Scheck Hillel Community School’s observance of Yom HaShoah began Monday with a live online Q&A with Jonathan Jakubowicz, writer/director of the film “Resistance,” and continued with Tuesday assemblies and presentations for Grades 5-12.

The Q&A with Mr. Jakubowicz, facilitated by Dr. Ezra Levy, Rabbinic Head, and by Dr. Hana Barouk, Upper School Judaic Studies teacher, attracted more than 100 participants curious to learn about the film’s subject matter: the French Jewish mime Marcel Marceau and his otherwise little-known involvement in the French Resistance and rescue of Jewish orphans in Nazi-occupied France. Scheck Hillel’s audience was honored to learn from Mr. Jakubowicz, who described his work as, “...a film about salvation, not extermination.” The film is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Tuesday’s learning sessions were led by Student Life director Yishai Cohen, Dr. Ezra Levy, Rabbinic Head, and Judaic Studies teacher Malka Braunshweiger. Through original footage and images from Yad Vashem’s archives, students “traveled” from pre-Holocaust Jewish life in Europe to the progressive restrictions and violence that led to the decimation of two thirds of European Jewry and its aftermath. Last summer, Dr. Levy and Mrs. Braunshweiger had the opportunity to receive training at Yad Vashem in Israel and are working to integrate these unique resources and approaches into Scheck Hillel’s curriculum throughout the school year.   

 

Each year, Yom Hashoah helps the school community revisit the horrors and lessons of the Holocaust, and shapes how we live today: as steadfast, proud Zionists who will never forget history and commit to building a bright Jewish future.