Presented by Michael Berenbaum
Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust; Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, American Jewish University
To understand Jewish history one must look at the steps the Jewish people took after defeat (586 BCE, 70. 135, 1492, or 1945 CE).
In 1945 the Jewish people made three basic decisions about its future: They would remain Jews; The Jewish future would be secured by a Jewish State with a Jewish Army and Jewish flag that could defend the Jewish people; And for those who remained in the diaspora, the Jewish future would be secure in a liberal democracy that defended human rights, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and thus the freedom of Jews to live and practice as Jews.
Today, these last two decisions do not seem quite as secure as they were pre-October 7, 2023. In this talk, we will delve into the consequences of such decision-making, and explore how history will view our world today.
Register to receive the Zoom link. Barring technical issues, the program recording will be posted on the Haberman Institute Program Archive.
We extend a special thank you to Andrew R. Ammerman for sponsoring our Fall 2024 program lineup. He dedicates the semester’s learning in loving memory of Josephine and H. Max Ammerman and Stephen C.
Michael Berenbaum is a writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and the development of historical films. He is director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust at the American Jewish University where he is also a Professor of Jewish Studies.
He was the Executive Editor of the Second Edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica. For three years, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. From 1988–93 he served as Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, overseeing its creation. He was Deputy Director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust where he authored its Report to the President.
Berenbaum was the conceptual developer on the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Educational Center that opened in Skokie, and played a similar function as the conceptual developer and chief curator of the Belzec Memorial at the site of the Death Camp. He was the conceptual developer on the Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City and a historian to the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. He recently developed three museums in Skopje, North Macedonia, the Memorial Museum to Macedonia Jewry in Skopje, in Dallas, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, and in Cincinnati, the Nancy and David Wolfe Holocaust and Humanity Museum.
Berenbaum is the author and editor of 22 books, scores of scholarly articles, and hundreds of journalistic pieces. His work in film has earned multiple awards. He has been the producer, co-producer, executive producer, historical consultant, writer and interviewer and interviewee on more than two dozen films in multiple languages broadcast throughout the world. His work in film has earned Emmy Awards and films he has worked on have earned more than a dozen Emmys and four Academy Awards. He has written and lectures widely on films, most especially those dealing with the Holocaust.