The most agonizing question of the Holocaust is whether the free world could have done more to save Jews in Europe from the Nazis during World War II. Among the questions in this category, is whether newspapers and radio could have pressured the governments of Great Britain and the United States to take action by rescuing more refugees, and executing military maneuvers to disrupt the transportation of victims to concentration camps. For this to happen would have required (1) the pressure of large newspaper headlines trumpeting Nazi genocide against the Jews and the Romani, (2) constant front page placement of the horrific stories coming out of Poland and Russia and (3) angry newspaper editorials urging government actions. In this essay criticisms of British and American newspaper holocaust coverage are examined and justified. An attempt is made to understand why the press behaved the way it did. In the study questions at the end of this paper, the effectiveness of contemporary communications meaning television and satellite distribution of it are considered. Students are asked whether even with today’s coverage the perpetration of genocide can be effectively countered by public opinion.

By Jack Heller

The holiday of Sukkot not only illustrates the longevity of Jewish law and tradition, but also serves as a refreshing deviation from the predisposition to materialism by emphasizing the importance of nature and subservience to god as well as compassion and hospitality.

By Shlomit Benazri

This essay assesses the importance of three covenants that have in particular given shape to the development of Judaism in history. The three covenants described provided Israel with a law (and a way of being in the world) that transcends the law of the state; it will determine how Israel is to judge itself and others, and how it is to be judged by G-d.

By Matthew LaGrone

The author provides a detailed overview of the concept of Ger in Biblical and rabbinical literature, a term which nowadays is imperfectly translated as a convert, but the meaning of which in antiquity went far beyond that categorization. He goes on to propose certain messages and possible parallels to the contemporary Jewish experience.

By Michael Schatz, M.Ed., M.A.Jed

The recently deceased historian Yosef Haim Yerushalmi (1932-2009) in his fundamental work "Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory" posed the dialectic between the power of memory and the complexity of the historical perspective. This dilemma can be seen represented in the way architects imagine the history of Jerusalem through the process of the reconstruction of the Hurva Synagogue.

Edith Blaustein