The Importance of Israel Heritage Sites

"If a nation doesn't know its past, its present is uncertain, and its future is unclear."
- Yigal Alon, Israeli  Minister of Education & Culture in 1969

Historic heritage plays an integral role in the formation, identity and sustenance of a viable community.  

Heritage Sites are universally recognized as a vital asset. The renovation of historic buildings is key to preserving the ancestry, culture and values of our nation.

Remembering and commemorating is the essence of each individual and of our society, as a whole. It fulfills an emotional and psychological need for belonging and it unifies us by creating future hope based on a common past.

Heritage sites provide an educational resource and shared understanding of a nation's historic identity and is an economic hub for local economies, especially through local and foreign tourism.

These heritage values are cherished especially in Israel, an ancient land that provides the geographic context and spiritual bedrock of the Bible. The rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 engendered an ongoing heritage of heroic struggles for a right to a Jewish homeland and international recognition among the family of nations.

What is the most important value of Israel Heritage Sites?

It keeps the stories alive.

A heritage site is much more than just the physical location.

Each Israel Heritage Site highlights the stories about people’s dreams, challenges and accomplishments during different periods in pre-state Israel and after the 1948 War of Independence.

Heritage sites connect us to the Land of Israel and to the lives of the pioneers who built the foundations of Israel’s modern society.  

We learn about the turbulent journeys and untold narratives of those who reached the Promised Land and we commemorate our fearless heroes who lost their lives fighting for our homeland.

Jewish National Fund - USA, together with the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites (SPIHS), are obligated to the continued development and preservation of heritage sites that connect the history of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and relates their stories that created our living heritage.

To learn more about Israel’s heritage sites and SPIHS, click here.