SUBURBAN BOCA RATON, Fla.-- Mira Davidson is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and proud to be the first teacher chosen to teach Hebrew in Palm Beach County schools.
”This is the first time Hebrew has been taught in a public school,” said Davidson, a teacher at Loggers’ Run Middle School. “The future of Israel depends on everybody.”
She’s part of a group of educators and activists determined to push lessons beyond the classroom.
In recognition of Kristallnacht, also known as “Night of Broken Glass,” and the Holocaust-- children of survivors - educators and activists with the Jewish non-profit Next Generations served as panelists during three assemblies at Loggers’ Run Middle School in suburban Boca Raton. Their message: Don’t be a bystander, speak up.
”We need to teach them the expectations beyond what their parents are teaching them so that we make it a better world,” said Randi Posner, president of Next Generations.
”If we do not learn from the most recent Holocaust then how can we ever change it up - we have to somehow break this chain of killing and hate,” added Shashamna Rachelle Breitdart, Loggers’ Run Middle School teacher.
It’s a personal mission for Breitdart, her father was hidden for four years by a Christian woman as a teen and she wrote a book with his diary. Her final words to students, "He who saves one life saves the world." And, "practice what you preach."
”That’s why I’m still teaching at 65-years young,” she said.
To learn more about Next Generations visit: http://www.nextgenerations.org