During the upcoming event on Jan. 25, “No Time for Silence: Contemporary Imperatives Marking the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz”, United States Senator Sherrod Brown and Dr. Susannah Heschel, Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, will lead a community-wide dialogue exploring how the lessons of the Holocaust must continue to inspire Americans and people the world over to fight for social justice and human rights in an effort to prevent unchecked recurrences of racism, brutality and inhumanity around the world.
“This conversation is more critical than ever in the wake of the Paris massacre,” said Dr. Gary P. Zola, Executive Director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, which is co-presenting the event with Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in cooperation with the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education.
“The event title—‘No Time for Silence’ —is the first imperative that must be embraced,” Zola continued. “It is hoped that the program will inspire a dialogue that produces real strategies for action that can be shared widely.”
“The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz provides an opportunity for reflection and reminds us that we must extinguish hatred, intolerance, bigotry, and any other form of racism,” said Senator Brown. “The fight for justice also draws upon diverse partnerships – from labor unions, to women’s organizations, to civil rights groups, to organizations like the American Jewish Archives and Hebrew Union College that help to keep the fight alive. It’s an honor serving alongside these champions as we work toward Rabbi Heschel’s imperative of ‘a mankind that will live by justice and compassion.’ ”
The Sunday, Jan. 25 event—co-presented by The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion — is free and open to the public.
The program begins at 4 p.m. in the Scheuer Chapel on the HUC-JIR campus, 3101 Clifton Avenue. The dialogue will be followed by a ceremony to commemorate HUC-JIR’s role in saving German scholars from the fires of the Holocaust in 1939.
The ceremony—which will include members of the families of the rescued scholars, a candle lighting service and an uplifting musical interlude— will begin at 5:30 pm.
“I am filled with gratitude for Hebrew Union College, its noble president of the 1930s, the late Julian Morgenstern, its trustees and faculty,” said Dr. Heschel.
“By rescuing my father as from the fires of Nazi Europe, Hebrew Union College saved his life, made my life possible, and brought to America a scholar and theologian who revolutionized how we think about religion, faith, and Judaism,” Heschel continued. “Marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the front row at Selma, Abraham Joshua Heschel demonstrated the same prophetic spirit of conscience and bravery that inspired Dr. Morgenstern to persevere and obtain visas to rescue five European Jewish scholars, each of whom enriched the United States in glorious ways.”
RSVPs are requested by calling (513) 487-3098 or clicking here.
From the American Jewish Archives