Ben Porat Yosef students observed Yom HaShoah through their interaction with survivors. Fourth grade student learned from Norbert Bikales about what life was like growing up in Berlin and being a part of the famous Kindertransport; fifth graders heard from Arthur Spielman who spoke about his experiences at the outbreak of WWII when he was set to start fifth grade in Poland. Students heard about his being expelled from school for being a Jew and how he survived the war. Middle school students heard from Stella Levy, who discussed the experience of the Sephardic community during the Holocaust. Levy, originally from Rhodes, Greece, from which approximately 152 Jews survived the war, was one of the survivors interviewed by eighth graders for the “Names, Not Numbers©” project. Students listened respectfully during each survivor’s talk and asked thoughtful questions that demonstrated their comprehension of the magnitude of the tragedy.

BPY capped off the week with a performance by the eighth grade students of an original play in observance of Unity Week. Students considered universal themes of the value of unity and the beauty in diversity and individual uniqueness. They created an original play and wrote and performed it themselves, under the tutelage of Rebecca Lopkin of Envision Theater. In the play, students acted as people from all walks of life and different religious and ethnic groups, who might be discriminated against in greater society—and then experienced “body transfers,” so they could, quite literally, experience life as someone they might have once feared or misunderstood. This led to greater compassion and empathy and the realization that, deep inside, people are not so different after all. Rabbi Zucker then led middle school students in a thoughtful and engaging discussion about why stereotypes exist and to work together to dismantle them and find strength in what unites us.