33. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage

The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is a great recent addition to Cleveland's collection of museums.  Opened in 2005, it's one of the spendier museum options in town ($12 adult admission), but well worth it for the depth of Cleveland history that's there.  The Maltz Museum also hosts special exhibits throughout the year -- through 5:00 p.m. today, the topic is the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The outer stone of the building is imported from Israel, and
is rough-chiseled in the style of the Western Wall.

The Alsbacher Document

One of the permanent exhibits at the Maltz traces the Jewish immigrant experience in Cleveland from first arrival through the present.  The first Jewish immigrant in Cleveland was Simson Thorman, who came from a village in Bavaria called Unslaben and settled here in 1832.  Seven years later, fifteen more Jews from the same village left to join him.  This document was written in 1839 by the rabbi in Unslaben to Moses and Yetta Alsbacher upon their departure.  It contains well-wishes for their journey, a prayer for their safety, remembrance of the villagers they left behind, and a warning not to forget their Jewish heritage in America.

Coin necklace

When the Zadulowski family fled Russia in the early 1920s, they sewed coins into the hems of their garments to bribe border guards.  Upon settling in Cleveland, the family had the remaining coins turned into jewelry as a reminder of their journey.

A poster advertising English classes in six languages, including Hebrew.

The poster reads, "Come to the Public Schools.  Learn the Language of America.  Prepare for American Citizenship.  Free Classes for both Men and Women.  Classes in the Evening and Afternoon.  Apply to the nearest Public School or Library for more information."

An early American Greetings logo.

Jacob Sapirstein started the business that would become American Greetings selling cards from a horse-drawn cart in 1906.  It is still run by the family and remains headquartered just outside of Cleveland in Brooklyn (although the company is considering relocating, causing some consternation in NEO).

Inside is a drawing of poinsettias.  I laughed.

I really like the intricacy of the old cards.

The attention to detail in this ornamental iron is impressive.

I love hatboxes almost as much as I love hats.

Superman gets his own separate entry (#99), but since he's one of Cleveland's most
famous exports, his creators certainly deserve a tip of the hat here.

Pretty cool, huh?

It's not all stories of success and pretty things, though:  

The reputation of lawyers as scum-sucking bottom-dwellers is not entirely unearned.

This letter is written from the partner who ultimately offered Frank Joseph a job to the nine other partners in the firm.   After detailing the offer to hire Mr. Joseph for $100 per month, the writer concludes by saying, "I also made my usual statement that he couldn't come in [to the firm] if he was engaged to be married.  He assures me that I may rest assured on that point, but I may be fooled as I have been before."  I don't know if this means all the lawyers at the firm were bachelors, or already married, or what. 

Another remarkable letter written three months into World War II offers a completely different perspective:

That's some serious love for America.  How many of us 
have ever paid our taxes this cheerfully?  

The museum doesn't shy away from either the history of anti-Semitism in the United States or the ugly details of the Holocaust (though both of those portions of the exhibit are in separate rooms, so if you're coming with young children you can defer explaining the Ku Klux Klan and systematic genocide for a few more years).

It's a sobering map.

The pins are color-coded, and indicate two black separatist groups,
two neo-nazi groups, and one "other."

One of the beautiful things about the museum's layout is that hate doesn't get the last word:

Shema Yisrael

The other permanent section of the museum traces the development and growth of the various Jewish congregations in the Cleveland area, and the achievements and contributions of Jews around the world.  While not as photogenic as some of the other portions of the museum, it's just as interesting -- especially the light-up map that shows the movement of the Jewish population in and around Cleveland during the 20th century.

Torah scroll