You don’t need to be Jewish to enjoy a day at the Maltz Museum in Beachwood, Ohio. The institution’s aim is to build bridges of tolerance and understanding by sharing Jewish heritage. The museum has a story to tell, and there’s something here for everyone to learn.
The experience starts before you even walk in. The 24,000-square-foot building is built into a hillside and features a facade made up of more than 126 tons of Jerusalem limestone brought in from Ashdod, Israel, giving the modern-looking structure a biblical touch.
Once inside, look down for one of the museum’s first (of many) can’t miss nods to how Jewish heritage reflects the places where Jews have lived throughout history. A reproduction of a sixth-century synagogue floor mosaic in the lobby features Greek and Roman imagery, representing yearly seasons and the signs of the zodiac.
The Maltz Museum’s core storytelling experience kicks off with this seven-part gallery, which uses interactive screens, films, special effects, artifacts, individual stories and oral histories to show visitors what it was like for Jewish immigrants coming to Cleveland (and America). An American Story charts a course from the mid-1800s to the run of the 20th century and eventually modern day. The experience kicks off with a reproduction of the Alsbacher Document, an 1838-written document meant to guide soon-to-emigrate Jews leaving Unsleben, Bavaria, on how to lead an ethical life in a strange new land — also known as Cleveland. The original document, addressed to Moses and Yetta Alsbacher by teacher Lazarus Kohn, is at Cleveland’s Western Reserve Historical Society.
In An American Story’s “Building a City” area, you can learn about the struggle to learn a new language, find a job and build a life, an experience many immigrants and descendants of immigrants can relate to. One section here is dedicated to the industries Jewish immigrants joined as they made a life in the city, including Cleveland’s booming textiles manufacturing trade, metalworking and more. Don’t miss the “Wonderland Theater” section, which focuses on both Jewish contributions to the entertainment industry and the Jews who answered the call to defend their new home in wars, featuring uniforms and prayer books from World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War.
In “Keeping the Faith”, visitors can learn about the role religion plays in Jewish life in Cleveland. One of the most interesting portions of the gallery, it includes an interactive map that charts the growth of Jewish congregations in the city, a torah scroll and a Star of David stained glass window rescued from a former synagogue in Cleveland.
Sections dedicated to the growth of hate groups in America and the outbreak of World War II and the Holocaust are sobering, important reminders that evil exists in the world. But by highlighting the story of Superman’s creation by Jerry Seigel and Joseph Shuster, two Jewish men from Cleveland, the museum shows that even during dark times people can dare to hope.
In “World Remade,” visitors can learn about the creation of the state of Israel through a video presentation and a timeline charting the process of the country’s founding both globally and in America. The section also focuses on Abba Hillel Silver, a Cleveland-based rabbi who gave an impassioned speech to the United Nations in 1947, which is credited with influencing the U.N. assembly to vote in favor of creating a Jewish homeland.
To close An American Story, a bright, flowing, layered timeline showcases the achievements of Jewish people in America and Cleveland, highlighting people such as one time Cleveland Indians general manager and player Hank Greenberg, Progressive insurance founder Peter Lewis and more.
A glittering, bright space filled with amazing religious objects, the museum’s Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery feels like stepping into a carefully curated art gallery. Featuring artifacts ranging from a huge menorah to ritual objects for Jewish holidays such as Passover and Sukot, the gallery shows off part of The Temple Museum of Religious Art, one of the largest collections of Judaica in the United States. Can’t miss objects include an ornate wood, silver, red velvet and glass torah case and scroll from Iraq and paintings depicting the Jewish exodus from Egypt by artist Marc Chagall.
One of the newest additions to the Maltz Museum’s core collection needs to be experienced to be believed. While the museum has worked with local Holocaust survivors since its opening in 2005, giving them a chance to tell their harrowing stories, many have unfortunately passed away.
Thanks to technology from USC Shoah Foundation, the museum was able to capture video footage of Stanley Bernath, a Holocaust survivor who often spoke at the museum and throughout Northeast Ohio before he passed away in 2019. Integrating advanced filmmaking techniques, specialized display technologies and next-generation natural language processing to provide an intimate and unique experience, visitors to the museum can actually talk to Bernath and ask him questions about his experience.
Projected life-sized on a huge vertical screen and sitting in a red chair on a black background, it’s hard not to feel Bernath’s presence as he tells you about his experiences in concentration camps, whether he ever lost his faith in God and more.
Using the same state-of-the-art technology, you can also converse with Reverend Dr. Otis Moss Jr., a legendary Civil Rights activist who is one of the museum’s founding board members. Moss describes his life growing up in Georgia and his experiences with advocating for desegregation, from leading sit-ins to marching with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Maltz Museum is proud to be the only museum in the country with interactive biographies of both a Holocaust survivor and a Civil Rights leader.
If you’d like a guided experience for even more insight, the Maltz Museum offers a number of tours for all ages, including docent-led ventures through the museum, speaker programs and experiences with the museum’s Interactive Biographies theater. The museum offers hour-long tours for adults ($10 per person, minimum of 10 people), 60-plus senior citizens and college students ($8 per person, minimum of 10 people) and K-12 tours ($3 per student). Tours can be booked on the museum’s website.
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