Weitzman Jewish museum names its new CEO from Israel
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The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History has named its new leader. Dan Tadmor, currently CEO of the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel, will assume his new role in Philadelphia in January 2025.
Tadmor will replace current CEO Misha Galperin, who announced a year ago his intention to step down once a successor could be found.
For the last 12 years, Tadmor led ANU — formerly the Diaspora Museum, or Beit Hatfutsot — through a $100 million capital campaign for a major expansion of the institution, which is touted as the most comprehensive Jewish museum in the world. Before that, he ran the television production company Tel-Ad in Israel, managing partnerships with American production companies like A&E, Lifetime, History Channel and MGM.
He has never before worked in the United States. However, he says ANU's donor base is largely American, which he will bring to the Weitzman.
"The two great Jewish communities in the world are Israel and America, so I am very much familiar with the story of American Jews," Tadmor said. "The mission of ANU is a global one, so while we're based in Tel Aviv there are traveling exhibitions, educational programs and digital initiatives intended for the global Jewish world. Many of our users, clients, collaborators and partners are in America."
Tadmor has worked with the Weitzman in the past, most recently bringing an exhibition of artifacts from the Hamas attack at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. He said the Weitzman's reputation as a leading Jewish museum goes well beyond Philadelphia.
"It's a wonderful museum at a perfect location," he said. "The story that it tells and will tell has never been more important, both for Jews and for non-Jews. The story of the Jewish people in general, and American Jews in particular, is a story that is evolving."
The museum board calls on Tadmor to overhaul and update its permanent core exhibition, which was conceived about 20 years ago and has remained largely unchanged. Artifacts and items including Irving Berlin's piano, Stephen Spielberg's 8mm movie camera and a series of immersive rooms describing the history of Jewish life in America are on display.
"The world has changed since the core exhibition was imagined and implemented," said museum co-chair Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum. "It's time for our next ambitious phase, which is reimagining the Weitzman for a new generation in a very rapidly changing world."
The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,100 Israelis, and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, which has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, have brought fundamental changes to Jewish life in America. Incidents of antisemitism have risen sharply and 61% of Jews in America reported that they feel unsafe .
The Weitzman also wants Tadmor to update its exhibition technology to meet current visitor expectations and to shepherd the museum through a process to become part of the Smithsonian Institute , which could take years.
"It's never been more important to tell the story of American Jews, and we need to do so from a bold new perspective," said Kestenbaum.
Tadmor said he and his wife will relocate to Philadelphia while keeping a residence in Tel Aviv, where their adult children and grandchildren live. He said his youngest son, 18, is about to begin his mandatory conscription into the Israel Defense Forces.
"That's going to be a challenge," Tadmor said. "My wife is going to be traveling extensively back and forth, and so will I."
Tadmor lived in the San Francisco Bay Area as a child, where he learned to speak English and became a fan of the Giants, Warriors and 49ers. He said he has no intention to shift his loyalties to Philadelphia's teams.
"I know that is blasphemy in Philly. I'm sorry. You don't switch teams," he said. "You don't switch the people that you're with: the Jewish people, and you don't switch teams."
Kestenbaum, a third-generation Philadelphian, has her work cut out for her.
"He will have a board and staff that will be working on him to change that perspective," she said. "We'll see what happens."
