On Wednesday night, May 3, Moriah’s Class of 2023 was privileged to host the premiere of their “Names, Not Numbers©” documentary. This 11th anniversary film told the unique and powerful stories of Trudy Album, Judith Bihaly, Miriam Edelstein, Tova Friedman, Charna Krakovsky, Doris Levy, Freida Seidner and Alex Wirtheimer.

As in all “Names, Not Numbers©” films, the documentary chronicles the educational component and journey of teaching the eighth graders the history of the Holocaust and preparing them for the interviewing process.

To begin the evening all of the survivors, their families, the Class of 2023 and Moriah staff had a gala dinner for 250 participants at Yeshivat Frisch. There Abby Herschmann and Mrs. Schwartz presented an overview of the comprehensive learning process to prepare for their interviews and to film this type of documentary. The students were praised for their maturity and dedication to the project. In turn, they were reminded of their new responsibilities as future leaders of the community to preserve and share these stories. Then Herschmann and Mrs. Schwartz presented gifts to the survivors and parent mentors in recognition of the multi-generational impact and participation.

Over the course of the evening Rabbi Alter, Mrs. Boim and Mrs. Schwartz addressed the students and community to highlight this accomplishment. Tova Fish-Rosenberg, the founder of “Names, Not Numbers©” praised the Moriah community and spoke of the necessity to continue educating students about the atrocities of the Holocaust. All of the survivors and their families marveled at the kindness and maturity displayed by the Moriah students.