Mr Reuven Hecht, who created in 1951 Haifa’s flour mill “Dagan”, was one of the most generous donators to the University of Haifa. The Hecht Foundation endowed the University with a large archeological museum which also contains a pictures collection coming from Mr Hecht private art collection. R. Hecht who loved classical music had a “coin-concerts”arranged in the interior of the museum especially suited to chamber music. could be reached separately
One year before his death in 1993, R. Hecht decided to install an organ there and entrusted the construction to the Israeli organ-builder Gideon Shamir. Mr Shamir pointed out to him that an organ of the envisioned size should be established in a special hall, where the acoustics would allow the instrument to be heard in the best possible way, and with the possible inclusion of orchestra , soloists and choir. R. Hecht decided to have a concert hall constructed next to the museum. The new hall seats about 400 and it is being used by the University of Haifa also as a lecture and a ceremony hall. The organ was inaugurated in October 1998 by a concert given by the organist Roman Krasnovsky. The organ is placed on the platform of the Auditorium on the left side. The oak-case is in a neo-gothic style. The case is made in part from the of the older organ of the Lutheran Church of the Savior in Jerusalem (the newer one was built by Schuke). This instrument was made by the German organ-builder Dinse of Berlin. It forms, above a row of closed panels, a great colonnade of six arches supporting a balcony of twelve arches. The upper part of the organ is not closed. The instrument is actually made of two older organs : the Great keyboard pipes rest on a chest made in 1904 by the British organ-builder Bevington of London which was part of the old organ at the Anglican Cathedral of Saint George in Jerusalem. (Later, the new Rieger organ was installed at the Cathedral). Almost all the pipes of the Great division are also coming from there, except the Bourdon 16′, the Mixture (of recent Dutch origin) and the Trumpet 8′, of old Italian origin. The second keyboard pipes rest on an even older Italian soundboard , remarkably conserved, made by Yacobbo Bazzani & Fillio from Venezia, dating 1868. This organ was originally built for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. G. Shamir wanted to conserve all the character of this keyboard and bought most of this division pipes from the Italian maker Rufatti who made them to the measurements of the original organ constructed by Bazzani. The Great is enclosed in its own box. The console was originally placed perpendicularly to the organ so the public could see the organist profile and feet-play. This design led to mechanical problems due to this unusual angle. Today the console is parallel to the organ .This organ was one of the three instruments (together with the organ of the Tel-Aviv University and the organ of Brigham Young University in Jerusalem) which hosted the First International Organ Festival in 2003.

הפוסט Hecht Museum Haifa University הופיע לראשונה ב-קונצרטים לעוגב | עוגבים | חובבי העוגב בישראל בעמותת אוצר המוסיקה היהודית.

Gideon Shamir constructed a second portable organ in 2002. The first being relatively bulky and heavy to carry, he made another, lighter one, which can be transported in a small vehicle.
This little organ has 2 keyboards but no pedal.

הפוסט Yuvalim Gideon Shamir movable organ הופיע לראשונה ב-קונצרטים לעוגב | עוגבים | חובבי העוגב בישראל בעמותת אוצר המוסיקה היהודית.

Gideon Shamir decided in 1994 to construct a portable concert/accompaniment organ. This idea came to him following a great number of requests for a concert hall organ coming from symphonic orchestras and different performance groups (no organ in a hall existed at that time except the Austin at the YMCA.)
Shamir thus made a two-manual organ with a completely detachable pedal (the second manual is silent ) This organ can be transported by truck by a team of 2 to 3 people, but it still needs an organ-building specialist on site to assure that all the pieces are properly connected and the instrument is in tune.

הפוסט Yuvalim Gideon Shamir workshop organ הופיע לראשונה ב-קונצרטים לעוגב | עוגבים | חובבי העוגב בישראל בעמותת אוצר המוסיקה היהודית.

This instrument belongs to Gerard Levi. It was built by the Israeli organ-builder Gideon Shamir with the help of G. Levi. They together decided upon the disposition. The first manual is based on a romantic conception – it has a Flute Harmonique 8′, Viola da Gamba 8′ and a French Bourdon. The second manual has a Baroque character. The console is integrated into the organ. The case is in a modern style made by a naturally lacquered wood.

The inauguration was on the 21 of May 1992

הפוסט Yuvalim Gerard Levi home organ הופיע לראשונה ב-קונצרטים לעוגב | עוגבים | חובבי העוגב בישראל בעמותת אוצר המוסיקה היהודית.

The instrument belongs to the composer Ami Maayani, a well-known Israeli composer and former head of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music (Then Tel Aviv Music Academy). It was constructed by Gideon Shamir. The case was designed by Prof. Maayani himself. The organ was inaugurated on the 8th of October 1988 by Elisabeth Roloff.
The console is placed in front of the organ which separates the salon in two. The organ case is a in modern style, made of white ash. The Regal stop is placed on the front, behind the Principal 4′.

הפוסט Home organ Prof. Ami Maayani הופיע לראשונה ב-קונצרטים לעוגב | עוגבים | חובבי העוגב בישראל בעמותת אוצר המוסיקה היהודית.

Gideon Shamir constructed at first a very small positive-like organ to serve as a continuo instrument for symphonic concerts in the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Then he took back this small portable organ and turned it into a much larger two-manual-and-pedal instrument. It was set on a rolling platform which allowed the permanent storage of the organ in an adjacent room on the site of Wix Hall, at the Weizmann Institute when it was not needed.
Since then it was transfered to the Music Academy in Jerusalem where it served as a practicing instrument to the students of Mrs. Roloff. It is set on the floor of a small ballet practicing hall

הפוסט Jerusalem Rubin Academy הופיע לראשונה ב-קונצרטים לעוגב | עוגבים | חובבי העוגב בישראל בעמותת אוצר המוסיקה היהודית.