Spotlight

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Nice to see you again.

Members of CHAIM (Children of Holocaust - Survivors Association In Michigan) relished their first in-person opportunity to be together since 2020 when CHAIM hosted a re-opening event, attended by 25, at The Zekelman Holocaust Center (HC) in Farmington Hills.

Feiga Weiss, HC’s librarian and archivist, lectured March 27 on “Discovering Our Roots.” She brought handouts and non-circulating reference books from the library.

“So many people asked good questions about how to find information to search for their family’s roots before the Holocaust and also about family members who perished,” said Dr. Charles Silow, CHAIM co-president with Sandra Silver. “Feiga educated us on the latest websites.”

Silow founded CHAIM in 1979 to give children of Holocaust survivors “a sense of comfort and belonging.”

The museum’s meeting rooms display “Portraits of Honor,” a CHAIM-initiated project. Anyone connected to a Michigan Holocaust survivor may have the person’s photograph included, with wartime information added to a database.

CHAIM dues are $18 annually. For information, email CHAIM2gen@gmail.com or visit the CHAIM Facebook page.

Teachers are often the unsung heroes who inspire our children to greater heights and whose lessons often last a lifetime. The Jewish News wants to honor the best-of-the-best teachers in our community — in elementary, middle and high school. To nominate a Jewish teacher or a teacher at one of Metro Detroit’s Jewish day schools, send an email to jheadapohl@thejewishnews. com with “Best Teachers” in the subject line. Include the teacher’s name, school, grade/ subject and why you think they deserve to be recognized. Then look for our “Educators of the Year” in the May 19, Cap & Gown issue. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, County Prosecutor David Leyton, Sheriff Chris Swanson and Flint Mayor Sheldon Neely recognized the Rebbe’s influence in bringing education and morality to the forefront of public discourse on the Rebbe’s 120th birthday.

They proclaimed April 12, 2022. to be “Education and Sharing Day, Genesee County” and “Education and Sharing Day, Flint” in recognition of the crucial importance of ethical and moral education.

Education and Sharing Day will bring to the forefront the importance of morality in education, a cause championed by

The City of Flint and Genesee County Marked ‘Education Day’ the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory. For more than 40 years, presidents, houses of congress and local governments have recognized the date corresponding to the Rebbe’s birthday on the Jewish calendar as Education and Sharing Day, honoring an individual who brought education to the forefront of public discourse. In keeping with the Rebbe’s lifetime goals and teachings, local, state and federal governments are issuing proclamations recognizing the need to teach moral and ethical values to our youth.

(JTA) — Canada is set to outlaw Holocaust denial, a move that has the backing of the governing Liberal Party government coalition and the opposition Conservative Party.

The CTV reported that language adding Holocaust denial to the criminal code is in the must-pass government budget.

Coalition officials cast the change as consistent with existing Canadian laws criminalizing incitement to hatred and promotion of genocide.

“There is no place for antisemitism and Holocaust denial in Canada,” Marco Mendicino, the public safety minister, told CTV.

“That’s why we’ve pledged to prohibit the willful promotion of antisemitism through condoning, denying or downplaying the Holocaust. The Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history. We must preserve its memory, combat contemporary antisemitism and be unequivocal when we say: never again.”

Canada joins a number of European nations, including Germany, that have criminalized Holocaust denial.