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Did you know (that was happening)?
Recent events have made me realize that the question “Did you know?” can be more complicated than it sounds. The story of Brett Kavanagh and Christine Blasey Ford hits close to home for me, literally. I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1982, when Christine Blasey was attending the Holton-Arms School, I was attending a public middle school a mile and a half away. [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
For Yom Kippur: Go Set a Watchman
For the sin we have committed against You by running away from the chance to do good in order to make our lives easier. “I can’t live in a place that I don’t agree with and that doesn’t agree with me.” How many of us have had such a thought? How many of us live in neighborhoods of agreement? How many of us safely stay in our like-minded bubbles to avoid conversational conflict? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
Americans, the Holocaust is not about you
How do we tell the story of the Holocaust? Here in America, the Holocaust is taught from a distinctly American point of view. The story of the Holocaust typically begins in 1938, with a sudden explosion of hatred that penetrates the American isolationism. The story ends in 1945, when brave American soldiers throw open the gates of the concentration camps. “You are free,” they cry, and, the story implies, everyone goes home again. [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
Did you know (that was happening)?
Recent events have made me realize that the question “Did you know?” can be more complicated than it sounds. The story of Brett Kavanagh and Christine Blasey Ford hits close to home for me, literally. I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1982, when Christine Blasey was attending the Holton-Arms School, I was attending a public middle school a mile and a half away. [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
For Yom Kippur: Go Set a Watchman
For the sin we have committed against You by running away from the chance to do good in order to make our lives easier. “I can’t live in a place that I don’t agree with and that doesn’t agree with me.” How many of us have had such a thought? How many of us live in neighborhoods of agreement? How many of us safely stay in our like-minded bubbles to avoid conversational conflict? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
Americans, the Holocaust is not about you
How do we tell the story of the Holocaust? Here in America, the Holocaust is taught from a distinctly American point of view. The story of the Holocaust typically begins in 1938, with a sudden explosion of hatred that penetrates the American isolationism. The story ends in 1945, when brave American soldiers throw open the gates of the concentration camps. “You are free,” they cry, and, the story implies, everyone goes home again. [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
Teaching the Holocaust through Story
How do we even begin to understand the experience of the Holocaust? How do we give our students insight into something we can barely comprehend? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
On the meaning of liberation, for the 75th anniversary of V-E day
Seventy-five years ago, death camps and labor camps were liberated one by one as the Allies marched across Europe. On May 8, 1945, the armed forces of Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. The Jews of Europe as a people were liberated, freed from their slavery and oppression. Free to emerge from hiding; free from the threat of arrest and murder; free to be Jews again. What does it mean to be liberated? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
Building communities through the stories of individuals
Storytelling is an ancient art that gives voice to our values and our history. Through our stories, we build our communities. But we can only appreciate the depth of these communities when we tell the stories of the individual people who make up the community. [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
A new ritual for Yom HaShoah as the fragile window closes
We have reached a tipping point where the Holocaust is changing from an immediate, traumatic memory to community history. At this transition, we have an obligation to frame how we as a Jewish community will commemorate this event for future generations. If we do not create some sort of ritual observance, then I fear that the Holocaust will fade into history, its lessons lost. I brought this idea to a meeting of Jewish educators… [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
Does “Never Again” still have meaning?
Never again is the anguished cry of Holocaust remembrance, seeking to find a meaning from the suffering. But can we still say never again when genocides have happened again, and again, and again? Does the phrase still have meaning? [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
On the meaning of liberation, for the 75th anniversary of V-E day
Seventy-five years ago, death camps and labor camps were liberated one by one as the Allies marched across Europe. On May 8, 1945, the armed forces of Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. The Jews of Europe as a people were liberated, freed from their slavery and oppression. Free to emerge from hiding; free from the threat of arrest and murder; free to be Jews again. What does it mean to be liberated? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
How will we remember the Holocaust when there are no survivors left? Ritual.
Today, another Holocaust survivor passed away. I do not know their name – perhaps you do. Unlike their families who were torn from them before their time, some of these people are dying of natural causes, and others, sadly, of COVID-19. We should not be surprised by this. The Holocaust ended 75 years ago. The youngest survivors are in their 80s.
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