The MALTZ MUSEUM (MALTZ MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE) was created by local community leaders Tamar and Milton Maltz. In 1999 they announced plans to build a museum of Jewish heritage on the campus of THE TEMPLE TIFERETH ISRAEL in BEACHWOOD. A ground breaking ceremony occurred in 2003. The museum opened to the public on October 11, 2005. The intention was to chronicle the history and achievements of Jews in Northeast Ohio and the American Jewish experience. Plans included a core exhibit, “An American Story: The Jews of Northeast Ohio”, to be supported by the Cleveland Jewish Archives of WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY; a separate gallery to house and display the Judaica collection of The Temple-Tifereth Israel; and special exhibit space. Estimated costs were $10 million. Land for the museum was leased from The Temple-Tifereth Israel for $1.00 per year. Milton Maltz donated $6 million with the balance to be raised by the JEWISH COMMUNITY FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND as part of its centennial campaign. VanDijk Westlake Reed Leskofsky, architects, designed the building.
“An American Story”, a 7,000 square foot permanent interactive exhibit, opened with a film narrated by actor Peter Strauss. Using state of the art audio, visual, and computer technologies, the exhibit focused on the history, traditions, and contributions of Cleveland’s Jews set against American and world history.
Carole Zawatsky, director of education at the Jewish Museum in New York, was appointed the first Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage executive director before its opening in 2004. She arranged for “The Cradle of Christianity: Treasures of the Holy Land,” a blockbuster special exhibit that opened in 2006.
As the museum developed, its activities were overseen by a series of directors. Judi Feniger replaced Carole Zawatsky as executive director in 2006. Feniger faced the recession of 2008 as the museum continued to feature special exhibits and outreach beyond the Cleveland Jewish community to maintain attendance. Special exhibits in the museum’s early years featured a variety of topics, including the Olympics in Berlin in 1936; women’s experiences in the Holocaust; civil rights; Hungarian art; Pope John Paul II and his friendship with the Jewish people; and Catholic women’s spirituality in America.
The museum created the Stop the Hate essay contest to reach students directly in 2008. By 2011, more than 1,700 students from 142 school districts shared their ideas in the essay contest that awarded $100,000 in scholarships to juniors and seniors; students in grades 6-10 also won cash awards.
In 2012, Lynda A. Bender was appointed executive director. The Friends of the Maltz Museum, an auxiliary group, was founded in 2013 to raise funds to support the museum’s outreach efforts. Jeff Kaplan was the group’s first president. Ellen A. Rudolph was appointed executive director in 2014. Rudolph continued established activities such as lectures on topics related to local Jewish history and the special exhibits; presentations of films and staged play readings; and the Stop the Hate contest.
In 2014, the museum became a new candidate for beneficiary agency status of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. The museum’s allocation was $220,000. The Federation approved the museum as a local beneficiary in 2016.
The museum commemorated its 10th anniversary in 2015 with a celebration featuring author Charles Krauthammer. "The Violins of Hope" exhibit from September 2015 through January 2016, developed in collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra, displayed violins that were played before or during the Holocaust. The concert and exhibit raised the museum’s profile, drawing attention from CBS Sunday News and PBS. Two popular exhibits opened in 2016, “Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann” and “This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Era”.
Ellen Rudolph, executive director, resigned in 2017. Museum attendance doubled during her tenure. David Schafer, then director of development, was named to the newly created position of managing director.
Under Schafer’s leadership, the museum continued discussion groups and lectures surrounding the core exhibit and special exhibitions and film screenings, while it also furthered a focus on issues related to civil rights and diversity. In 2018, the Stop the Hate contest, at its ten-year anniversary, expanded into two parts: Youth Speak Out, an individual essay writing competition for college scholarships and school grants for the lower grades, and Youth Sing Out, a class songwriting competition. The Holocaust Education and Remembrance Day event of the Friends became an annual event. The museum also launched an important educational initiative, the Survivor Memory Project, in collaboration with the Shoah Foundation. This effort to address educational challenges after the death of Holocaust survivors included the development of an interactive conversational biography of local Holocaust survivor Stanley Bernath using holographic technology. The success of this project led to a similar interview with Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., a local civil rights leader.
In 2010, the museum began sponsoring the Maltz Heritage Award. The presentation of the award eventually became an annual event and served to honor local leaders such as the Gries family, Barbara Snyder, and Albert and Audrey Ratner.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the stay-at-home orders to limit its spread affected activities when the museum was required to close in March 2020. The museum offered free online programs and introduced digital tours and virtual Stop the Hate classroom workshops. The museum reopened, at first with limited hours, in August 2020. The museum closed again from November 2020 through February 2021. Staff turned to offering online programs including a digital Stop the Hate tour and free classroom workshops. The museum re-opened to the public in January 2021.
In September 2022, the museum announced a new logo and branding as a way to refresh and refocus how it served Northeast Ohio. The institution shortened its name to the Maltz Museum. Renee Chelm served as board chair and David Schafer as managing director. Aaron Petersal became executive director in 2024.
Sylvia Abrams