Meeting Louis Sneh

By Rob Eshman
Published on April 4, 2013

Many years ago, when I was a young, harried father, I would sit in synagogue on Shabbat mornings and try to keep my kids quiet. It was a task I consistently failed at. Their mother, the rabbi, was on the bimah, leading services. She had the easy job.

Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem vandalized

Published on February 14, 2013

A historic Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem was vandalized in an apparent price tag attack.

Soviet gulag survivor’s courage

Published on November 1, 2012

It was standing room only at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, as a crowd packed the Hertz Theatre to hear Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, the celebrated Russian refusenik and author, stress the importance of standing up for one’s principles.

Living with Holocaust ghosts

By Susan Freudenheim
Published on April 25, 2012

Ed Asner, aka Lou Grant, walked slowly to the front of the stage at the Museum of Tolerance on Sunday night, and in his familiar growl — this time with a Latvian accent — he softly spoke: “Thank you for the help that is not only material, but also moral. A person lives through hope, and I hope it will get better.”

Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance architects threaten to quit

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 5, 2011

The architects of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem have threatened to resign, two weeks before the scheduled start of construction.

Museum of Tolerance architects threaten to quit

Published on October 4, 2011

The architects of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem have threatened to quit two weeks before construction is set to begin.

2 teens sentenced in Calabasas anti-Semitic graffiti case

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 15, 2011

Remembering 9/11 victims at Museum of Tolerance

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 12, 2011

Pollsters probe depths of American fear at Museum of Tolerance’s pre-9/11 event

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 8, 2011

Museum of Tolerance and political group to hold ‘provocative’ 9/11-themed event

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 6, 2011

Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance wins Knesset approval to build

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on July 12, 2011

After years of delays due to legal challenges and fundraising setbacks, the Simon Wiesenthal Center received permission on July 12 from the Israeli Ministry of the Interior’s District Planning and Construction Committee to begin construction on the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. The ministry gave a green light to a revised design for the building, saying that because the building’s footprint would remain the same as an earlier plan, a new review process would not be necessary.

Jerusalem planning committee approves Museum of Tolerance

Published on June 9, 2011

The Jerusalem municipal planning committee has approved plans for a scaled-back Museum of Tolerance in the center of Jerusalem. The plan was approved more than two years after the project of the Simon Wiesenthal Center was withdrawn due to the slumping economy.

Museum of Tolerance to Create Exhibit on Pope John Paul II

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on May 3, 2011

On April 29, two days before Pope John Paul II was beatified in Rome, the Simon Wiesenthal Center announced plans to establish a new permanent exhibit at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles dedicated to the late pontiff.

New Museum of Tolerance Exhibition Remembers the Halabjan Genocide

By Ryan Torok
Published on March 25, 2010

Last Tuesday, 22 years to the day after the Iraqi government, led by Saddam Hussein, committed an act of genocide against the Kurdish people of Halabja, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles unveiled a small but graphic exhibition in its Museum of Tolerance (MOT) commemorating the 5,000 Kurds who were killed. Hussein’s catastrophic chemical barrage was intended to suppress guerilla revolts at the end of the Iran-Iraq War.

Museum of Tolerance Solidarity Conference

By Sara Shereen Bakhshian
Published on June 26, 2009

On Tuesday, June 23, the Simon Wiesenthal Center hosted a press conference, “Americans Unite in Solidarity with People of Iran,” the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance.

City Council approves Museum of Tolerance expansion

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on June 9, 2009

After almost two years of proposals, hearing and protests, the Museum of Tolerance's planned expansion received unanimous approval today from the City Council.

Madoff,  Christmas, Chanukah and Hebron

Published on December 25, 2008

" . . . I am so proud of Rob Eshman. His condemnation of Bernard Madoff flies in the faces of those many Jews who believe in the lunacy that Jews can do no wrong . . . "

Ralph Waldo Emerson, it’s always Sunny in Hebron

Published on December 18, 2008

" , , , Eshman, here is the question I have for you: Brother can you spare a dime? . . . "

Protests over Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance spread

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on December 11, 2008

Although the cemetery hasn't been used in at least 50 years and has long since been declared mundras -- no longer sacred -- by Muslim authorities, critics of the Center for Human Dignity have charged the Wiesenthal Center with being intolerant in its quest to build a Jerusalem version of its West. L.A. museum.

Rabbi Hier responds to criticism of Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on November 24, 2008

Outcry continues against Museum of Tolerance on Muslim cemetery

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on November 20, 2008

Israel Supreme Court OKs Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem project

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 29, 2008

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Simon Wiesenthal Center can build is long-planned Center for Human Dignity -- Museum of Tolerance on a contested site in the middle of Jerusalem

Iraqi First Lady at Museum of Tolerance: I remember the Jews of Kurdistan

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 28, 2008

The wife of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani paid a visit to the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Friday, toured its Museum of Tolerance, and recalled her friendship with the Jews of her Kurdish hometown

Jewish Community Foundation announces $1.6 million in grants to ‘Cutting Edge’ orgs

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on August 12, 2008

The largest recipients of the Jewish Community Foundation's (JCF) Cutting Edge Grants, announced this week and totaling $1.6 million, were three programs promoting Jewish identity and connection with Israel through art, music and community leadership

‘Forgotten Hero’ of the Shoah Peter Bergson gets his due times two

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 30, 2008

Can tolerance extend to China exhibition?

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on July 16, 2008

Negotiating with Syria, still with the Rev. Wright brouhaha, Museum of Tolerance expansion

Published on June 5, 2008

". . .The Museum of Tolerance is not a Holocaust museum. It is the educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and its mission is to educate, using the history of the Holocaust. . . One should never forget but remember by the example of how we live our lives . . ."

Small Mac attack, Wright flap, too much tolerance

Published on May 15, 2008

Letters to the Editor

Tolerance Museum director doesn’t tolerate status quo

By Elyse Glickman
Published on May 15, 2008

The Museum of Tolerance is rarely the same experience twice, even with its permanent exhibits. New visuals, soundtracks and materials are added to keep the displays current and relevant. And while many people think of the museum as a "Jewish" institution, it is the "human" experience that touches upon issues that affect visitors of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.

Museum of too much tolerance?

By David Suissa
Published on May 8, 2008

Should the Museum of Tolerance tolerate parties and simchas in a place that commemorates the death of 6 million Jews?

Briefs: Big results and rewards at Big Sunday, Former Weiss deputy enters Fifth District race

Published on May 8, 2008

News Briefs

Photo exhibit highlights the human cost of our bounty

By Roberto Loiederman
Published on March 27, 2008

In the stark black-and-white photo, two small children play in and around water, as children anywhere might do on a hot day. But there's something odd about the image: it isn't the shore or a recreational pool they're playing in, but a concrete irrigation canal.

Fundraising the Rabbi Hier way

By Amy Klein
Published on November 15, 2007

Interview with Rabbi Marvin Hier who created the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Museum of Tolerance and Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA).

Museum of Tolerance expansion plans controversy continues at City Hall

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 1, 2007

A long-running dispute between homeowners and the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance (MOT) and Yeshiva of Los Angeles (YOLA) entered a more formal stage last week, with a hearing by the Los Angeles City Planning Department on Oct. 24 at City Hall.

Museum of Tolerance faces fight with neighbors over expansion plans

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 18, 2007

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which has been battling for more than three years to construct a $200 million center in Israel, is facing another emotional building controversy, this one in its own backyard.

Does Hollywood give Jewish?

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on July 26, 2007

The Wiesenthal Center may only be 30 years old, but Jewish entertainment leaders have been deeply involved in Jewish nonprofits since before Hollywood became synonymous with the motion-picture business.

Briefs: Rabbi Woody Allen; Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem case nears decision

Published on May 17, 2007

Community briefs.

Wiesenthal’s Project in Jerusalem on Hold Amid Dispute

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 23, 2006

Since its beginning in 1977, with one phone and a very long extension cord, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has seemingly moved from one success to the next, with its shrewd, strategic planning and winning message of tolerance. Now it faces a daunting, unfamiliar and discomforting challenge.

Community Briefs

By David Finnigan
Published on September 29, 2005

Soulful 'Hatikvah' Ends Wiesenthal Farewell

It was an unscripted, final moment that may have best captured the Monday memorial at the Museum of Tolerance for Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, who died last week at age 96.

The ceremony had been held outside. As long lines of mourners waited amidst rows of folded chairs to return into the museum, an elderly, white-haired man began singing Israel's national anthem, "Hatikvah," in a loud, lone voice. A ripple of applause followed after Gedalia Arditti, a 77-year-old Greek Jew, belted out the song's last word -- "Yer-u-shal-a-yim!"

Unspeakable Acts, Incredible Pictures

By David Finnigan
Published on July 14, 2005

A large, striped blue-and-white flag bearing the phrase, "Liberation!" greets visitors at the Museum of Tolerance exhibit, "Liberation! Revealing the Unspeakable," about the Allied soldiers and the starved, dying and dead Jews they discovered while liberating concentration camps.

In a hallway there is a row of photographs of soldiers who became the saviors of survivors. Then, down a set of stairs to the main exhibit area, one gallery wall features a 1945 poem written by an unnamed survivor upon learning of Hitler's death:

I have outlived the fiend
My lifelong wish fulfilled
What more need I achieve
My heart is full of joy

The Circuit

By Gaby Wenig
Published on May 13, 2004

Recognition and Honor to individuals, groups, schools and a special appearance by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Tolerator

By Amy Klein
Published on May 6, 2004

Jerusalem -- Half a dozen Israeli teens shouted like rock groupies and pressed up against the blue metal police railing in hopes of catching a glimpse of larger-than-life California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was in Jerusalem Sunday to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Museum of Tolerance's new $200 million museum here.

Young and Old Recall Shoah Rites

By David Finnigan
Published on April 22, 2004

Southern California Jews and non-Jews marked Holocaust Remembrance Day together at numerous events, including one that saw German teenagers and Jewish and Hispanic schoolchildren under the same tent, listening to their peers recite the words of Anne Frank.

Q & A With András Simony

By David Finnigan
Published on February 26, 2004

András Simonyi, Hungary's ambassador to the United States, made his first visit to the Museum of Tolerance Feb. 11 to plan a spring memorial marking this year's 60th anniversary of the Nazi deportation of Hungarian Jews in 1944.

7 Days In Arts

Published on March 13, 2003

Jerusalem of Gehry

By Tom Tugend
Published on August 30, 2001

"It will be the most outstanding building in the State of Israel and will draw worldwide attention," says Rabbi Marvin Hier.

The dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center is referring to the new Museum of Tolerance -- to be known as the Winnick Institute -- that will rise in the heart of Jerusalem on Hillel Street, any opposition notwithstanding.

Frank Gehry, widely considered the world's most innovative contemporary architect, is designing the $130 million center, a guarantee that it will indeed attract global attention and controversy.

Open Letter to President Bill

By Ari Hier
Published on January 18, 2001

This is the first time I have written a letter of this kind, but I felt it was time to express my feelings on paper.

Rally for the ‘Iran 13’

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 20, 2000

The Passover theme of liberation took on new meaning when more than 1,000 people rallied Sunday to demand freedom for the 13 Iranian Jews, imprisoned in Shiraz a year ago and facing trial for alleged espionage.

Sewing Controversy At Museum of Tolerance

By Eric Roth
Published on December 2, 1999

Visitors to the Museum of Tolerance expect to encounter evidence of brutality and organized evil. The current third floor exhibit, built around a reconstruction of a slave factory with barbed wire, and featuring video testimonials from survivors, seems predictable enough.
Yet the events documented didn't happen in Eastern Europe during the 1940s. The victims were rescued by government authorities, and the illegal garment factory imprisoning 73 Thai workers was located in El Monte, California in the early 1990s.

A Reminder: Slavery Still Exists

By Lori Schneide
Published on March 18, 1999

Hundreds of people turned out for the Simon Weisenthal Center Museum of Tolerance's one-day symposium, "A Call to Freedom." The conference, held last month, highlighted the plight of black slaves in Sudan and Mauritania, where today, "tens of thousands of blacks are sold into slavery, raised like slaves and have the deadened expressions of men and women who know no other life but the life of a slave," said Sam Cotton, author of "Silent Terror," a book describing his secret trip to Mauritania where he interviewed slaves.

And I Still See Their Faces: Images of Polish Jews

By Diane Arieff
Published on November 13, 1997

Polish Jewry before the war is the subject of a powerfulphoto exhibit at the Museum of Tolerance

Fugard at the Museum of Tolerance

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on July 10, 1997

If you missed Athol Fugard's "Valley Song" at the Taper, here's a chance to see two plays by the pre-eminent South African playwright at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance.