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———— OUR PROGRAMS
Where the Rambam's Legacy
Becomes Living Work
The Maimonides Heritage Center does not merely preserve the past — it puts its lessons to work every day. Through education, national service, Torah scholarship, and an annual gathering of thousands, the Center translates the Rambam's vision into meaningful impact for the people of Tiberias and Jewish communities worldwide.
——— THE HEART OF THE MAIMONIDES HERITAGE CENTER
The Setton Family
Hospitality Center
The Setton Family Hospitality Center is the beating heart of the Maimonides Heritage Center — the transformed building adjacent to the Rambam's burial site that stands as the most visible expression of what the Center's founders set out to build. Conceived through the vision and generosity of Joshua Setton and his family, it has become one of the most meaningful Jewish educational destinations in northern Israel.
More than a welcome facility, it is a fully realized museum and visitor experience dedicated to the life, legacy, and enduring relevance of Maimonides. Through immersive educational displays, rare artifacts, curated exhibits, and thoughtfully designed programming spaces, it brings the Rambam's world to life for visitors of every background — from Birthright groups and IDF soldiers to schoolchildren, scholars, and pilgrims from around the globe.
The Center is rooted in the conviction that the Rambam's voice remains urgently relevant today — that his message of religious moderation, intellectual rigor, spiritual depth, and moral clarity offers a model for healing division and fostering unity across all communities and denominations.
25,000+
ANNUAL VISITORS
30+
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
Year-Round
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
GUIDED PROGRAMS
Thoughtfully tailored experiences for schools, families, community groups, and adult learners.
MUSEUM & EDUCATIONAL DISPLAYS
Immersive exhibits tracing the life and influence of the Rambam from Cardoba to Tiberias, designed for visitors of all ages.
BRIDGING COMMUNITIES
Programs that use the Rambam's teachings to foster unity and dialogue across backgrounds and denominations.
GLOBAL DESTINATION
Welcoming pilgrims, tourists, and scholars from Israel and dozens of countries to encounter Jewish history firsthand.
——— REPAIRING THE WORLD, ONE ACT AT A TIME
Tikkun Olam
& Social Action
The Rambam taught that tzedakah — the obligation to give and to act — is among the highest expressions of Jewish values. At the Maimonides Heritage Center, this teaching is not theoretical. It is practiced every day, at the site where the Rambam himself rests, in the community he now calls home.
Through a sustained program of social action, the Center serves the most vulnerable members of Tiberias and the surrounding region: needy families struggling to provide for their children, widows living in isolation, and individuals who fall between the gaps of formal welfare systems. This work is carried out quietly, consistently, and with the dignity that the Rambam said every act of giving must preserve.
Each year, in the days before the High Holy Days, the Center distributes complete food packages to hundreds of families — ensuring that no family in Tiberias approaches Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur without the means to celebrate and to eat. It is one of the most direct expressions of what it means to be a Jewish institution rooted in Maimonidean values
Year-Round
SOCIAL SERVICES
100s
FAMILIES REACHED
Annual
HOLIDAY PACKAGES
SUPPORT FOR NEEDY FAMILIES
Ongoing practical assistance for families in Tiberias facing financial hardship — food, essentials, and direct support delivered with care and discretion.
CARE FOR WIDOWS
Regular outreach and support for widows in the community — ensuring that those who have lost a spouse are not forgotten, isolated, or left without resources.
HIGH HOLY DAY FOOD PACKAGE
Each year before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Center distributes complete food packages to hundreds of families — so that every household in Tiberias can enter the new year with dignity and joy.
MAIMONIDES €” MISHNEH TORAH, LAWS OF GIFTS TO THE POOR
The Rambam taught that the highest form of tzedakah is to give in a way that preserves the dignity of the recipient. Every act of social service at this Center is carried out in that spirit.
40
WOMEN PER YEAR
200+
ANNUAL APPLICANTS
1 in 5
ACCEPTANCE RATE
AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Running Moadonim clubs at public schools throughout Tiberias.
VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
Reaching the elderly, widows, single mothers, and struggling families.
NURSING HOME VISITS
Hands-on engagement at Bet Avot with residents who need connection.
——— COUNTLESS LIVES CHANGED
Sherut Leumi
Tiberias
The Maimonides Heritage Center sponsors one of Israel's most competitive national service programs. Forty exceptional young women — selected from more than two hundred applicants each year — choose to serve the community of Tiberias rather than the military, embodying the Rambam's ideal of devoted service to God and society.
They are the active human heart of the Center's social mission: mentoring at-risk youth, supporting the elderly, accompanying vulnerable families, and running programs across the city. Their work is tangible, urgent, and transformative.
40
WOMEN SERVING
5+
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Annual
COHORT RENEWAL
1,000s
LIVES REACHED
ELSI LEVY MUSIC & ARTS
One day weekly at the Center: study, life skills, and creative expression.
——— FROM SOLDIERS TO TALMIDIM
The Rambam
Kollel
Each member of the Rambam Kollel has already given years of his life in service to Israel as a soldier. Having fulfilled that sacred responsibility, these exceptional young men now choose a different kind of dedication: intensive Torah study at the side of the Rambam's grave before entering professional life and family.
Their learning is not only in the classical texts but in the specific worldview of Maimonides — his halachic precision, philosophical depth, and moral vision for what Jewish life can be. They are a living embodiment of the Center's belief that Torah scholarship and national responsibility are not in conflict, but in dialogue.
Studying Torah alongside the grave of Maimonides — one of the greatest minds in all of Jewish history — is a privilege and a responsibility we carry with humility and purpose.
Full-
Time
TORAH
STUDY
Daily
SERVICES
HELD
IDF
Vets
EACH
MEMBER
LOCATION
The Kollel meets daily on the second floor of the Center, steps from the Rambam's burial site in Tiberias.
BET KNESSET OR MORDECHAI
Daily services are held at the synagogue, dedicated by Marco and Jacqueline Hasbani.
STEPHEN ISAIAH ADES LIBRARY
Donated by Esther and Robert Ades in loving memory of their beloved son, Stephen Isaiah.
NAMING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE · CONTACT THE CENTER
These named spaces are a testament to the enduring power of a gift in someone's memory — inscribed in stone, honored daily by men dedicated to Torah and service.
——— a TIMELESS Gathering
The Annual
Maimonides Conference
Each year, more than one thousand participants — scholars, rabbis, educators, physicians, community leaders, and students — gather in Tiberias for three days of extraordinary learning. Centered on the life and legacy of the Rambam, the conference is unlike any gathering in the Jewish world.
Held on or around the 20th of Tevet, the yahrzeit of HaRambam, the conference is as much an act of tribute as it is an academic event — a living continuation of the Rambam's call to pursue wisdom, engage the world, and remain committed to the unity of Torah and reason.
3 Days
OF LEARNING
20+
YEARS RUNNING
1,000+
ANNUAL PARTICIPANTS
Global
SPEAKERS
20TH OF TEVET — ANNUAL YAHRZEIT OF HARAMBAM
TIBERIAS, ISRAEL · REGISTRATION OPENS EACH AUTUMN
Global
COMMUNITY
Rabbis
HALACHIC EXPERTS
Scholars
RECOGNIZED LEADERS
——— PAST CONFERENCE THEMES
PAST THEME
Maimonides and Medicine
PAST THEME
Mishpat Ivri — Jewish Civil Law
PAST THEME
Zionism, Statehood & Torah
PAST THEME
Philosophy, Ethics & Education
PAST THEME
Jewish Mysticism & Rationalism
RECURRING THEME
The Rambam in Contemporary Life
——— PARTNER WITH US ———
Every Program Depends on Donors Who Believe This Work Matters
——————
The Setton Family Hospitality Center, Sherut Leumi, Tikkun Olam, the Rambam Kollel, and the Annual Conference each depend on the generosity of supporters who understand the importance of education, service, compassion, scholarship, and community. Your gift — at any level — sustains this work and advances the Rambam's legacy for the next generation