Antisemitism at Long Island school prompts lecture from Holocaust memorial speaker
Following
a hate incident that was reported at a middle school
, officials in Suffolk County's Three Village Central School District made a promise to do better. On Wednesday, they turned to a second-generation Holocaust survivor to open the eyes of hundreds of students to a different culture.
Dr. Bernie Furshpan, vice chair of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance center of Nassau County, is constantly spreading the idea that love trumps hate.
During a visit to Ward Melville High School, Furshpan spread a message to an assembly of 400 sophomores.
"I am here to shake you up, to wake you up. Hate has no discrimination. You guys understand this concept. Hate is like cancer," Furshpan said.
School leaders said his visit was part of the district's ongoing commitment to educate students about respecting cultural differences. It followed a recent letter sent out to parents about antisemitism incidents at Paul J. Gelinas Junior High School, including kids taunting Jewish students during a Holocaust lesson.
"They are inheriting this broken world. They don't have to inherit hate," Furshpan said.
Furshpan explained to the 10th graders how his brave, late father was just 10 years old when he survived the Holocaust by living in a forest in Poland for three years, after the Nazis had killed his family and took over the village.
"What he went through during the Holocaust is really just a vehicle to inspire them to do better," Furshpan said.
According to the UJA Federation of New York, only 8% of households in Suffolk County are Jewish, six points less than in Nassau County.
Furshpan says when kids are unaware of what other cultures went through, we all lose.
"They need to get on the inside of different cultures so they understand how they evolved so they will be more respectful," Furshpan said. "They can change the direction of society so we are more tolerant and accepting of each other."
Many students said the lecture resonated with them.
"It's helpful to hear a story like this," Amartya Das said.
"Hearing a personalized journey of survival and resilience, it really tells you about the power in humanity," Aiden Leek added.
Wednesday marked the first time the school held an event of this type, but it said it will not be the last. School leaders said the lecture was scheduled before the antisemitic remarks were made, but added they're dedicated to adding more lessons like this into their curriculum.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
10 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
‘The Boys in the Light' Review: Horror, Endurance and Rescue
Eddie Willner's parents sent him to Belgium with a note pinned to his coat asking that someone—anyone—take care of the 12-year-old Jewish boy. It was December 1938 in Germany, the month after Kristallnacht, and antisemitism was sweeping across the country. Remarkably, Eddie would be taken in by a Jewish couple in Brussels. Even more remarkably, his parents would find him less than a year later. But then, in a cruel twist of fate, the reunited Willners were rounded up by the Nazis and separated one last time. Eddie's mother, Auguste, was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and killed. In 'The Boys in the Light,' Nina Willner poignantly recounts the story of two Jewish boys and the American troops who rescued them in the closing days of World War II. We meet Elmer Hovland, a farm boy from Minnesota; Sammy DeCola, a street-smart extrovert from just outside Boston; Mike Swaab, a Jewish boy one year younger than Eddie who grew up in Amsterdam's Jewish Quarter; and Eddie, the author's father. Hovland and DeCola met in Company D of the Third Armored Division. The former 'possessed something you couldn't learn in college,' Ms. Willner writes, 'a combination of a farmer's horse sense, prairie toughness, humility, and a firm belief that the group was always more important than the individual.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania ranked top ten ‘most religious states' in new study
PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — With more than two-thirds of adults being religiously affiliated nationally, a new study shows that Pennsylvania ranks within the top ten of 'most religious states.' The study, conducted by SmileHub, compared all 50 states based on 13 key metrics. The data set ranges from the number of faith and religious support charities per capita to the share of people who pray at least daily. The report also focused on three key dimensions: religious interest and places of worship, religious education and careers and religion-affiliated organizations. Pennsylvania ranked overall in spot 10, with a total score of 52.16. In the aforementioned categories, the Commonwealth ranked: Religious interest and places of worship: 24 Religious education and careers: 10 Religion-affiliated organizations: 7 The top nine spots were secured by Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina, Mississippi, Indiana and Georgia, respectively. New Hampshire was ranked last, with Maine ranking in 49 and Vermont ranking 48th. Pennsylvania residents predominantly identify as Christians, with 62% of residents reporting they practice the religion from 2023-2024. Other religions reported in the Commonwealth include Jewish (2%), Muslim (1%) and Buddhist (less than 1%). 30% of Pennsylvanians reported being religiously unaffiliated, with 20% identifying as 'nothing in particular,' 5% identifying as Atheist and 5% identifying as Agnostic. Interestingly, in 2014, 73% of Pennsylvania residents identified as Christians, with an even higher number of 82% being logged in 2007. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
My Work Disrespected Me During a Religious Holiday. I Held My Tongue, But I'm Mad.
Good Job is Slate's advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small? Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here. (It's anonymous!) Dear Good Job, I work in an office. A few months ago, something happened that I can't seem to get over. We had an all-hands meeting in person with some sensitivity training for everyone. It was pretty bog-standard HR generated stuff, reminding you not to openly discriminate against people in ways that could get the company sued. That's all well and good I suppose, but the meeting did have some food provided, a variety of dishes from around the world which was supposed to showcase outreach or something. The training was held during Passover and I am Jewish, meaning I had a pretty restricted set of things I was religiously allowed to eat at that moment. Before taking anything on offer, I asked the two ladies running the workshop whether or not anything there was pesadik. They did not even know what that meant, so I figured that nothing was and declined to eat anything. That led to me being lectured, in front of my coworkers, for my 'insularity' and how this is how that sort of xenophobia they were just warning against gets started. I am aware of the irony, and also quite upset with how this turned out. My immediate, emotional response was to complain to either my boss, HR, or both. But a louder part of me said that the overall economy isn't good and that I might just be putting a target on my back by complaining about it. But it's been months now, and I keep thinking about it. Should I have complained? And if so, is it too late to say anything? —Insensitivity Training Dear Insensitivity Training, Oh yes, the irony of being lectured for 'insularity' during an anti-discrimination workshop is just too rich. Are people truly this un-self-aware? I have to believe that something about your request made them feel defensive so this was their response, but yeesh. I'm with you that their reaction was completely inappropriate, and I don't think it's too late to say anything. One approach, since you're mindful of not wanting a target on your back and you don't want to come across like you've been stewing over this for months, would be to wait until the month or so before Passover and then send a note to your boss and/or HR reminding them that Passover is approaching, and because you'd like to avoid the misunderstanding that happened last year, this is what you can and cannot eat during the holiday. Which brings me to my next point. I'm truly not trying to blame the victim here (to be clear, you are the victim!), but as a fellow Jew, I try not to assume that anyone has knowledge of Jewish traditions. You say you 'asked the two ladies running the workshop if anything was pesadik,' aka kosher for Passover, aka made without wheat, barley, oats, rye, and spelt. But I think it may have been unrealistic to expect that they knew what 'pesadik' meant (which, for what it's worth, is a term I haven't heard most Reform Jews use either). You wrote 'They did not even know what that meant' and so you didn't eat anything, but I think it's worth giving people grace in these moments and explaining what it means. Yes, it's annoying that it's on you to educate people, but next time, I would probably just send an email to the organizers ahead of time, explaining that you observe Passover, it runs for eight days, and during that time you cannot eat anything leavened that is made with these five grains. And if you ever get a similar response as you did during the workshop, please do not wait to bring it up to your boss and/or HR. If the workplace is serious about sensitivity training, then they should be receptive to your feedback. Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir want to help you navigate your social dynamics at work. Does your colleague constantly bug you after hours? Has an ill-advised work romance gone awry? Ask us your question here! (It's anonymous!) I am a few months into my first full-time job. It's exacting and rewarding, with multiple pathways for advancement. Our team is almost exclusively women who have seamlessly incorporated me into their community. I also really liked my cubicle partner—well, my former cubicle partner. Last week I realized that my department may not have extended the same welcome to everyone. One evening I got a terse email that it was my cubicle partner's last day— his desk had already been completely cleared out by the time I got to work the next morning. Then during our department meeting, the boss shared a long 'team-building' PowerPoint that emphasized how no work environments were inherently toxic, that pre-conceived negative attitudes can turn imagined slights into reality, and that the best way to resolve interpersonal conflicts was to speak one on one with the other person and only elevate to management in dire circumstances. We were also told not to gossip, so clearly asking for details is inappropriate, but I have a sinking feeling that I know why an otherwise close-knit, largely white and female department had to sit through that presentation. My former cubicle partner (who quit? Was fired?) had been the third most recent hire, but was the only Black man (indeed the only Black person) in the entire company. I have belatedly realized that I was the only person who ever chatted or ate lunch with him and realized that my other colleagues only mentioned him in unflattering contexts (e.g. he was out-of-touch for bringing up that he enjoyed nonfiction books when several people had just been talking about the romance novels they were reading, that pretentious for sharing that he enjoyed visiting art museums on his days off). His unceremonious disappearance from the office, combined with the weirdly pointed presentation and my coworkers' seemingly collective agreement to pretend he never existed, is raising my hackles. In comparison, two white women with less than two years experience also recently left the company, but were each celebrated with cupcakes at lunch and drinks after work. I have polled some friends who have been working longer in similar fields and they agree that the weird PowerPoint was likely the HR response to a scathing exit interview from my now ex-colleague. I realize that I am not privy to any more information, and that maybe this guy said or did something horrible before I was hired that elicited a chilly attitude from literally everyone (but was not egregious enough to get him fired on the spot). What is the best way forward given that the details are seemingly confidential? Without any more context, I am now suspicious that my coworkers are racist and/or sexist and that my bosses are unwilling to resolve conflicts, whereas just two weeks ago I thought I'd scored a jackpot in terms of a first job. —Suddenly Dubious Dear Suddenly Dubious, Your company's reaction to the departure of this colleague is bizarre! And anyone with any awareness of human nature should know that if you tell people not to gossip about something, that will be the first thing they want to gossip about! So I completely understand where you're coming from in wanting to know what happened, and I also appreciate that you are sensitive to the racial and gender dynamics at play here. That said, I think that you have to let this particular situation go and just try to do your job well. As you pointed out, something may have happened with this guy that led to him being fired that you were not aware of. And I hate to sound like a wizened old crone, but this is going to be just the first of many jobs you'll have over the course of your life where people get fired or quit for reasons that you are not looped in on. Most workplaces have their problems! I also don't think it's necessarily fair to assume that your coworkers are racist and/or sexist, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on, and if you feel like your workplace has turned toxic for you, maybe it's time to look for a new job. —Doree My husband and I were married seven years before he unexpectedly died. He was from overseas and told me he didn't have much in the way of family since his parents died. He lied. When I finally mustered up enough courage to go through his old boxes, I found photos, letters, and documents. My husband had been married and then divorced in his home country. Worse, there were pictures of him with his five children. The man that I loved, that was trying to build a family with, left his five young kids behind without a look back. He never breathed a word about them to me. He certainly never financially supported them. The entire foundations of my world have been shaken. Is it wrong to go looking for his family? Solve the daily Crossword
