WELCOME TO THE JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA

 301 Washington Avenue • Miami Beach • Florida 33139
Phone: 305-672-5044 • Fax: 305-672-5933
Internet: www.jewishmuseum.com
Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm
Closed on Mondays, Civil and Jewish Holidays
Website update supported by Targum Shlishi, a Raquel and Aryeh Rubin Foundation.

MARCIA JO ZERIVITZ

Marcia Jo Zerivitz, Founding Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Jewish Museum of Florida, has been a leader in the Florida Jewish community for more than forty years and specifically with Florida Jewish history for more than twenty years.

Since 1985, Marcia has traveled more than 150,000 miles around Florida to research and retrieve the state’s unknown Jewish history. She created a collection and a storyline of Jewish life in Florida and helped develop the MOSAIC exhibit that traveled to thirteen cities from 1990-1994.

Under her direction, this project evolved into a permanent Jewish museum on South Beach. Marcia guided the two-year restoration of an abandoned historic Art Deco building that served as an Orthodox synagogue for fifty years and opened the Jewish Museum of Florida in 1995. In 2007 the Museum completed restoration of the first synagogue on Miami Beach, an adjacent building acquired as part of the Museum’s expansion. By summer 2008, a center court café will connect the two spaces.

The Museum (one of only 5% of museums accredited by American Association of Museums) collects, preserves and interprets the nearly 250 years of Jewish experience in Florida. Marcia manages the operations of the Museum including producing/presenting 40 exhibits in thirteen years, and leads its expansion program. She continues to guide the collections, lecture and research Florida Jewish history and its role in American Jewish history. Marcia initiated the legislation for both a Florida Jewish History Month (January) and a Jewish American Heritage Month (May) to increase awareness of the contributions by Jews to the state and nation and takes a leading role in creating the educational resources.

Marcia was selected for the first United Jewish Appeal Young Women’s Leadership Cabinet in 1974 and has led many missions to Israel. Marcia, born and raised in West Virginia, is a former leader for Israel Bonds, Congregations, AIPAC, ORT, Hadassah and Jewish Federation where she served both as president (1978-80) of the Greater Orlando Jewish Federation and as a professional (1980-84). She has been a professional capital fundraiser for Jewish Day Schools, Jewish Federation and Camp Judaea.

Both the Museum and Marcia have received widespread press acclamation and many awards. In 2005, Marcia was recognized as the Best Arts Manager in Miami-Dade County.

Marcia is married to Elliott Zerivitz and has three grown children (Michael, Marni and Matthew) and two granddaughters (Alexandra and Rachael).

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