The end of hate.
09/16/2024
Can a Holocaust education program for high school students in 2024 make a difference when antisemitism and other forms of hate seem to be growing unchecked?
Let me tell you why I’m asking.
The other day I was remembering my junior year in college when I was a student at the University of Munich. Several times each week I would walk past a memorial in the lobby of the university’s main building – a monument to Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, the student resistance movement she helped build to fight the Nazi regime.
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Did Sophie and the other White Rose activists think they would succeed in transforming or defeating the Nazis?
We’ll never know and, perhaps, it doesn’t matter.
The end of hate will likely not come about in our lifetime, but we can hasten its end by using every possible tool.
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I believe The Mitzvah Project is one of those tools.
... and, with your help, we will continue to focus on our mission to teach the lessons of the Holocaust to as many young people as possible in as many schools as we can.
To ensure that The Mitzvah Project will be available to all public high schools – in every state in the country – free of charge, please consider making a tax-deductible gift.
Can you do that?
Thank you for your support!
Roger Grunwald, Founder, The Mitzvah Project
The Mitzvah Project comes to Berkeley High School
On Friday, September 27th at 1:30pm Teaching Artist, Elijah Alexander will present The Mitzvah Project to the student body at Berkeley High School. We have been allocated a limited number of guest passes and, if you have not yet experienced The Mitzvah Project program and would like to do so, we would love to have you attend. The one caveat: we have a very limited number of seats and can only offer guest passes on a first come, first serve basis.
If you want to attend and can commit to the date and time, please let me know as soon as possible by sending me at email at roger.grunwald@themitzvah.org
PLEASE NOTE: Guest passes are only available to readers of this article plus one guest so, please, do not share this information with anyone unless they will be accompanying you.
Many thanks!
P.S. More Mitzvah Project News below:
Expanding the reach of The Mitzvah Project in California
Over the course of June, July and August, I met with members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and their staffs.
It was on April 29th that I was honored by the Caucus at their annual Yom HaShoah commemoration for my Holocaust education work.
At those meetings, I asked Caucus members to help me bring The Mitzvah Project into high schools and colleges in their districts.
The meetings were both cordial and productive and, now that the school year has begun, we will be following-up with a number of principals and superintendents that the legislators have introduced us to.
To date I have met with the following legislators and/or their staffs:
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin — Santa Clara/Santa Cruz, etc.
Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal — Long Beach, etc.
Assemblymember Matt Haney — part of San Francisco
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel — part of San Fernando Valley
State Senator Josh Newman — parts of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties
State Senator Ben Allen — Malibu, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc.
State Senator Henry Stern — Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, etc.
State Senator Josh Becker — Menlo Park, San Mateo, etc.
More News
Thanks to the great work of The Mitzvah Project’s newest advisory board member, Will Knox, Will and I had a wonderful meeting with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg who pledged to help us bring The Mitzvah Project into the high schools and colleges of Sacramento. We are currently working with the Mayor’s staff to connect with local high school and college administrators.
Mitzvah Project website upgrade underway
By early October, The Mitzvah Project website will have undergone its most significant technical and design upgrade in the program’s eleven-year history. Stay tuned for the site’s formal re-launch announcement!
Recent (and upcoming) California presentations
Northgate HS (Walnut Creek, CA) — 1/26/2024
San Ramon Valley HS (Danville, CA) 2/6/2024
San Ramon Valley HS (Danville, CA) 3/5/2024
Berkeley HS (Berkeley, CA) — 9/27/2024
Renaissance HS for the Arts (Long Beach) — 9/30/2024
Excelsior German Center (Oakland, CA) — 11/17/2024
Crystal Springs Uplands School (Hillsborough, CA) 1/30/2025
… more to be confirmed soon.
The Mitzvah Project at Oakland’s Excelsior German Center
On Sunday November 17th, Mitzvah Project teaching artist, Victor Talmadge, will give a special presentation of the program for young people studying German at high schools, private language schools and colleges throughout the greater Bay Area at the Excelsior German Center of Oakland.
For more information on the Excelsior German Center event, contact psspecht@sbcglobal.net. The Excelsior presentation is also being offered to adults in the local German American community.
“The message of The Mitzvah Project is important for all ages,” says Petra Specht, Board President of the Excelsior German Center and member of The Mitzvah Project’s Advisory Board.
“In my opinion, the profound impact of The Mitzvah Project has everything to do with how it uses theater to bring both the history and the lessons of the Holocaust to life.” #NeverAgainIsNow
An Outreach Coordinator
Given the growing need for The Mitzvah Project to expand to more schools, we have just hired an outreach coordinator to supplement my work reaching out to high school and college educators to schedule Mitzvah Project presentations.
More soon!
Thank you, be well and stay tuned!
