Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 20, 2024

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Stockton University celebrated the 30th anniversary of the state's Holocaust and genocide education mandate Monday.

The event featured several speakers who gave remarks in the Campus Center's event room about the mandate and its impact on the university. Holocaust survivors, students and faculty were among those in attendance.

The legislation was signed into law by former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman in 1994. Whitman and current Gov. Phil Murphy sent recorded messages praising the mandate for educating youth over the past three decades, Stockton said Wednesday in a news release.

Getting the mandate passed wasn't easy.

Irvin Moreno-Rodriguez, interim executive director of the college's Holocaust Resource Center, said delays, threats from the Turkish government and concerns from school administrators nearly put a stop to the legislation.

There was one member, Holocaust survivor Margit Feldman, who stood up at the meeting, Moreno-Rodriguez said. Margit told the members, If you do not seek a Holocaust education mandate in New Jersey, you will be murdering my family twice."

The first-of-its-kind mandate has been a success, said Doug Cervi, executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.

The core mission of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education is to promote Holocaust and genocide education in the State of New Jersey for all students, said Cervi, a 2002 Stockton graduate. As Elie Wiesel said, when you hear a witness you become a witness, which is why educating our students about the Holocaust and genocide is so important.

Stanley Grossman, a former CEO of his family's century-old Northfield furniture business, has died, according to anobituaryfrom the family.

Stockton opened its Holocaust Resource Center in 1990 to support the mandate. Former director Gail Rosenthal led the center until she died last year and it was passed on to Moreno-Rodriguez.

The Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center became more than just a place of learning," Moreno-Rodriguez said. "It is a beacon of hope, reminding us of the enduring power of human resilience and righteousness, and the importance of education in paving a pathway for a peaceful future."

Joe Bertolino, Stockton's president, said the university has more Holocaust and genocide classes than any other school in the world.

We have a moral responsibility to shine a light on these atrocities and to develop our students into inclusive and understanding leaders who will continue to face challenges head on and with an understanding of history, he said.

Michael Berenbaum, who was the keynote speaker and is a Holocaust scholar, said the classes teach against hate.

We cannot let hate pervade our society. We have to teach the importance of democracy and the real urgency of having human decency triumph, he said.

Berenbaum also said the classes are more important now due to a rise in incidents of antisemitism.

This field is one of the most powerful means by which we teach values, said the professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University. Compassion, decency and the need to have a civil society. The need to accept a multiplicity of human beings and the enormous preciousness of every human life.

Five organizations unitedthis monthfor the first time to give local moviegoers their only opportunity to see writer-director-producer Ava DuVernay's new film about cultural hierarchy, "Origin," on the big screen in Atlantic County.

Holocaust survivor Maud Dahme, who first shared her story at the university in 1982, praised the Commission on Holocaust Education for its continued work in making sure students learn about the Holocaust and other genocides.

Im proud of what the commission has done and continues to do because its so very important, she said. When I look at the world today, its so disrespectful. I hope by us speaking and the (second- and third-generation survivors) speaking that we will instill some kindness and respect in our youth.

Contact John O'Connor:

609-272-7261

joconnor@pressofac.com

Twitter @acpressoconnor

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Stockton celebrates anniversary of Holocaust learning law - Press of Atlantic City

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