Last Tuesday evening, the Moriah eighth graders participated in their opening meeting of “Names, Not Numbers©”. All eighth grade participants and their parents joined a Zoom session led by middle school faculty member, Rachel Schwartz, and eighth grade parent, Abby Herschmann, to introduce them to the general goals of the program, the curriculum and the depth of the emotional component in meeting and interviewing Holocaust survivors. Head of School Rabbi Alter and Middle School Principal Tzipporah Boim shared their warm welcomings as well.

Then, students watched pre-recorded remarks from Rabbi Alter, Tova Rosenberg, the creator and producer of the “Names, Not Numbers©” project, and Schwartz about the magnitude of the program, the messages imparted by previous survivors and the pride they should feel to be part of this program, which has been an integral and valued component of the eighth grade experience for the past nine years.

In her introductory remarks, Schwartz discussed the idea of empathy and its challenges. She used the following quote as a point of reference: It is impossible to perfectly inhabit another person’s experience. The important question is the value of the effort. In her weekly after-school classes with the eighth graders, it is Schwartz’s goal to prepare her students for this daunting undertaking.

As in previous years, the students will begin their classes in September and interviews will occur later this school year. All are looking forward to a successful, rewarding and enriching program.