The Butterfly Effect: My First Time in Israel
The Butterfly Effect: My First Time in Israel
By Nina Afremov | March 13, 2025 – It felt like destiny to finally visit the Holy Land for the first time. When I commemorate my Israeli peers who died, I am reminded of my peers in the USA who call their deaths “resistance.” In Israel, though, we grieve together.
Read MoreHow one parent’s proactive approach helped save a classroom from anti-Israel curriculum
How one parent’s proactive approach helped save a classroom from anti-Israel curriculum
By Sami Rahamim | February 13, 2025 – When a local parent sat down for parent-teacher conferences with her 8th grader’s global studies teacher, she asked a question she had never asked at conferences before: “Will you be teaching about Israel and the Middle East conflict? And if so, could you share the curriculum you plan to use?”
Read MoreWhen you own your story, no one can take it from you
When you own your story, no one can take it from you
By Naomi Breazeale | January 16, 2025 – When I first stepped onto my college campus in the fall of 2020, I wasn’t anti-Israel, but I also wasn’t sympathetic toward Israel. It would have taken very little to sway me into becoming an anti-Israel activist.
Read MoreMy path to JCRC was paved by my family’s survival
My path to JCRC was paved by my family’s survival
By Meira Besikof | November 14, 2024 – At a time when Jewish voices are sometimes silenced, and Holocaust comparisons and distortions occur almost daily, working with teachers who are dedicated to bringing Holocaust speakers to their classrooms has given me hope.
Read MoreLessons from the Silk Road
Lessons from the Silk Road
By Steve Hunegs | October 10, 2024 – Visiting the British Museum, we decided to tour its special exhibit: Silk Roads. One document on display transfixed me.
Read More19 Years With My JCRC Family
19 Years With My JCRC Family
By Laura Zelle | September 13, 2024 – Nothing pleases me more than taking the time to honor and celebrate some truly remarkable individuals who have been an integral part of the team at the JCRC’s Holocaust Education program during my tenure.
Read MoreStepping up for Israel
Stepping up for Israel
By Sami Rahamim | August 9, 2024 – The Hebrew word Yisrael carries three distinct meanings: Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel), Medinat Yisrael (State of Israel), and Am Yisrael (People of Israel). I recently returned from 24 remarkable days in Israel. Breathing the air of Eretz Yisrael, wrestling with the complex and contradictory realities of Medinat Yisrael, and connecting with the beauty, diversity, pain, and resolve of Am Yisrael was exactly the medicine I needed.
Read MoreHere’s Why The Tankenoffs, Vikings, and Allianz Fund Holocaust Education In MN
Here’s Why The Tankenoffs, Vikings, and Allianz Fund Holocaust Education In MN
July 31, 2024 – A few years ago, Laura Zelle was seeking out Holocaust education trips to Europe for Minnesota K-12 teachers when she realized that there weren’t many options. “There was really a need for an experiential, professional development opportunity, rooted in factual history – and what is better than taking people to the place where this occurred?” she said. So Zelle decided the JCRC should do its own Europe trip.
Read MoreNothing Was Easy About This Trip, Except for One Realization
Nothing Was Easy About This Trip, Except for One Realization
July 9, 2024 – It’s hard to know where to begin. The Power of Place is not an easy trip. We knowingly take people to the most horrendous sights of mass killings they will ever see and hope it sparks a commitment to teaching about Holocaust history.
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