On Wednesday of this week, the day before Yom HaShoah, eighth grade students from Walter T. Bergen Middle School returned to Moriah to join the eighth graders in a collaborative learning experience. Having been at Moriah in November for a Kristallnacht program, these public school students once again sat side by side with their yeshiva peers to connect in an important conversation around anti- Semitism and the Shoah. The morning’s program included multiple educational and thought-provoking facets.
First, nonagenarian survivor, Mrs. Miriam Edelstein, addressed the students and opened her remarks with the observation that the students in front of her were going to be the last generation to meet a survivor; that it was an opportunity their children would never experience. She shared her memories of her childhood and her family’s hazardous journey from Poland eastward to Siberia where they spent most of the war years. While she explained that they had not suffered nearly as much as those who were in the concentration camps, life was difficult and perilous, as food was scarce, the cold was pervasive, and their safety was always tenuous. When she finally returned to her hometown in Poland after the war, it was clear that her family and the other Jewish families who came back were unwelcome and unwanted. Mrs. Edelstein charged the members of her young audience with the imperative to speak up in the face of wrongdoing and to never allow hatred and bigotry to go unchallenged. She compared the antisemitism of today to the antisemitic feelings of the 1930’s, emphasizing the dangers of the current political climate.
After Mrs. In Edelstein’s presentation, the eighth grade students were divided into two groups that alternated between two experiences. One group proceeded to the Shul with Mrs. Rachel Schwartz and Morah Gila Bretter, where an art exhibit dedicated to the Women of the Holocaust was on display. The exhibit included eighteen original and magnificent works of art created by members of the eighth grade class. The artists served as docents and explained their artwork to their visitors and to their classmates. Guests were asked to complete worksheets in response to the artwork, connecting what they saw to some aspect of their own lives.
The other group proceeded to the Holocaust Garden with Mrs. Tzipporah Boim who explained the symbolism of each of the objects in the garden and its significance. She pointed out that the statues, made of Jerusalem stone, were a tribute to the State of Israel. The varying sizes of the statues represented the varying ages of the children killed during the Holocaust, and the chimes within them symbolized the voices and souls of the children who had perished. Mrs. Boim read the poem, “The Butterfly,” written by Pavel Friedman shortly before he was deported to Auschwitz where he was murdered. She connected the poem to the orange butterfly, newly named Kitmit Ariel, in memory of Ariel Bibas. Sadly, none of the public school student visitors knew of Ariel, while all of the eighth graders knew of him only too well. Mrs. Boim remarked that this was a sign that some people need to listen harder, while others need to speak more loudly about the injustices of our world.
Students in both schools left the program with an appreciation of the importance of Holocaust education today.
Throughout the Middle School, In preparation for Yom HaShoah, the students once again completed the learning of six Mishnayot in memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Following davening on Thursday morning, a student representative from each class shared the Mishna they had learned and explained its relevance as they commemorated Yom HaShoah and remembered all those who were lost in the Holocaust. As each student finished his or her presentation, a yahrzeit candle was lit. At the end of the program, six yahrzeit candles burned on the stage to honor the six million victims of the Holocaust. Additionally, the sixth and seventh graders all had the opportunity to visit the eighth grade Art Exhibit and to be inspired by the creativity and sensitivity expressed by the eighth graders in their pieces. Morah Gila Bretter and her daughter produced a video depicting the students’ work and the film footage that inspired it. The video was included in the program at the Greater Teaneck Annual Yom HaShoah Holocaust Commemoration on Wednesday evening.
