Sun 9/23 @ 11AM-5PM
Over the past decade the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage has presented numerous high-profile exhibits ranging from the capture of Adolf Eichmann to the civil rights-based Freedom Summer.
Now the Beachwood-based museum is examining the Jewish state of Israel. The new exhibition Israel: Then & Now makes its world premiere September 23 at the Richmond Road location.
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage exhibit combines milestone moments, historic images, interactive media and film to explore Israel.
Accompanying Israel: Then & Now will be a full season of programming including gallery talks, lectures and discussions, arts and culture events and family-fun activities in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University’s Siegal Lifelong Learning Program.
CoolCleveland talked to Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage Managing Director David Schafer about Israel: Then & Now.
CoolCleveland: Let’s start off talking about the impetus behind the Israel: Then & Now exhibit.
David Schafer: A few years ago, [Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage Founder] Milt Maltz was in Israel looking at some images and pictures of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Palestine. Then he looked outside his window and saw the skyscrapers and traffic jams in Tel Aviv. That germinated this idea of sharing a rich history about Israel then and now, the why of Israel, its birth and evolution. That was how it all started.
CC: How would you characterize Israel: Then & Now compared to other recent museum exhibits?
DS: Like Operation Finale [the Eichmann exhibit], this is done with world class. There are films and interactives and interesting artifacts. So it’s something that the visitor will be engaged in immersing themselves. It’s learning about Israel and its people, its diversity, its culture, its innovations, its ideas. It’s the closest thing than getting on a plane and going to Israel. Overall, it’s a multi-sensory engagement of a fascinating and special country.
CC: Is there any precedence for an all-encompassing exhibit such as Israel: Then & Now?
DS: It’s unique. Most North Americans understand Israel through the lens of the media cycle. The narrative of the conflict and Israel is much more than the sum of its conflicts. So this is an opportunity to learn something about Israel beyond the headlines. This is celebrating certainly elements of Jewish culture, a connection to the state of Israel, but no one has ever launched an exhibition quite like this, one that looks at the birth and growth of a young country. This is going to be understanding the diversity of the landscape, diversity of its people, waves of immigration.
CC: Finally, what do you hope people take away from the Israel: Then & Now experience?
DS: I hope they leave with an understanding of the country, its people and its complexities that they didn’t know before coming to the exhibit. Everyone comes with their own belief systems, so we hope with this exhibit they learned something they didn’t know before.
Israel: Then & Now runs through May 19, 2019. It’s free with regular admission. Special admission on opening day is only $5.
Beachwood, OH 44122