If you attended our Annual Meeting this past Wednesday, you may have seen a new face in the crowd. We are proud to announce our newest staff member, Chen Shterenbach, Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) Senior Director. Chen grew up in a moshav/village in Israel, surrounded by his family on their small chicken farm. Chen earned his B.A. and M.B.A. in business while in Israel, and an M.A. from Brandeis University, where he specialized in teaching languages and developing curriculum. If you see Chen, please stop and introduce yourself. We look forward to his work with JCRC, including programs combatting antisemitism.
In regard to antisemitism, there are two special TV programs coming up I wanted to highlight. This Sunday, CNN will air a special report entitled “Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America,” which will air at 9 p.m. EST. For the report, CNN interviewed SCN (Secure Community Network – the JFNA security arm) and accompanied them as they conducted Be Aware: An Introduction to Situational Awareness Training and Countering Active Threat Training for more than 100 members of four congregations in Texas. As part of the report, SCN provided background information on the threat landscape and highlighted their work to create a security shield over North American Jewish communities.
Then, on September 18th, PBS will air a three-part, six-hour series entitled “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” This documentary series by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein will “examine America’s response to one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the twentieth century.”
I hope you are able to watch both of these important programs.
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