(CLEVELAND, OH) The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is proud to announce the October 10th opening of a new special exhibition. Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews & Medicine in America tells the story of how Jews were forced to create access to their own healthcare in the face of discrimination. This timely exhibit is an education on the historic fight for equality in healthcare and a look to the future of medicine in America.
“Today Jewish physicians are ubiquitous in America. It was not always so. The story of this evolution and the contributions of Jewish doctors to modern medicine are the focus of this exhibit,” said the exhibition’s Chair of the Advisory Committee, Dr. Jeffrey L. Ponsky of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University.
In the early 20th century, with anti-Semitism on the rise, Jews were being shunned from medical schools and denied medical care. In response, Jewish hospitals were built to train Jewish doctors and treat not only Jewish patients but also other underserved populations.
“The exhibit tells the powerful story of the out-sized role of both the Jewish community and individual Jewish clinicians, researchers, and teachers in the commandment to preserve human life at all costs,” said Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation President Mitchell Balk. “There is also a focus on the critical role of Cleveland’s Mt. Sinai Medical Center and other Jewish-sponsored patient care, research, and teaching institutions in achieving this task.”
This important exhibition features over 200 artifacts, photographs, and documents, including highlights from Cleveland’s own Mt. Sinai Hospital, and illustrates how Jews used medicine to assimilate into American society, making significant contributions to the medical world and advancing civil rights.
“We get inspired here – connecting the past to the present to better create our future,” explained the Museum’s Managing Director, David Schafer. “This museum creates awareness of how to be our better selves and inclusive of others.”
Experience Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews & Medicine in America at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage (2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood, OH 44122), October 10, 2017 through April 8, 2018
Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews & Medicine in America was created by the Jewish Museum of Maryland with support from National Endowment from the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage has added local content of specific interest to Cleveland audiences.
Support for the local presentation is generously provided by: Mt. Sinai Foundation, John P. Murphy Foundation, Stanley Blum, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Alan and Mrs. Joni Lichtin, MetroHealth, Barbara Robinson, Toni and Don Scherzer, Sisters of Charity Health System, David and Inez Myers Foundation, Merle Vertes, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Beth and Rand Curtiss, Dr. James and Ronda Goldfarb, Bahman and Lora Guyuron, Dr. Jack W. Jaffe, MD, Keith and Nancy Libman, Dr. James Lieberman, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Larry and Julia Pollock, The Reminger Foundation, Dr. David and Mrs. Enid Rosenberg, Dr. Fred C. and Mrs. Jackie Rothstein, Dr. Lawrence and Mrs. Margaret Singerman, Dr. Wulf and Mrs. Moira Utian
