SJC to Host Kristallnacht Observance

October 22, 2013 LI

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. October 23, 2013 - The Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life at St. Josephs College (SJC) is pleased to announce that it will host an evening of Jewish-Christian dialogue in remembrance of Kristallnacht featuring Naomi Miller on Monday, November 11 in the McGann Conference Center on the Colleges Long Island Campus.

Kristallnacht, also known as the "Night of Broken Glass, was a series of violent acts that occurred in Europe in 1938 and resulted in the deaths of dozens of Jewish people, the destruction of over 250 synagogues and the looting of Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools and homes.

"The Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life is pleased to welcome Naomi Miller, singer, actress, educator and child of Holocaust survivors to our annual commemoration of Kristallnacht, said Thomas Petriano, professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at SJC. "Kristallnacht commemorates and remembers an event that must never be forgotten.

Naomi Miller has performed her emotional multimedia presentation, "You are the Future at the Terezn (Theresienstadt) Concentration Camps theater, in synagogues and churches, elementary and high schools, colleges and community centers, including several interfaith services. Her performances evoke tears, laughter and, eventually, understanding and the promise to never forget.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a kosher buffet, followed by a multimedia presentation at 7 p.m. and a discussion at 8 p.m. A Kaddish will be led by Rabbi Joel Levinson of Temple Beth El in Patchogue immediately following the discussion.

This event is open to the public. A $10 fee includes entry and dinner. For more information, call 631.687.5100.

SJC to Host Kristallnacht Observance

November 03, 2011

LONG ISLAND, NY – November 4, 2011 - The Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life at St. Joseph’s College is pleased to announce that it will host an evening of Jewish-Christian dialogue in remembrance of Kristallnacht featuring guest lecturer  Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor on Tuesday, November 8 in the McGann Conference Center on the College’s Long Island Campus.

“The purpose of this event is to commemorate the night of Kristallnacht, reach out to the Jewish community in the Patchogue area and raise consciousness among students and the community at large about the horrors of the Holocaust and the dangers of ethnic and religious bigotry,” said Thomas Petriano, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at SJC.

A recognized expert in interfaith relations and well-known lecturer, Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor is the vice president of philanthropy at the World Union for Progressive Judaism, an international umbrella organization of the Reform, Liberal, Progressive and Reconstructionist movements, which serves, nurtures and supports more than 1,200 congregations and more than 1.8 million members worldwide. He is a former director of the education division and interfaith affairs at the Anti-Defamation League. Author of numerous articles and editor of two books, Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor’s  most recent book is titled A Jewish View of Cults.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a kosher buffet, followed by Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor’s lecture at 7 p.m. and a discussion at 8 p.m. A Kaddish will be led by Rabbi Joel Levinson of Temple Beth El in Patchogue immediately following the discussion.

This event is open to the public. A $10 fee includes entry and dinner. For more information, call 631.687.5100.

SJC to Host Kristallnacht Observance

October 18, 2010 LI

PATCHOGUE, NY – October 19, 2010 - The Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life at St. Joseph’s College is pleased to announce that it will hold a Kristallnacht observance featuring Elizabeth Heyn, author of The Teller in the Tale: A Half-Jewish Child in Nazi Germany, on Tuesday, November 9 in the McGann Conference Center on the College’s Long Island Campus.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a kosher buffet, followed by Ms. Heyn’s presentation of her book at 7 p.m. A Kristallnacht memorial service, led by Rabbi Joel Levinson of Temple Beth El in Patchogue, will conclude the observance.

“The purpose of this event is to commemorate the night of Kristallnacht, reach out to the Jewish community in the Patchogue area and raise consciousness among students and the community at large about the horrors of the Holocaust and the dangers of ethnic and religious bigotry,” said Thomas Petriano, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at SJC.

The Teller in the Tale: A Half-Jewish Child in Nazi Germany is the story of a half-Jewish child growing up in Nazi Germany that traces its way through her escape in 1941, just three weeks before the German borders closed, to her coming of age as a refugee in Franco’s Spain and finally to her attempts to become a typical American teenager. This story is rich in the rarely documented details of everyday life for an individual who falls between the cracks of religious and ethnic identity.

This event is open to the public. A $10 fee includes entry and dinner. For more information, contact Thomas Petriano at 631.687.2689 or [email protected].