JERUSALEM — The Tower of David Jerusalem Museum will open an exhibition titled "Eyes on the Wall" next year. The museum is requesting public submissions of personal photographs, postcards, and visual materials related to the Western Wall from family archives.
The museum seeks materials created from the advent of photography through 1968. Dr. Shimon Lev serves as the curator for the exhibition, which will cover the history of the Western Wall from the reign of King Herod to the present day. Dr. Lev stated, "We’re asking the public to join us and search through personal archives, and rediscover photographs, postcards, and visual materials that may shed light on these formative years." He added, "Every image, whether formal or fleeting, has the potential to enrich our shared understanding of the Western Wall as both a physical site and its documentation and a living symbol shaped by generations."
In Montreal, Prof. David O. Freedman discovered a photographic album created by his grandfather in a basement. His grandfather, Dr. A.O. Freedman, traveled from Montreal to Jerusalem in 1920 and worked as a senior physician. The first page of the discovered album is dated August 1920.
David Freedman said, "This box of photographs, including this album, had likely been undisturbed since at least 1961, when my grandfather, Dr. A.O. Freedman, died." The Freedman family donated the photographic album to the museum.
Eilat Lieber, the director and chief curator of the museum, said, "The album now ceases to be only personal but becomes part of the shared story of Jerusalem." In 1967, Israeli forces took control of the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six Day War. June 7, 2026, marks 59 years since the Israeli capture of the Old City.