Plan your visit to the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage today!
Group tour admission includes a guided tour of the permanent exhibition or special exhibitions. With a special level of service, groups enjoy a guided tour and seamless, no-wait access to the Museum exhibitions plus a 10% discount in the Museum Store.
- Group Tours available for groups of 10 or more
- Discounted admission available for groups of 15-34 or 35 or more
- Group Tours are available with a minimum of one week’s advance reservation
Don’t have enough people for a Group Tour?
Drop-In Tours are available Wednesdays and Sundays at 2pm for An American Story. No reservations needed – and no extra charge! Simply let the front desk know when you purchase your ticket that you would like to be part of the tour. Drop-In Tours also available for our special exhibitions – please call for the schedule.
TOURS ABOUT AMERICAN CULTURE AND JEWISH IDENTITY
Becoming American: Cultural Diversity in American History
What does it mean to be an American, how have immigrants tried to adapt to their new home and why have newcomers sometimes been perceived as a threat? Explore the role language, citizenship, work, faith, and social responsibility play in the immigrants’ transition to American life. Examine the concerns of Jewish immigrants to Cleveland during the great waves of immigration from the 1840s to the 1920s and explore the tensions between ethnic identity, ancient traditions, American citizenship and the ongoing creation of a multicultural nation.
Building a City
Who were the people who built the city of Cleveland? From before the Civil War until the Roaring 20′s, waves of Jewish immigrants came to Cleveland to seek their fortune and make a new life. Where did they come from, how did they get here and where did they settle once they arrived? Learn how Cleveland grew from a tiny village to a thriving industrial center and discover how citizens came together to create social service agencies, summer camps, settlement houses, schools, religious institutions, and the companies and industries that got their start here.
Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish: Images of Jewish Identity in American History
Depending on where, when and who you look at, the ‘normal’ Jew in America could have been a German-speaking Reform Shopkeeper; a Yiddish-speaking garment worker; an English-speaking social reformer; a WWII G.I Joe; or a Zionist living in Cleveland. Explore the different identities and roles that Jews have played in American life and find out what this can tell us about the values and beliefs that have informed Jewish life in America.
Jewish Traditions of War and Peace
Jewish Americans have always prayed for peace, but when their country called on them they fought on the battlefield as well. Learn how Jewish soldiers celebrated Passover in the field during the Civil War, fought against fascism in Spain and Germany and gathered intelligence during the Iraq War. Watch newsreel footage and read censored letters from POW’s in WWII. See advancements in uniform design from doughboys in WWI to the fatigues Ohio State Representative Josh Mandel wore in Iraq.
Let Me Entertain You! Jews in American Popular Culture
Visit our Art-Deco inspired Playland Theater to see a film, narrated by Cleveland’s own Joel Gray, that surveys the contributions Jews have made to American popular culture from the Vaudeville circuit and the early days of Hollywood to the Broadway stage and television today. Learn how Cleveland entrepreneurs and artists created nightclubs, theaters, radio stations, comic book superheroes and more.
TOURS ABOUT RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND PRACTICE
Judaism 101 or Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Judaism but Were Afraid to Ask
View the world-renowned collection of ritual art in The Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery and encounter the beauty of Jewish spirituality. Uncover teachings from thousands of years ago and discover how Jewish holidays and the rituals surrounding birth, growth, marriage and death have sustained the Jewish people as lived in exile for centuries. Learn how Jewish beliefs and practices compare and contrast to Christianity.
Jewish Roots of Christianity
Learn how standard Biblical narratives like Abraham’s journey of faith and the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Hebrews at Mount Sinai have informed core aspects of Christian belief. See how the rituals of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem form the basis for both Jewish dinner blessings and inform the sacrament of communion. What do Jews and Christian share? How are they different?
Art & Artifacts from Around the (Jewish) World
Visit the beautiful Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery, home to nearly 180 priceless objects from more than 20 countries including Ethiopia, Morocco, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, France, Germany, Poland and Lithuania. See how ritual objects play a consistent role in religious and cultural life across generations and continents, yet at the same time reflect the specific artistic traditions of the many nations where Jews have lived.
TOURS ABOUT DIVERSITY AND TOLERANCE
Stop the Hate!
America holds the promise of a being a country where “all men are created equal” yet the reality of life in America has not always reflected this ideal. Learn how racism, ethnocentrism and anti-Semitism have plagued Cleveland and America since its earliest days. See how Blacks and Jews were prevented from living in many neighborhoods, how the Ku Klux Klan interfered in local elections and how Nazis and Fascists openly organized in our city. Learn how citizens have come together to fight against discrimination and hatred to build a more tolerant and diverse culture.
Lessons of the Holocaust
What happens when hate is left unchecked? How can a society turn on its own citizens and abandon them to death? See amazing artifacts that survived concentration camps and ghettos, and hear the testimonies of survivors living in Cleveland today. Learn how fascist sympathizers operated throughout the United States before WWII and discover the little known story of how a Cleveland mayor welcomed 700 delegates at a 1937 Nazi convention at Public Hall.
Anti-Semitism in America
America claims to welcome all regardless of race, class, ethnicity or religion. And America has provided great opportunities for the Jewish people. But prejudice against Jews has lurked below the surface, and often been expressed, at many times in U.S. history. Learn the forms this prejudice has taken and how Jews have fought back against it.
