers founded Premier Industrial Corp. in Cleveland in 1940. They sold the company in 1996 for nearly $3 billion.
The Mandel family and their foundation has given generously locally.
They recently donated $16 million to move the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland from Playhouse Square to Beachwood. And they also donated $13.5 million to fund the continuing expansion of the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood.
Other beneficiaries of the Mandel Foundation include Case Western Reserve University, with its Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations.
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