Honeyjar 0508 - Congregation Ohev Shalom

Page 8
The Honey Jar
7th Grade Graduation!
Mark Your Calendars!
Sunday, May 18, 9:30 a.m.,
everyone is invited to attend the
graduation of the Mispallelim
7th Grade class. This event will
be sponsored by the Weiss
family in honor of the daughter
Rachel. Our graduates:
Ted Bergman
Michael Fackenthall
David Glanzman
Hannah Herrera
AJ Ozer
Josh Schwartz
Tomer Stern
Ethan Tashman
Rachel Weiss
Daniel Ziring
Also that morning will be
the Annual Song and Dance
Festival that the entire
Mispallelim School is part of, and
parents are welcome to dance
and sing, as well.
Special awards will be
given out to a students in
Grades 4, 5 and 6, plus the
Bernstein Award to a 7th
grader.
A BBQ lunch will be served
by the wonderful Ohev Men’s
Club following the morning’s
programs.
Bring a friend, relative,
neighbor ... Everyone is invited
to celebrate with us.
Joan Joseph
Education Dir. of Mispallelim
Study of The Holocaust at Mispallelim
This year, all the classes will
get some educational
component about the
Holocaust. The 7 th graders
began by learning about the
history of anti-Semitism. We
did this so we would all realize
that Hitler’s ideas to pick the
Jews as scapegoats weren’t
original. We learned that
there has been anti-Semitism
for thousands of years in
many countries of the world
at one time or another.
Ever since the beginning
of Judaism, we have been
sent from our homes, expelled
from countries, forbidden to
worship God and, worst of all,
killed. Emperor Theodosius II
of Rome condemned Judaism
and legally set Jews apart. To
further set Jews apart, the
Fourth Lateran Council said, in
1215, that Jews must wear
distinguishing badges. In
1492, Jews were expelled
from Spain. In Venice, Jews
were forced to live in Ghetto
Nuovo, where the idea of the
ghetto originated. In Poland,
over 100,000 Jews were killed
in less then ten years. As the
Czar moved across Poland,
Jews were put into the
greatest ghetto of all, the Pale.
Jewish boys who reached the
age of twelve were drafted
into the army for 25 years.
With the assassination of
Alexander II in 1850 came a
new word, “POGROM.”
Then, we studied about
Germany. We began in 1871,
when Germany was finally
united under a single ruler.
We learned about WWI,
Wilson’s Fourteen Points, and
the Treaty of Versailles. It was
the harshness of the Treaty of
Versailles that gave Germany
the incentive for another
European war. We learned
about Hitler’s rise to power,
given to him by the German
people.
Was the Holocaust
inevitable No, it was the
people who made the wrong
choices. Power was abused.
People’s obedience was blind.
Decision-making was erased.
We must learn to make
the right choices in our lives.
We cannot allow silence for
others less fortunate than we,
or allow silence in the shadow
of a nuclear holocaust.
“The world is too
dangerous to live in. Not
because of the people
who do evil but because
of the people who sit
and let it happen.”
Albert Einstein
Mispallelim and
Congregation Ohev will be
teaching all community
members that would like to
attend about the Holocaust,
how GIs remember, being
part of a Yom ha’Shoah
Service, watching a movie,
and listen and having a
discussion with a wonderful
author. All this will happen
on May 2-4. Please plan to
attend all or part of this
weekend events.
Shalom to all,
Joan Joseph
Education Dir. of Mispallelim