News Article

New York, NY, Aug 31, 2010—The University of Haifa Library, the second largest in Israel, possesses a catalogue of roughly two million book and non-book items, and contains outstanding special collections, including law, rare books, shipping, and art volumes and artifacts.

With a generous gift from Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation of Los Angeles, the University Library is undergoing a major expansion and renovation to house its continually expanding collection.  At the end of the academic year, for example, the University Library’s holdings increased to approximately 2.5 million books, journals, artwork, photographs, videotapes and DVDS, and added 17,350 titles to its collection of which 9,817 were received as gifts.

People of the book with an instinctive understanding of the cultural and intellectual roots of the Jewish people, prominent leaders of the Jewish community of Los Angeles, Soraya Nazarian, and her husband Younes Nazarian, donated a sculpture that Soraya designed and created to the University of Haifa. The marble sculpture, entitled “Legacy”, depicts a ship with sails made of books, expressing the story of the Jews who landed in Israel on the illegal immigration ships (the “Maapilim”). It represents bravery and strength alongside the vulnerability of the Jewish people. The marble signifies the land while the books represent the Jewish people’s knowledge, culture and history, which constituted a critical aspect of the immigrants’ ability to create a new beginning in the Land of Israel. The Nazarian's significant gift to the University library reflects the depth of their commitment to the continuity of the Jewish people.