Six months may have passed since the tragedy that took place in Pittsburgh on October 27, of last year, but students at Bruriah High School continue to remain tightly connected with the strong and resilient community. Last winter, when brainstorming how Bruriah could show its support during this difficult time, juniors Goldie Goldberg and Yael Schneider, came up with the creative and meaningful idea of sharing the school’s Holocaust Museum with the Pittsburgh community. Every year the Bruriah juniors learn about World War II, with history teacher Joel Glazer, and create a museum in the hallways of the school to share their knowledge. This museum explores the events of the war, starting from Hitler’s uprising and spanning all the way to the creation of the modern state of Israel. It seemed fitting to set up the museum at Hillel Academy Day School in Pittsburgh and commemorate Yom HaShoah with a community that had recently experienced its own version of anti-Semitism.
Nine juniors arrived in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night to set up the museum, and by early Thursday morning, were already greeting students for tours by grade. In total, they presented the museum five times for grades four through 12. Each Hillel Academy student also created a 3D butterfly, inspired by the Elie Wiesel quote, “I never saw another butterfly,” representing the tragedies the Jewish people have endured, as well as the hope of continuity and freedom. The students incorporated ideas gained from the museum tour when creating their butterflies. Bruriah students then transformed all the butterflies into one large one and presented it to the school as a gift.
Afterward, they were privileged to join the high school and hear from Chana Brody, daughter of two Holocaust survivors. She shared her parents’ story, and what it was like to grow up as the child of survivors. Following the tours and the speaker, Bruriah students had a few minutes to speak with Rabbi Admon, a former member of Zaka in Israel and one of the heads of Chevra Kadisha in Pittsburgh. He described his significant role in dealing with the aftermath of the shooting alongside the FBI. He showed students a siddur from the Tree of Life Synagogue with a bullet hole straight through it, which made this event tangible to the students and really brought home the idea and reality of national tragedy. This experience made Yom HaShoah very meaningful and inspirational for all involved.
A number of faculty and administrators expressed appreciation, emotion and praise as they spoke of the impact of the event to them personally. Hillel Principal Rabbi Sammy Weinberg noted that when hearing about the Holocaust, students instinctively connected it to their own personal experiences from October 27. Clearly, this Yom HaShoah not only connected students from Bruriah and Hillel Academy, but helped even the youngest children connect to the chain of tragedy and beauty that is the Jewish people.
Yakira Levari, assistant principal for grades five to 12 girls, said, “The museum was outstanding and meaningful for all of the different age groups. Even more impressive was the students’ initiative to bring their project to Pittsburgh—their support over the past few months has been remarkable.”
Thank you to the Bruriah class of 2020 for all of their hard work in putting this museum together. Thank you to the four chaperones, Rabbi and Mrs. Oratz, Leora Reichenberg and Samantha Hauptman for accompanying the museum to Pittsburgh.
