Maltz Museum

Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage , located in Beachwood, Ohio , opened on October 11, 2005 to illuminate the achievements, history and traditions of the Jewish community through stunning, state-of-the-art exhibits.¹ Compelling personal stories and oral histories are brought to life by film, computer interactives, special effects and dramatic exhibitions that feature unique artifacts, art, documents and images. More than 100,000 people visited the Museum in its first three years of operation, including more than 20,000 school children.² The Maltz Museum is a collaboration between the Maltz Family Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and The Temple – Tifereth Israel, with research support from the Western Reserve Historical Society.³ Founder Milton Maltz’s company, The Malrite Company, was the lead developer. Malrite focuses on the development of innovative museum projects around the country, including the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. It explores the lives of individuals and their families in terms of their social, cultural, economic and scientific contributions to the region, the nation and the world,” said Milton Maltz. “The first Jewish immigrants arrived in Cleveland in 1839,” Maltz continued. “The Museum tells their story of achievement through stunning, state of the art exhibits.” He and his wife Tamar made their vision for the Museum a reality through their generosity and hands-on involvement in all aspects of the institution’s development. Adds Tamar Maltz, “Visitors from all backgrounds and faiths learn here about the similarities between the experiences of their ancestors and Jewish immigrants, enabling them to better understand and appreciate their own personal history.” The permanent exhibition at the Maltz Museum – An American Story includes: § Playland to the Palace: From the Marx Brothers to “Seinfeld,” the history of Jewish entertainers in a 1920s style Nickelodeon Theater. A film focusing on theater, music and performers is narrated by Oscar-winning actor Joel Grey, star of Cabaret and son of Yiddish comedian and musician Mickey Katz. § The World Remade: The modern state of Israel, why its founding was so important as the first democracy in the Middle East, and the close ties between Israel and Cleveland. § Take the Test: Hands-on, interactive experiences including the same citizenship test given to U.S. immigrants. § The World Destroyed: The horrors of the Holocaust and the ability of the human spirit to triumph. Fascinating oral histories provided by survivors and their children that tell of the Holocaust from the perspective of Northeast Ohioans. § To Serve: Jews and other immigrant groups have been the backbone of U.S. patriotism, starting with the American Revolution. Captivating wartime stories shared first-hand by those who fought and served our country. The Museum includes The Temple – Tifereth Israel Gallery, featuring highlights from the important, comprehensive collection of art and artifacts from The Temple’s Museum of Religious Art. Much of The Temple’s collection was recovered and brought to Cleveland in the aftermath of the Holocaust. A 4,000-square-foot special exhibition gallery regularly features changing exhibitions of national and international prominence, including: The Jewish Journey: Frederic Brenner's Photographic Odyssey , October 2005 - January 8, 2006, 115 photographs highlighting the diversity of the Jewish people worldwide. Cradle of Christianity: Treasures of the Holy Land , April 1 - October 22, 2006, traced the shared roots of Jewish and Christian values and practices by exploring aspects of early Jewish life and the concurrent birth of Christianity. The exhibition, developed by the Maltz Museum , powerfully presented artifacts drawn from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, some seen in the U.S. for the first time. Threads of Remembrance: Artistic Visions of the Holocaust , December 13, 2006, February 18, 2007, dramatically displayed 45 of Judith Weinshall Lieberman's stunning and intricate wall hangings depicting the Holocaust, and 50 Faces a photographic essay by Herbert Aschermann, Jr. capturing the faces and stories of 50 Northeast Ohio Holocaust survivors, POWs and camp liberators. The Liberman wall hangings are part of the collection of The Temple Museum of Religious Art. Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) March 29 - July 8, 2007, brought together 18 of the renowned Cleveland museum's finest paintings with work from the Renaissance through Romanticism including Rembrandt, Rubens and Turner while CMA's main galleries were closed for several years for renovation. Brinker Collection of Hungarian Art: Works of Passion, Interludes and Progress , July 29 - August 19, 2007, the first major U.S. showing of 32 paintings from the private collection of Nancy Brinker, collected when she was Ambassador to Austria beginning in 2001. The Master Race from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Where Would You Draw The Line? , created by the Maltz Museum, September 25, 2007 - January 20, 2008. Deadly Medicine is a chilling exhibition on Nazi eugenics featuring hundreds of photographs, graphic reproductions, actual artifacts, film footage, stunning eyewitness accounts and survivor testimonies. Where Would You' Draw The Line was a series of seven current-day medical ethics questions, voted on by more than 5,000 visitors to the Museum and online. Israel: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow , curated by the Maltz Museum, April 8 - June 29, 2008, included Israel: 60 Years , a world class photographic exhibit from the Magnumphoto cooperative; Israel: A Look Forward , an exhibition showcasing Israeli technology and innovation; and Hopes and Dreams , a film by Steven Hacker featuring 11 Northeast Ohioans and their recollections of the birth of the state of Israel (Etta Berger, Zel Harel, Ph.D., Harold Isaacs, Milton Maltz, Sam Miller, The Most Reverend Anthony M. Tents of Hope , July, 2008, an interreligious initiative utilizing artwork to educate about and protest the genocide in Darfur. Nine tents with messages of solidarity and hope for the people of Darfur were displayed, created by Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, Building Bridges Interfaith Arts Collaborative, Cleveland Hillel Foundation, Cleveland Jewish News, Green Road Synagogue, Heights Christian Church/Faith and Culture Workshop at Camp Christian, InterAct Cleveland, Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland/American Jewish Committee/NAACP, and the Park Synagogue, and community members participated to decorate them. The Superhero, The Golden Age of Comics , from the Breman Museum in Atlanta, September 2008 - January 25, 2009, an entertaining and nostalgic look at the still-vibrant superhero genre through vintage artwork, rare early comics, scripts, multi-media presentations, original toys and games, with a focus on Superman, the original superhero, created by Clevelanders. The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is a collaboration between The Maltz Family Foundation, the Centennial Initiative for Jewish Cleveland and the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, and The Temple – Tifereth Israel, with research support from the Western Reserve Historical Society.⁴