by George J Elbaum

Jewish Family and Children’s Services Holocaust Center is a San Francisco Bay Area social services organization whose mission statement is “Serving individuals and families of all faiths and backgrounds, guided by the Jewish value of caring for those in our community most in need.” As such, JFCS carries a special responsibility within the Jewish community for reaching out to children, the aged, those with special needs, and for the resettlement and acculturation of refugees and immigrants.

Among its many services, the JFCS Holocaust Center provides educational programs on the Holocaust for teachers, students, and community members.  Their recently-launched Summer Learning Series includes virtual programming open to anyone in the world.  My talk, the first of the series, was organized by the JFCS Holocaust Center jointly with the Israeli American Council (IAC) and was followed by several breakout sessions for reflection and discussion.  Approximately 85 guests participated in the event, which was organized by JFCS Holocaust Center’s Program Coordinator Penny Savryn in partnership with Sharona Israeli-Roth, San Francisco Regional Director of IAC.  Morgan Blum Schneider, Director of the JFCS Holocaust Center, welcomed attendees and all three of them, in turn, introduced me .