Arts & Entertainmen

Cultural
Landmark

New Jewish museum •
in Cleveland is an
interactive experience
for visitors.

Stained glass window from Chibas Jerusalem,
saved from a deserted synagogue in
Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood

"

Chanukah menorah, silver,
Germany, 19th century

48

Susan H. Kahn
Cleveland Jewish News

Cleveland
troll in the shadow of
Jewish-owned factories
like Glick Neckwear and
Favorite Knitting Mills in
Cleveland's long-vanished garment
district. Take a seat in an art deco
theater where Ethel Merman belts
out a song. Round a corner to see
Superman bursting through a
wall. These are among the sights,
sounds and experiences visitors
encounter in the new Maltz
Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Using state-of-the-art audio,
visual and computer technologies,
the museum illuminates Jewish
history both local and worldwide,
setting these traditions and
achievements against the back-
drop of U.S. and world events.
Within its walls, one meets a host
of colorful characters whose per-
sonal stories are brought to life in
film, interactive activities and
exhibits of precious artifacts.
Cleveland media mogul Milton
Maltz and his wife, Tamar, pledged
$8 million toward the construction
of the Beachwood, Ohio, museum,
and to begin an endowment. The
Jewish Community Federation of
Cleveland contributed the remain-
ing $5.5 million to the museum,
which opened Oct. 11. Research
support was provided by the
Western Reserve Historical
Society, and many of the historical
documents and artifacts in the
museum came from its Jewish •
Archives.
"Although this is seen through
Jewish eyes, it is really an
American •tory;' says Maltz who,
with his wife, Tamar, was the
visionary behind the museum.
Beyond chronicling Jewish history,
the museum pays homage to the
immigrant spirit that, nourished
by freedom, built Cleveland and
this country.
Although it illuminates large
themes, the Maltz Museum is
compact. The permanent exhibit

s

occupies 7,000 square feet of the
24,000-square-foot minimalist
building, which is faced in lumi-
nous Jerusalem limestone.
Elsewhere, exhibits throughout the
meandering rooms and alcoves
engage and inform museum goers.

Jewish History

The museum experience begins
in a light-filled, high-ceilinged
lobby hung with eight huge iconic
images representing the museum's
major themes. These include dra-
matic photos of Cleveland Rabbi
Arthur Lelyveld, his head bloodied
during the 1964 civil rights march
in Mississippi, and the smiling
face of astronaut Judith Resnick,
an Akron native, paired with the
Challenger space shuttle in which
she lost her life.
Superimposed on these, a mul-
tilevel timeline shows the history
of the Jews from Abraham onward,
placing it in the context of world
civilizations and historical events.
In the 60-seat Chelm Family
Theater, a short film sets the tone
— literally — for the visitor's tour.
A hazy close-up of a man blowing
a shofar on a deserted hillside
gradually dissolves into a sharply
focused shot of the Cleveland
Orchestra's principal clarinetist,
Franklin Cohen, playing
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Actor
Peter Strauss narrates this film,
which provides an overview of the
museum.
Exiting the theater, one encoun-
ters a floomo-ceiling photo of .
immigrants disembarking on Ellis
Island. They hold tightly to their
children, bundles and valises.
Anxiety, loneliness and hope are
etched on their faces. This tableau
ushers one into "They've Arrived!"
— the first section of the core
exhibit, which focuses on
Cleveland's first Jewish families
and the immigrant experience.
Prominently displayed is the
Alsbacher Document, the hand-
written "ethical will" addressed to
the small band of villagers from

Unsleben, Bavaria, who settled in
Cleveland in 1839. In it, their rabbi
urges the immigrants to remem-
ber their Jewish faith amidst the
temptations of the New World.
To better understand the experi-
ence of those setting out for a new
land, an interactive station allows a
visitor to assume the identity of an
immigrant, faced with numerous
decisions and problems. Further
along, exhibits show how schools
and settlement houses enabled
Americanization. Here, an interac-
tive display challenges visitors to
try to pass the citizenship test.
"Building a City" transports
museum goers to Cleveland at the
turn of the 20th century. One side
of the "street" looks back at the
mom-and-pop shops that dotted
the old Jewish neighborhoods. The
other highlights Cleveland's once-
thriving garment district and pays
tribute to Jewish-owned commer-
cial firms like Forest City
Enterprises, Rose Iron Works and
American Greetings Corp., which
all got their start in Cleveland.
At the end of the street, "To
Serve" focuses on the military
experience of Jewish servicemen
and women from the American
Revolution to the war in Iraq.
A film loop shows.a re-enact-
ment of a seder held during the
Civil War. Photos of soldiers
appear on screen, narrated by
excerpts from their poignant let-
ters home. A Marine reservist who
served in Iraq, Josh Mandel, also
speaks.

Historical Views

Other multimedia exhibits high-
light the last century of Jewish his-
tory. Dark events such as the
Holocaust and the 1972 Munich
Olympics massacre are covered, as.
is the creation of the .State of
Israel.
Lighter trends are not ignored.
In one section, a larger-than-life
Superman bursts through a wall
into the gallery, drawing attention
to the story of the comic-book

November '24.2005

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