The Cleveland Jewish community, although smaller than some others, provides a disproportionately high involvement with all Jewish concerns, particularly in the area of collecting Judaic art and artifacts. It is our objective through this exhibition to show Judaism as a way of life as well as a religion through a comprehensive display of ritual objects. From the onset of this project, there has been wonderful cooperation and enthusiasm from the entire community and a strong willingness to share the objects even beyond the limitations of the exhibition. This sharing has demonstrated the broad mixture of custom and practice that lends richness and depth to the lives of Jews. At the same time these contrasts create divisiveness. These differences impact on religious observances as well as life styles. Sharp differences begin with Orthodox acceptance of biblical and talmudic law, while Reform practice was founded on prophetic teachings and embraces biblical injunction alone. The other movements fall somewhere in between. These differences, which concern the role of women, manner of dress, food restrictions, and choice of language, affect the observance of every festival and life cycle event. Perhaps it is because of these differences that the Cleveland Jewish community includes wonderfully diverse ways of life and religion, as is the case with Jews everywhere.

            From 1839, when the first group of Jews arrived from Germany, to the latter part of the nineteenth century, when large numbers of Jews settled here from Germany, Russia, and Hungary, Cleveland has been a hospitable home. The flood of Jewish immigration continued into the twentieth century, with thousands fleeing from anti-Semitism and economic deprivation. The community welcomed Hungarians in the 1950s and has worked very hard to resettle Russian Jews since the 1960s. Not to be overlooked are the Jewish families from North African countries, as well as those from Iran and South Africa, who have also found homes here.

            The early Jews of Cleveland were divided by patterns of worship, customs, and languages. They were brought together by a common need for their own social service agencies and later a strong will to support the new State of Israel. Though still partial in many respects, this unity has been accomplished through the remarkable pioneering of the Jewish Community Federation leadership. Nonetheless, the collecting of Judaic art and artifacts within this area has remained private and individual. It is well known that the Cleveland Jewish community has provided extraordinary leadership at home and abroad, has raised huge sums of money for Jewish causes, and has contributed mightily to Jewish scholarship. The synagogues and institutions continue to thrive, but there has never been a formal effort to centralize the holdings of Judaic art in this region.
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            Our investigation of Judaic art in Cleveland revealed that the earliest formal collection of Jewish art, ritual and decorative, was planned by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, of blessed memory, in 1950, to mark the one- hundredth anniversary of The Temple-Tifereth Israel. He founded the Temple Museum of Religious Art and launched it with a small core collection of Jewish ritual objects made possible for purchase from the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction organization (the group sponsored by the US government to rescue, classify, return, or distribute Jewish books and objects looted by the Nazis). That original grouping of artifacts is represented in this exhibit by a delicately wrought hanukkiah (Cat. 113) of silver gilt of the late eighteenth century. It had been the property of the Frankfurt am Main Museum. The Temple’s beautifully appointed display area and its showcases quickly became popular within the congregation and generous funds were given for the acquisition of rare and important objects. That collection, now numbering one thousand pieces that have been researched, catalogued, and displayed professionally, is among the largest synagogue-held collections in the United States, and is the sixth largest synagogue-held collection in the world.

            During the same period of time that Rabbi Silver and his son Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver, of blessed memory, were purchasing Judaica, Joseph B. Horwitz, a businessman of Cleveland, as a member of the Joint Distribution Committee, was sent to France and Italy in 1948. While there, he was given a Hanukkah menorah as a gift by a grateful refugee. This gift in turn inspired him to rescue Jewish ritual objects from the ruins of the Holocaust. What began for Horwitz as a hobby became, in his own words, “an acknowledged contribution to Jewish religious and secular life.” The product of this devotion became the Olyn and Joseph B. Horwitz Collection that forms the core holdings of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, of the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, and of the B’nai B’rith National Jewish Museum of Washington, D.C. We have brought together objects from each of these three collections because their common source was Cleveland. One of the oldest and loveliest objects from this grouping is an Italian mappah (Cat. 163) dated 1730 from the Jewish family of Finzi.

            The Cleveland Jewish community is fortunate to include a number of avid and scholarly collectors. Some are well known among the world’s group of such collectors, while others prefer to remain anonymous, but all have been generous, cordial, and cooperative in sharing their possessions. The Marilyn and Ivan Soclof collection is enthralling, distinguished, and documented by careful research. With religious devotion and scholarly attentiveness, they have traveled extensively, visiting the sites of European Jewish communities; they have studied with the foremost scholars of Judaica for years; and they have made a great effort to collect with an eye for accuracy and for aesthetic values. Their large collection contains both the old and the new; especially interesting are its etrog containers. Among their shared pieces is a Passover cloth (Cat. 152)from Frankfurt dating from the last half of the nineteenth century. It is imprinted with biblical depictions in a style highly admired during that period. The Rina and Samuel Frankel collection has been motivated by a different perspective. At the very heart of the Frankels’ superb Jewish art is the silver kiddush cup (Cat. 41) used by Rina’s father, of blessed memory. The Frankel family has been altered and shaped by the events of the Holocaust; this cup was taken from Poland to Israel before it reached the United States.  The Frankels are deeply dedicated to Judaism; their treasured possessions focus on fine examples of haggadot and other rare and beautiful books along with finely crafted modern ritual objects from Israel and the U.S. Another dedicated family also representing Park Synagogue-Anshe Emeth Beth Tefilo Congregation are the Ratners. For three generations, the family has envisioned a strong Jewish community, embracing as it matures the importance of aesthetic beauty as an integral part of Jewish worship in the synagogue and the home. The first generation began with the establishment of an extensive art collection for Park Synagogue. It includes the works of the most prominent Jewish artists of the twentieth century along with fine examples of older Judaica. The Ratners have collected largely in the area of antiquities and are adding to their collection continuously with ritual artifacts. Representative of the holdings is a pair of silver gilt rimmonim (Cat. 18) from eighteenth-century Asia Minor.
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            We learned that the greater Cleveland community is richly endowed with artisans who produce exquisite, useful, and meaningful objects for ritual and decorative purposes. These many talented men and women are represented in this exhibit by a lovely hand-woven tallit (Cat. 173) by Miriam Lidsky; a massive memorial bronze sculpture entitled The Burning Bush (Cat. 108) by Bea Mitchell; and a unique huppah (Cat. 185) designed and stitched from an idea by Rabbi Stanley J. Schachter, spiritual leader of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation, by the wonderful workmanship of Debby Silver. The Cleveland Jewish community continues to delight in the paper cuts of both Jack, of blessed memory, and Jean Tetalman, as it has for many decades. While most of his fine art is decorative rather than ritual, we have carefully selected from Jack’s collection a traditional Simhat Torah paper cut (Cat. 96). We have the privilege of presenting Jean’s very first paper cut Mazzal tov (Cat. 183)— from among the many that have been commissioned by local families.

            We soon came to realize that the Jewish families of Cleveland are well spread among the various branches of Judaism, but they share the same motivations and interest in acquiring Jewish ritual objects. The Buchler, Lettofsky, and Freimark families all share a heritage from Germany that was left behind because of the Nazi onslaught. The Rabinsky family has a Hungarian-Hasidic heritage and has graciously loaned a treasured silver hanukkiah (Cat. 109), a gift to its members from Rabbi Goren of Israel. Betty Trangle shares the portrait of her grandmother in the traditional Moroccan wedding gown (Cat. 195) that she herself wore for her marriage to Kevin. The Gamzeh family uses and provides a prayer book (Cat. 83) and a calendar (Cat. 39) with the Farsi translations used by the Jews of Iran. Alvin Gray and Anita Gray are extensive travelers who often represent the Jewish community. Among Anita’s displayed treasures are a grouping of colorfully embroidered hats (Cat. 179) worn by Bokharin Jews. The most revered object in Alvin’s unique collection is the pair of silver candlesticks (Cat. 51) used by his grandparents in Poland around 1894.

            The supportive interest from the many rabbis of the community has been an important guide for this project. Personally and professionally, their recollections as well as collections add significantly to our knowledge and understanding. Rabbis Frederick and Matt Eisenberg (father and son) are sharing with us Torah ornaments (Cat. 21, 22), of Yemenite origin, purchased by Rabbi Frederick Eisenberg to adorn the scrolls of Temple Israel-Ner Tamid. Rabbi Jacob Shtull has given us the text of a modern-day get when a fully executed document was not forthcoming. Rabbi Kleinman opened his home so that I could select from among all of his choice objects. His mizrach (Cat. 198), created by Irit Milo of Israel, is a wonderful example of the modern artistry being offered. Rabbi and Mrs. Hachen delighted me with their most unusual pieces, ranging from Rabbi Hachen’s great-grandmother’s embroidered matzah holder (Cat. 141) to the soft-sculptured Simhat Torah flag (Cat. 95) stitched by former Cleveland artist Myrna Stone Tatar. Pearl Hachen is an agent for modern Judaica and has made us aware of some very unusual pieces. Another rabbinic family, the Moshe and Marilyn Berger, share family heirlooms of historic and poignant value. Their contribution to the exhibit is a set of English Passover plates (Cat. 132, 139) once owned by Mindel and Yisral Cymrot, Mrs. Berger’s grandparents.
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            Most emotional for me has been the witnessing of Jewish practice and devotion of the many groups of Orthodox families in their individual usage of ritual artifacts. The Abba Spero family invited us into their home just after their seder table had been set and as their children and grandchildren were arriving from out of town. They had delayed the storage of their very extensive dreidl collection (Cat. 119) so that we could examine it before Passover. I will always remember Sarah’s light-hearted description of how they had selected a dreidl from a Jerusalem shop only to find another one they desired in a shop that was down the street. This happened a number of times and so they were well on their way to a full-blown collection. I have had the experience of sharing in the joy and pride of the recently wed Berenholzes by viewing their family-designed huppah (Cat. 184), made by local artist Sandra Bohl, and their traditional wedding gifts of the ritual objects they will use throughout their lives. This experience was balanced with memories I shared with Teela Lelyveld, widow of Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, while learning about the silver kiddush cup (Cat. 44) from Germany that was smashed in the violence of the Holocaust and awarded into his keeping as a mark of his distinguished service to the Jewish people. There are very many people in this community who have helped with their knowledge and guidance. Still I am left with the awareness that there is a great deal more as yet uncatalogued, because of continuing phone calls and offerings even as this text is on its way to the printer.

            A sense of history, memory, respect for beauty, and overall a desire to practice the Jewish tenets have been the inspiration behind the many collections that form this exhibition. It is hoped that the attention and support of these many people will stimulate still further interest in the recording and display of Jewish ritual artifacts, not only in this area but in other Jewish communities of America. It is clear that the biblical injunction “to worship in the beauty of holiness” continues to inspire the creation, acquisition, and usage of ritual objects “for every season.”

            My grandson Julian Levi Muller has become a Bar Mitzvah during the span of this exhibit. It is now his season to join the chain of Jewish heritage. It is for Julian and his generation that my work has been conceived and compiled.