In Judaism, the idea of remembering (zecher) is an important part of growth and moving on from certain difficult situations. As we remember the night of Kristallnacht , Nowemapa 9, 1938, which permanently changed the lives of Jews in Europe, we must take the time to honor those who are still with us, those who lived through the terrible events of the past, as well as those who are no longer here.This month, the Y instituted thesafEtea project in conjuction with theUJA-Federation of New York social action month (Jewish month ofCheshvan), with purpose to ensure the safety of our members living at home. In the past year, one of our members, Eric Rosenbaum, had a tragic accident at home. It seems that Eric might have been making himself a cup of tea when his sleeve caught on fire. He had severe burns and died the same day. In thinking how to take a tragedy and try to prevent something like this from happening again, we developed thesafEteaproject, with the capital E for Eric (hele mua i ʻAmelika. Ua noho ʻo Lisel lāua ʻo kona makuahine me ka manaʻolana e loaʻa koke i ka makuakāne kahi palapala hoʻohiki no lāua. Akā ʻaʻole i puka ʻo Lisel a me kona makuahine. Ua male ʻo Ellen i kahi kāne ma ka ʻoihana ʻili). We have been able to secure grants as well as getting donations of electric automatic shut off kettles to distribute to our Center for Adults Living Well members to keep them safe at home.
The Y remembers and guards the Jewish legacy of Washington Heights. We thank those Holocaust survivors who shared their memories of the best and worst in humanity. Their strength and perseverance stand as an example to us all.
Please watch the video below by Roj Roordiguez, made in honor of the survivors and in memory of those who are no longer with us.
