177 Abraham Ben-Naftali (1935-2024) Born 1934 in Tel Aviv to parents who came from Poland, Abraham Ben-Naftali earned his bachelor’s degree in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and went on to complete a master’s degree at Tel Aviv University. He later lectured in corporate law at Tel Aviv University and at the College of Management. In 1955, he married Dina, and together they had two daughters, Orna and Michal. Ben-Naftali embodied, in the fullest sense, the idea of a “man of many parts.” His guiding outlook was one of plurality —across fields of knowledge, tastes, voices, and languages. An avid amateur photographer, he traveled extensively, taking tens of thousands of photos, many of which were collated into the book "I Have Seen Beauty" (Father & Daughters Publishing, 2021). He served as Chair of the Executive Council of the Weizmann Institute from 2002 to 2008, and later as Chair of the International Board from 2014 to 2017. In 2009, the Institute awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions. Among his many passions, music held a place of special importance. From his teenage years, when he played the recorder and participated in the radio program “Noah’s Ark,” music was a constant presence in his life. He served as Chair of the Board of Directors and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society. His vast record collection—later replaced by CDs and eventually digitized onto a USB flash drive—accompanied him everywhere. He listened to classical music day and night, at home, in the office, and on the road. Wherever he was, the volume would be turned up high, underscoring the clear unwavering predilection of music over speech and words. He attended concerts, finding pleasure and repose in regular series at the Israel Philharmonic, the Tel Aviv Museum, and the Conservatory of Music, as well as at annual music festivals in Kfar Blum, Jerusalem, and Switzerland. As with the Hebrew poet Avot Yeshurun, BenNaftali believed that “music knows about us everything / that we need to know / about ourselves.” In Memoriam Abraham Ben-Naftali יעל צור
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