Deceptively described and marketed. The artwork is beautiful and the owner is informative. On the other hand, it is certainly not a museum. It Is an art gallery where the point is to purchase artwork. Don't go if you are expecting exhibits of curated artwork.
Museum of Psalms
A Unique Museum in the Old City
The Museum of Psalms is a one of kind museum located at the center of the Old City. Ever since the museum opened in 1995, it has been moving forward with a strong mission and a clear vision: to satisfy the growing demand for spiritually inspired art.
The main exhibit displays a collection of 150 paintings based on the Book of Psalms. Each painting portrays one specific psalm at a time (according to the Jewish tradition, the Book of Psalms consists of 150 individual psalms). The artist Moshe Tzvi Halevi Berger painted the series over a period of 15 years. The palette used by Berger consists of only the seven rainbow colors, combining together art and spirituality. The colors represent different virtues of the soul, painted with rich and astonishingly beautiful imagery. Every brushstroke is felt, and the complex and original method of painting immediately captures the eye of the observer. Berger’s works are displayed with annotations in a variety of languages that interpret and provide extra information about each painting. Each remark is composed as a song to enrich the spiritual world of the observer.
Moreover, the museum displays another collection of the artist and that is the Sun series. The Sun series comprises 42 paintings that illustrate the Kabbalistic ideas of light, meditation and healing, through various permutations of the motif of the sun. Another truly inspiring exhibit is the Tree of Life series. The artist teaches us about the tree of life which was located next to the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Besides being artistically extraordinary, these works manage to create not just a visual experience, but rather a spiritual one. These paintings have deep emotional influence on people and they are known to create change, inspire and heal many people of all ages, faiths and religions.
You can find some of Berger’s paintings at the museum’s store. You can also find prints of his selected works and the works of new and young Jewish Art artists. There are also Judaica products, primarily silver sterling at very convenient prices.
About Moshe Ztvi Halevi Berger
Berger was born in 1924 in Transylvania. He acquired his painting skills in Paris and Rome, where he learned from the very best. Being a holocaust survivor, Berger represents the essence of mental strength. His faith has reached a very high level when he first opened the Museum of Psalms with the blessing of Rabbi Meir Yehuda Getz, who served as the Rabbi of the Western Wall.
TripAdvisor Reviews
Based on 17 traveler reviews“It's a gallery, not a museum”
“Favorite store in all of the Old City”
The Museum of Psalms now has a store downstairs from the original Museum of Psalms. It had only been open 4 months when we came upon it. This particular store was our favorite of all the stores in the Old City. Mordecai has carefully selected artists for whom he would like...
MoreThe Museum of Psalms now has a store downstairs from the original Museum of Psalms. It had only been open 4 months when we came upon it. This particular store was our favorite of all the stores in the Old City. Mordecai has carefully selected artists for whom he would like to showcase their art and give the public availability to purchase their work. All the artwork he has chosen is beautiful, reasonably priced, and unlike anything we had seen before. The artists he has chosen are extremely talented. The artists we spoke to were humble about their own work and promoted the work of others in the gallery. We found this to be refreshing and rare. Needless to say we felt quite fortunate to have come upon this shop during our visit to Jerusalem. The Museum of the Psalms was one of only two stores in the Old City that we felt the peace to wander, browse, and ask questions without any pressure. All other stores in all the quarters of the Old City used a psychological ploy as an attempt to get you to purchase but not this one. There was great respect given to the customers. All from our tour group who found the store made note of this difference, spoke of it being their favorite store and purchased art work to bring home for framing as well. We did not have the opportunity to visit the upstairs Museum Of The Psalms that all others are mentioning here but we did peek in the windows and saw the beauty that all have mentioned. Hopefully we can return to Jerusalem one day and have the privilege of getting to see and hear about the displayed work. We found Mordecai and two of the artist’s he showcases in his store (one was Azriel Gess) to be extremely honorable good men. It was a pleasure to have met them as well as have their work in our home and our friend’s homes in the states. If you visit the Old City we encourage you to visit both locations~ The Museum of The Psalms Store which is in the lower level of the Jewish Quarter and the upstairs Museum of The Psalms.
Less“A very nice little museum about the Book of Psalms, with work of rabbi Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger”
Recommended to everyone who is interested in an artistic and meditative approach of the biblical Psalms