Joel Braverman High School (JBHS) held two Yom HaShoah ceremonies, an evening community commemoration and a day program for students. Holocaust survivor Sylvia Weiss, author of Selected From Above, spoke about being yanked off the gas chamber line by the infamous Josef Mengele, to stay with the working prisoners at Auschwitz.
JBHS Dean of Students Rabbi Naftali Besser spoke tearfully of the heritage trip he took with students and their visit to Auschwitz. There, in ten-below-zero weather, he reminded the warmly-dressed students that Jews had to stand where they were standing for five-hour roll calls wearing almost nothing.
Rita Madar, a British Jew living in Libya in 1943, mesmerized the students with descriptions of life at Bergen-Belsen. She remembered seeing things too horrible to mention, yet still had the determination to fast on Yom Kippur and celebrate Simchat Torah. Mrs. Madar delivered a strong message. Looking at the teens, she said, You are our revenge! Marry and multiply. Mrs. Madar is the grandmother of sophomore Michele Schewe.
Interspersed throughout both assemblies were a brilliant play written and directed by faculty member Sally Shatzkes, focusing on what we would do if everything in our world changed, and a choir performance directed by Brian Gelfand.
Speakers in elementary school ceremonies were also moving. Teacher Helen Ender read poems written by her father, Isaac Aron (author of Fallen Leaves), a partisan during the war who helped arrange for Jews to escape from the Vilna ghetto while it was being liquidated by the Nazis. The harrowing story of being in hiding in Poland as a child, moving from bunker to bunker, and escaping through blood-covered snow was told by survivor Fay Brandwein. Students recited The Butterfly, a poem written by Pavel Friedman when he was interned at Terezin.
Middle divisions program included a dramatic musical presentation and a lecture by Holocaust survivor Lola Lieber. In 1939, she was 16 and living in Krakow when the Nazis came. For six years, she fled from shelter to shelter, witnessed atrocities, and was forced to bury members of her own family. Now an artist, her paintings are part of the Yad Vashem archives. Her memoir, A World After This, recounts the terror of WWII and the therapy she found in art. Elementary school faculty members Barbara Schuh, Margalith Greenstein, Ellen Pearlman, Sylvia Schwartz, and Lilia Mauskop contributed to the ceremony.
For Yom Hazikaron, JBHS paid tribute to soldiers and victims of terror fallen in the wars of Israel, with a powerful program coordinated by faculty member Dr. Lea Gerber. An honor guard stood by a memorial candle lit in memory of those fallen, who were remembered in dramatic readings and prayers as well as slide presentations and educational displays.
Yom Haatzmaut followed. Hundreds of YOF and community members gathered to hear JBHS Principal Emeritus Rabbi Dr. David Eliach lead the evenings Tefillat Chagigit, celebratory prayers. Alumnus Barry Spielman explained to the standing-room only crowd his reasons for moving to Israel after high school in 1981, and why he chose to stay and fight in the Israeli Defense Forces. He is now the Director of Communications for North America at the Jewish Agency for Israel. The film Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference, narrated by former Harvard professor Dr. Tal Ben Shahar, elucidated how far ahead Israel is from the rest of the world in its contributions to alternative energy developments and life-changing inventions.
On Yom Haatzmaut, prayers were followed by dance and song, culminating in Hatikvah. A Spring Concert coordinated by alumnus Michael Grazi featured student bands, singers, comedians and more, and the student-run Tzedakah Commission organized two fundraisersa boys basketball tournament and a girls zumba event. Mrs. Sara Ovadia advises the Tzedakah Commission. Special Events Coordinator Rachel Winkler was integral to all of the events.
Elementary school spirits soared as well. YOFs representatives from Israel led everyone in a celebratory performance. Waving Israeli flags, students danced and sang in the school yard. Giant blue and white cookies were served. It was a great way to say Happy 64th Birthday to Israel!
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Michelle Olveira is the public relations assistant at YOF.
