Kirsten Huze, Libby Ortiz, Janice Lohr and I are putting together the Order of Service for a Yom HaShoah Sunday service May 5 at USR. We hope to include some video from a Holocaust survivor in Ira Mendelsberg’s family, and to invite Ronnie Hirshman to tell us the story of his grandmother. We’re also using materials from the Shalom Hartman Institute to shape the service.
The presentation will be based on our work last semester in Kean University’s Post-Baccalaureate Certificate on “Teaching the Holocaust,” which Kirsten taught at USR. When we started the course in September, we couldn’t have imagined October 7, and the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians. The course became more than a remembrance–it was a reflection on a current crisis as well.
As the celebration of Passover begins two weeks from today, the Hartman Institute has published “A Haggadah Supplement for 5784” that addresses our present context. They reflect, “This year, the reverberating trauma of October 7, ongoing war in Gaza, thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes, rising antisemitism, and weakening bonds of allyship around the world, give us new lenses for understanding the Exodus story. In some cases, the words of the Haggadah feel more relevant; in others, the Haggadah’s proclamations clash with reality. How can we celebrate a holiday of freedom when over 100 people are still held captive in Gaza? How do we call for all who are hungry to come eat at our tables when so many Israelis are not at their own seder tables and millions of Palestinians are on the brink of famine?”
They continue: “While there are no definitive answers to these questions, Passover is a time for us to reenter a generation-spanning conversation and envision ourselves anew in the Exodus story’s themes of persecution, resilience, and redemption.”
It’s in this reality that we were very encouraged to read “Israel or Palestine: Do you have to pick a side?” posted by The Ethics Centre, an Australian non-profit and non-sectarian organization a few weeks into the present violence. The article (click here) will inform everything we share on May 5. I hope you’ll read it, and reflect with us.
Sincerely,
Jack Lohr, President for the Board of Trustees
