On Monday October 16, the entire senior grade at MTA was privileged to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage as part of an extension of the “Names Not Numbers© Holocaust oral history documentary program. Although ordinarily closed to the public on Mondays, the museum opened for MTA with a full host of security staff and gallery educators. “I’m glad that MTA brought us on this trip to the museum because it was an eye opening experience with many real artifacts from the Holocaust,” commented Pinchas R., an MTA senior originally from Baltimore.

In groups, students explored the main exhibit showcasing the experiences of European Jewry from the 1930s through the end of the war. “It was very informative. I learned from there it wasn’t just the camps and ghettos..” said Ben J., from Riverdale.

Students also participated in a workshop on ethical wills, led by Museum Director Dr. Paul Radensky. “The trip was really insightful. I thought [the Holocaust] started with the ghettos, then the labor camps, then the death camps…I didn’t realize there was mass shootings, or how many death marches there were, and how much they targeted the children,” reflected Monsey senior Hillel K.

Students left feeling a deepened sense of connection to the mesorah as well as a renewed feeling of reassurance that the enemies of Yisrael will never win—certainly a needed message of comfort in light of the difficult situation in Eretz Yisrael today.