October 2020 / Tishrei- Cheshvan 5781
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READINGS from Mania Nudel Holocaust Learning Center Of the David Posnack Jewish Community Center OCTOBER 2020 / TISHREI- CHESHVAN 5781 Hoping that everyone’s Yom Kippur was as meaningful as can be expected in these times. We are now into 5781 and G!d willing this year will see the end of the “plague” and the resurrection of face to face contacts in every aspect of our lives. The holiday of Sukkot will be upon us on October 3 for seven days and then the celebration of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. The reason I present these, even though we may not be able to celebrate the way we used to, is just to realize that after 3,333 years of our receiving the Torah, we are still a people who follow our Hebrew calendar and recognize these celebrations and despite the thousands of years of persecution and catastrophic events against us, we’re still here and we will continue to celebrate in some small way, even during a pandemic. G!d willing next year we’ll be enjoying these celebratory days as we always have. So, we can still say Chag Sameach to one and all. Once again there are so many articles dealing with the Shoah. We’ve tried to capture some of the readings about the Shoah that are relevant and significant. Some of the readings come from various sources and not all Jewish sources. We urge you to scan the list and read those items that capture your attention and interest. The first reading has hit every news media in its importance. It speaks of how few millennials know anything about the Shoah. Definitely worth your reading. Meanwhile our MNHLC is coming along in its development significantly. The cobblestones have been placed in the area in front of the Anne Frank Annex and is striking. The wiring for all of the high-end technology has been put into the walls and the room looks like it’s getting ready for the hardware and software’s placement. More great news to follow soon. ******* Echoes & Reflections has released the findings of its U.S. College Survey, which shows that Holocaust education in high school reflects gains not only in historical knowledge but also manifests in cultivating more empathetic, tolerant, and engaged students. Among the survey’s key findings: 1. Eight out of 10 college students report having received at least some Holocaust education during high school. More than 55 percent reported watching either in-person or video survivor testimony. 2. Students with Holocaust education reported greater knowledge about the Holocaust than their peers who did not receive Holocaust education. Prepared by Rabbi Dr. Leon & Toni Weissberg [email protected] READINGS from Mania Nudel Holocaust Learning Center Of the David Posnack Jewish Community Center 3. Students with Holocaust education have more pluralistic attitudes and are more open to differing viewpoints, which includes being more comfortable with people of a different race or sexual orientation more generally. 4. Students exposed to Holocaust education demonstrate higher critical thinking skills and a greater sense of social responsibility and civic efficacy if survivor testimony was part of their experience. ******* The Southern Poverty Law Center reports the number of hate groups in America has skyrocketed since 2016, reaching 1,020 in 2018. Most are white supremacist and neo-Nazi. While members also hate other minorities, “the Jew” is their number one enemy. https://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/columns/6646037-Ellen-J.-Kennedy-Cancer-COVID-and-me ******* Nazi-Occupied Norway Offers a Glimpse of What Hitler Wanted for the Entire World The story of occupied Norway has a great deal to tell us about how Hitler and his henchmen envisioned the world under the swastika Read in TIME: https://apple.news/ASgGDFJrEQXWIlch8neuM_g ******* California ethnic studies course accuses Jews of ‘racial privilege’ “They will learn about the interlocking systems of oppression and privilege that impact all people of color,” says the proposed curriculum. Sept 2, 2020 By Josh Plank, World Israel News The California legislature passed AB-331 on Monday, coming one step closer to becoming the first U.S. state to require all high school students to complete an ethnic studies course in order to graduate. The course would follow an ethnic studies model curriculum which accuses Jews of possessing “racial privilege.” The California Department of Education was authorized to develop the model curriculum in 2016, but the process has been surrounded by much controversy and public input. The model curriculum is designed to teach students “about the interlocking systems of oppression and privilege that impact all people of color.” Last year, under pressure from Jewish groups, several sections of the proposed curriculum were dropped, such as “Direct Action Front for Palestine and Black Lives Matter,” “Call to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Israel,” and “Comparative Border Studies: Palestine and Mexico.” However, the curriculum still contains a suggested course titled, “Irish and Jewish Americans: Redefining White and American.” “Students will write a paper detailing certain events in American history that have led to Jewish and Irish Americans gaining racial privilege,” says the model curriculum. In the course, students “will be asked to think critically about why and who is allowing this evolution in white identity.” While there are large sections detailing the experience of Arab/Muslim Americans and other minorities, comparatively little attention is given to the experience of Jews. Prepared by Rabbi Dr. Leon & Toni Weissberg [email protected] READINGS from Mania Nudel Holocaust Learning Center Of the David Posnack Jewish Community Center “The recent rise in anti-Semitic violence” is briefly mentioned as a possible topic, alongside “the experiences of Arab Americans and the rise of Islamophobia and discrimination against Sikhs in the aftermath of 9/11 and the War on Terror.” In another section, “students will study the philosophy of the Nation of Islam,” the anti-Semitic cult led by Louis Farrakhan. The model curriculum also contains large sections exploring the Black Lives Matter movement, such as “Black Lives Matter and Resistance to The Prison Industrial Complex and the criminalization of youth in LA and across the country.” The full text of the ethnic studies model curriculum was posted to the California Department of Education website on August 13, 2020, for a 30-day period of public review, during which “members of the public are invited to submit comments.”Last month, Gov. Newsom signed into law a similar bill, AB-1460, which requires students at California State University to complete an ethnic studies course in order to graduate he Secrets in the Arch both Pope ************** The GSI (Generations of Shoa International) newsletter for September 2020 is now available online at http://genshoah.org/newsletter-2020/gsi-newsletter-09-2020.pdf ****** The Pope, the Jews, and the Secrets in the Archives Documents reveal private discussions behind both Pope Pius XII’s silence about the Nazi deportation of Rome’s Jews and the Vatican’s post-war support of the kidnapping of two Jewish boys whose parents had perished in the Holocaust. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/the-popes-jews/615736/ives’s silence ******* How The Fictitious "Syndrome K" Saved Dozens Of Jews From The Nazis | IFL Science x https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/how-the-ficticious-syndrome-k-saved- dozens-of-jews-from-the-nazis/ ************** The new America’s Black Holocaust Museum is scheduled to open in Milwaukee as soon as they can after the pandemic permits them. Among Holocaust organizations, the issue of the museum using the term “Holocaust” has become very controversial. See the website of the ABHM below: https://www.abhmuseum.org – see how the Museum defines Holocaust. Prepared by Rabbi Dr. Leon & Toni Weissberg [email protected] READINGS from Mania Nudel Holocaust Learning Center Of the David Posnack Jewish Community Center ************** abo uation of Rome’s Jews in 1943 and the Vatican’s postwar support for the kidnapping of two Jewish boys whose parents had perished in the Holocaust. Prepared by Rabbi Dr. Leon & Toni Weissberg [email protected] READINGS from Mania Nudel Holocaust Learning Center Of the David Posnack Jewish Community Center Members of Congress launch international task force to combat online antisemitism CALL TO ACTION ‘We know that what may begin as online threats in the virtual world can lead to violence in the real world,’ Rep. Ted Deutch tells JI https://jewishinsider.com/2020/09/members-of-congress-launch-international-task-force-to- combat-online- antisemitism/?utm_source=Jewish+Insider+Contacts&utm_campaign=0d56a40756- EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_24_06_53_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_008e75 e2f9-0d56a40756-92964510 *********** Op-Ed: You must remember this: Sultan Mohammed V protected the Jews of Casablanca (Thank you Donny Sztulwark for finding this article) https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-hurowitz-moroccan-king-mohammed-v-20170425- story.html ******** The GSI (Generations of the Shoa International) newsletter for October 2020 is now available online at http://genshoah.org/newsletter-2020/gsi-newsletter-10-2020.pdf Prepared by Rabbi Dr. Leon & Toni Weissberg [email protected] .