The Merrick Jewish Centre will introduce a new Holocaust education program this fall to give students the opportunity to preserve the stories of Holocaust survivors and carry their legacies into the future.
The year-long program, Bearing Witness – To Never Again, is being added to the synagogue's ATID Hebrew High School curriculum. The program will meet monthly throughout the school year, and enrollment is limited to students selected through an application process. Registration closes Aug. 17.
Facilitated by Donna Rosenblum, director of education at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, the program is designed to create personal connections between students and Holocaust survivors through firsthand testimony. Participants will reflect on themes including resilience, identity, responsibility, moral choice and memory while learning to preserve and retell survivors' stories.
Rabbi Josh Dorsch said the program is rooted in the Jewish tradition of l'dor va'dor — from generation to generation — and is intended to ensure survivors' stories continue to be shared long after the last eyewitnesses are gone.
"When a Holocaust survivor entrusts a young person with their story, they are passing more than a memory — they are passing a sacred responsibility," Dorsch said. "This program transforms students from listeners into guardians of memory, ensuring that when the last eyewitness is gone, the story will still have a living voice and a lasting legacy for generations to come."
Dorsch said the relationships formed between survivors and students benefit both generations. Survivors gain confidence that their experiences will be remembered, while students develop a personal connection to Jewish history and identity. At a time of rising antisemitism, he said, those relationships help foster resilience, pride and the confidence to serve as informed ambassadors for the Jewish community.
Sharon Solomon, the synagogue's director of education, said students accepted into the program will become "trusted carriers and keepers" of survivors' stories.
"There is nothing more powerful than students taking personal responsibility for these sacred stories and carrying them forward with pride, especially in this time when many deny this history ever happened," Solomon said.
As a culminating project, participants will create an original work of art or presentation inspired by a survivor's testimony to be shared with the Merrick Jewish Centre community during Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Rosenblum said programs like Bearing Witness are becoming increasingly important as the world grows further removed from the Holocaust.
"As the world becomes increasingly removed from the history and lessons of the Holocaust, programs like this become all the more vital," Rosenblum said. "The mission to fight antisemitism in all forms makes the vow 'Never Again' a reality. This is a call to action, and education is the key."
Bearing Witness is one of several enrichment opportunities offered through Merrick Jewish Centre's ATID Hebrew High School, alongside leadership development, mentorship and Jewish learning programs for teens.
Applications are due Aug. 17. The program fee is $180 for Merrick Jewish Centre members and $360 for nonmembers.
