A founding director of the Tel Aviv museum, Weinberg came out of retirement in 1989 to help found the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum, which opened in 1993, attracts an average of 2 million visitors a year. He also served as a consultant to the Jewish Museums of Berlin and Warsaw.
“He introduced the concept of the museum as a tool for telling a story, not just for showing authentic artifacts,” noted Prof. Anita Shapira of Tel Aviv University. His pioneering work earned him the Israel Prize in 1999, Israel’s highest civil honor. Weinberg died January 1 in Tel Aviv from a stroke. He was 81.