Israel and the Holocaust Examined in New B’nai Sholom Course

How the Jewish community in Palestine dealt with the Holocaust, and how the Holocaust continues to impact the State of Israel, will be examined in a new course at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation.

“Israel and the Holocaust” will be taught four Thursday evenings beginning January 16 from 7:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at B’nai Sholom, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany.

The first half of this four-session course will explore how Yishuv, the Jewish community in Palestine, regarded and attempted to deal with the crisis of European Jews in the 1930s and the Holocaust in the 1940s. The second half will turn to the State of Israel and look at its absorption of Holocaust survivors and the place of Holocaust memory in Israeli life.

Dr. Arthur Brenner, the course instructor, is an adjunct instructor of Judaic studies at the University at Albany.  He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, City University of New York, Manhattan College and Siena College as well as the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, an adult education program.  A congregant at Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob in Albany, Brenner holds a doctorate in European history from Columbia.
“Israel and the Holocaust” is open to the public.  Fee is $30 ($20 for B’nai Sholom members).  Registration is required.

For more information, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region, creating a vibrant Jewish present that links ancient traditions with the promise of the future.  More than 150 diverse households from six counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom.