Because We Were Slaves

By Rabbi Debra Smith

According to the US Holocaust Museum, antisemitic incidents are at a 40 year high. Extremist groups continue to call for violence against Jews. Young neo-Nazis are openly promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories on college campuses. Loud voices are openly spreading hate against Jews.

Loud voices are openly spreading hate against Jews.

Over the weekend, while watching the local news here in Florida, I heard an interesting story. A reporter visited a local college campus and interviewed a cross section of the student population. The students were asked several questions, such as “Can you name two concentration camps?” “Do you know how many Jews were slaughtered in the Holocaust?” and “Do you know what the ‘final solution’ was?” They were also asked if they knew what the Holocaust was and how they would define it.

Only one student was able to answer only one of the questions. He said he thought that 6 million Jews had perished in the Holocaust. The other students, with no embarrassment at all, said they didn’t know the answers to the questions they were asked.

I was extremely shocked at the lack of knowledge, and the lack of interest in the subject in general. It concerns me greatly to see that the students not only did not know the information, but they did not seem to find it important to learn it.

On a more positive note, I was happy to hear the announcement at services this past weekend that the synagogue we have just joined down in Florida has created an Antisemitism Committee that will address this issue and do educational programs on this subject.

Chai Mitzvah has just completed a new curriculum titled Because We Were Slaves: Racial Struggle in America Through a Jewish Lens, which focuses on racism and antisemitism.

Because We Were Slaves: Racial Struggle in America through a Jewish Lens explores the Jewish experience of receiving begrudging acceptance in the United States, as well as the difficult and painful journey that Black people have taken – arriving in the United States as slaves, and struggling to become full-fledged citizens under the law. Both groups aspired to become proud Americans, and continually work to shed cultural biases against them. The discussions focus on the parallels between the struggles of both groups, as well as the differences.

Most importantly, students examine this topic through core Jewish values.We look forward to sharing this curriculum with all of you, and having you in turn, share it with your communities throughout the country. To find out more, please click here.

If you have any questions, please use the box below, or contact Nina Fondiller Woldin, nina@chaimitzvah.org