The idea behind the seven-day seminar was to empower community rabbis to better deal with the topic of the Holocaust by providing them with enriched background knowledge of the events, as well as pedagogical techniques and sample classes. In this way, Yad Vashem would provide them with additional tools to engage community members and connect them to their Jewish identity. The seminar therefore focused on helping rabbis develop the skills needed to create educational curricula and content for Shoah studies in their adult education programs and congregations, and to deliver that content in the most compelling way possible, tailored to their respective communities.
The 15 participants from North America included Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and Chabad rabbis. Through both lectures and interactive workshops given by Holocaust scholars, they were provided with a well-balanced combination of history and philosophy, as well as instruction and model classes. In addition, there were several opportunities for participants to familiarize themselves with modern-day Israel.
Lectures included the topics of prewar Europe; Nazi ideology; ghettoization; the "Final Solution" and its implementation; postwar theological responses to the Shoah; prosecuting Nazis; and new forms of antisemitism, including from the Muslim world.
The model units provided practical and useful tools the participants could use in their classrooms. Themes explored included the German-Jewish response to the rise of Nazism; spiritual and physical resistance; female partisans, rabbinic leadership; dilemmas in religious life in the ghetto; and the return to life after the war. Most units were accompanied by complimentary digital and other educational materials.
Participants were also taken on a guided tour of Yad Vashem's "Flashes of Memory: Photography during the Holocaust" exhibition, where they explored ideas of propaganda and manipulation.
As the rabbis use survivor participation in many of their programs, they maximized their time with Holocaust survivor David Frenkel during the seminar. They were also particularly interested howYad Vashem prepares the survivors for their talks, and how that could be replicated in their hometowns.
Undoubtedly, a highlight of the seminar was when Rabbi Israel Meir Lau and Rabbi JJ Schacter met in the Holocaust History Museum in front of the picture of Rabbi Lau as a child in Buchenwald listening to his liberator, Rabbi Herschel Schacter – Rabbi JJ Schacter’s father. "We will never allow the flame of Jewish tradition to be extinguished," said Rabbi Lau at the emotional reunion. "We will light it again and again, and pass it on from generation to generation."
This seminar was a tremendous success," said Ephraim Kaye, Director of the International Seminars and Jewish World Department at the International School for Holocaust Studies. "We tapped into a completely new Jewish educational market that is grossly underserved and the participants recognized and appreciated the effort we put into accommodating their unique needs. The program was unique in that it brought together rabbis from completely diverse backgrounds, and mutual respect was achieved and a feeling of comradery was palatable. This program is an important example of how Yad Vashem can uniquely meet the needs of this particular population."
The Jewish World Section at the International School is now eagerly working on follow-up in local communities, in order to provide support in the way of materials, classes, and memorial ceremonies, especially during peak seasons like Jewish holidays and Holocaust Remembrance Day. In addition, staff are working hard to include topics in future courses that were not part of the seminar due to time constraints, such as answers to Holocaust denial, and multidisciplinary approaches to Shoah education through the use of film, artworks and other media.
The Seminar for Communal Rabbis was generously supported by the Adelson Family Foundation, David and Ellie Werber and Martin and Bracha Werber, Sima Katz, Rita and David Levy and Family.
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 90.
