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NY state officials want schools to say how they are teaching the Holocaust
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with teens across the world to report on issues that impact their lives.
(JTA) — Sasha Bandler and Josh Davis feel lucky to have learned about the Holocaust directly from survivors, but this wasn’t part of any formal education. The high school seniors found the Holocaust lessons at their Long Island schools inadequate.
“We’ve learned very little about the Holocaust aside from a general outline of what occurred,” said Davis, a student at Great Neck South High School. “In AP World History, my class spent about two class periods discussing the events of the Holocaust.”
Great Neck South’s Holocaust education differs from that at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, and yet students there still find it unsatisfactory.
“My high school included ‘Night’ by Elie Weisel in its freshman-year curriculum, which I believe is a great first step in changing its Holocaust education,” said Bandler, a student at Schreiber High. “But I think there’s a long way to go to make sure students leave high school with a complete understanding of the Holocaust.”
For teen Isaiah Steinberg, Holocaust education came in his upstate New York middle school. “We read ‘Surviving Hitler’ in sixth grade, and we brought a Holocaust survivor to our school to talk with us,” Steinberg said, referring to a young adult book based on the experiences of Holocaust survivor Jack Mandelbaum. But still, he said he’s learned more from YouTube’s “Infographics Show” than in a classroom, where “in 8th grade, we probably spent three days. In 11th grade [AP U.S. history], we spent maybe one class.”
Student stories like these highlight the shortcomings and inconsistencies of New York’s efforts to require Holocaust education. Coupled with rising antisemitism across the state, legislators in recent months have sought to strengthen Holocaust education in New York, one of 23 states that have a mandate to teach the Holocaust. In August, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law requiring a state-sponsored survey to track how school districts teach the Holocaust. Legislators see this as the first step in combating antisemitism in the state, even if it does not change the current regulations on Holocaust education. Instead, it will act as a barometer for how well schools are following the laws in place, allowing the Education Department to guide them in the right direction.
“The ideal outcome of the survey is that we identify those schools that are failing to meaningfully instruct students on the history of the Holocaust, and that those schools work with the State Education Department on a corrective action plan that gets them on track as quickly as possible,” said State Sen. Anna Kaplan, a representative of northwest Nassau County and a sponsor for the new Holocaust education act.
Sixty percent of Millenial and Gen Z New Yorkers surveyed did not know that six million Jews were murdered, and 19% believed Jews caused the Holocaust—the highest in the nation, according to a 2020 Claims Conference survey.
“I think there are some glaring statistics out there where students can’t name any concentration camps, and people don’t know what Auschwitz is,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, a representative of Northeast Queens and one of the act’s sponsors.
New York’s legislation continues a trend of the state being proactive in teaching the Holocaust to its students. Public schools have been required to teach about human rights violations, with “particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of the Holocaust,” since 1994. But the statistics from the Claims Conference survey demonstrated to Rozic and Kaplan that New York schools were not following this law. Rozic and Kaplan said a change to the legislation was necessary to ensure New York’s students graduate with meaningful knowledge of the Holocaust.
The surveys, developed and distributed by the Education Department, have already been sent out to every public school across New York. They ask superintendents to outline what Holocaust education looks like at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and what training their teachers have in Holocaust education. The survey does not ask about how the curriculum is taught, rather, it only asks the superintendents to verify that they are teaching about the Holocaust.
These surveys were due to the Education Department by Nov. 10, 2022. According to Rozic, the department’s review of the results is expected by the beginning of 2023, at which point it will recommend changes to school districts that are not providing satisfactory Holocaust education, which is loosely defined in preexisting legislation.
If schools do not respond, or their answers do not indicate that Holocaust instruction is provided at their district, the Education Department will take action, prescribing a corrective action plan.
Of the many potential action plans, the common thread is that more time must be spent in educating students on the Holocaust.
“I think schools should spend a little more time teaching the topic though,” said Marnie Ziporkin, a senior at Commack High School, “so that students can fully comprehend why this event was so impactful to the entire society and Jews especially.”
While the act does not provide for legal changes to curriculum or consequences for school districts whose Holocaust education is deemed unsatisfactory, Kaplan says it is a step in the right direction to providing proper Holocaust education to students across New York State.
“At the end of the day it comes down to us wanting to provide students with the education that is required by law,” said Kaplan.
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When a Jewish prisoner died in Ohio in 1918, four fellow inmates left the penitentiary in civilian clothes to ensure he got a proper burial
Jack Nast wanted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery.
He died in April 1918 while incarcerated at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. Little is known about the circumstances that brought him there, but another prisoner, Morris Hess, preserved an account of his final days.
As he lay ill, Nast cried out that he was a Jew, Hess wrote. He expressed pride in Jewish history and its achievements, faith in the teachings of Judaism, and regret that his own life had not lived up to its principles. He wished to receive a burial befitting someone “born in the House of Israel.”
With the aid of others, his request was granted.
Isaac B. Jashenosky and Jacob Myers, two men who regularly visited the Jewish prisoners, were with Nast before he died. Jashenosky, whom the prisoners called “rabbi,” conducted the funeral service at an unidentified Jewish cemetery, likely in Columbus. When Nast’s relatives, whom Hess described as wealthy, refused to contribute toward the expenses, Warden Preston E. Thomas permitted the prison’s Jewish inmates to contribute to a collection for the funeral.
Four prisoners were also allowed to attend the burial in civilian clothing. They listened as Jashenosky delivered his remarks and Nast’s remains were returned to the earth.
“Kaddish was said and will be said every week for him,” Hess wrote.
The account appeared in The American Israelite, a Cincinnati Jewish newspaper, under the heading “Prisoners in Ohio Penitentiary are Grateful.” Hess signed the letter with his name and prison number, 45511.
Jewish life behind prison walls
The men who helped bury Nast were part of a larger effort to sustain Jewish religious life inside Ohio’s prisons. By 1899, prisoners were being excused from work for Jewish holidays and provided with special food. In 1902, about ten Jewish inmates received matzo for Passover. By 1913, religious services were also being arranged at correctional institutions in Mansfield and Lancaster.
In 1915, Charles Albert Rosenbaum wrote to The American Israelite about B’nai B’rith’s efforts to reach Jewish prisoners in Ohio.
For years, Rosenbaum wrote, Jewish prisoners had watched representatives of other faiths visit their institutions, “not with envious but with saddened eyes.” They wondered why their own people had been so neglectful. In prison libraries, they read of “the beauties and the godlike charities of the Jewish peoples,” but turned from those pages, looked at “the cold steel walls of their cells” and doubted.
“How all of this has been changed!” Rosenbaum declared.
Rosenbaum credited Jashenosky, Myers and other Columbus volunteers with organizing visits and religious services. With Warden Thomas’ permission, more than 100 services had been held over the preceding two years, he reported, without guards present.
Hess was among those who recorded these gatherings. In 1917, he described a service attended by Jashenosky and Myers, noting that one visitor, Mrs. I. J. Shatz, had distributed cigars to the prisoners.
Freedom in the penitentiary
In 1920, Hess described Passover services held with the cooperation of Warden Thomas and his wife, Mary Thomas. Women from Columbus’ Ezrath Nosheim Society provided a holiday meal.
Jashenosky preached that although everyone desired liberty, true freedom came through “the awakening of the soul.” He told the prisoners that, “Freedom is not alone a privilege, but a lifelong obligation.”
In December 1921, another prisoner, Harry Joseph, writing on behalf of the Jewish inmates, described the work of B’nai B’rith, the Council of Jewish Women and the Ezrath Nosheim Society.
He recalled the holiday meals that women from Columbus had prepared and served, including a dinner following Yom Kippur services. Their presence, he wrote, reminded the prisoners of “the Jewish fireside with its family love.”
He continued, “The knowledge that someone cares is an incentive to reach the end of this rocky road of adversity and become useful citizens.”
Jashenosky died in April 1930, at the age of 79. Newspapers reported that he had served as a prison chaplain for more than half a century.
Before he died, Jashenosky made one final request. He wanted two Jewish prisoners, Abe Shapiro and Adam Sikorski, to attend his funeral.
Warden Thomas granted permission.
The post When a Jewish prisoner died in Ohio in 1918, four fellow inmates left the penitentiary in civilian clothes to ensure he got a proper burial appeared first on The Forward.
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Houston Astros hire former Team Israel manager Brad Ausmus as skipper
(JTA) — The Houston Astros hired Brad Ausmus as manager, the team announced Wednesday, making the former Team Israel skipper the lone active Jewish manager in Major League Baseball.
This will be Ausmus’ third managerial stint in MLB. He previously led the Detroit Tigers from 2014-2017 and the Los Angeles Angels in 2019. Ausmus, 57, owns a 386-422 career managerial record. He will be introduced at a press conference at Houston’s Daikin Park on Friday.
Ausmus most recently served as the New York Yankees’ bench coach from 2024-2026 and also previously worked in the front offices of the San Diego Padres and Angels. He had interviewed for the Astros’ managerial opening in 2020 and for their general manager role in 2022.
Ausmus spent 10 of his 18 MLB seasons with the Astros. He finished his playing career with a .251 batting average, .325 on-base percentage and .344 slugging percentage. The New Haven, Connecticut, native managed Team Israel during the qualifiers for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, served on its coaching staff in the 2023 WBC and managed the team in the 2026 tournament.
“Regarding Aus, he is just a perfect big league manager in every way and there are not many people you can say that about,” Nate Fish, the CEO of Israel Baseball Americas and a former Israel player and coach, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “He is smart. He is calm. He has the experience. He is a good fit for any team but a perfect fit in Houston considering he played 10 years there.”
Fish also pointed out that “this is the second time [Ausmus] has been hired to manage in the big leagues following a stint managing Team Israel. Just sayin’. There is a pattern!”
Israel won two of its four games in the 2026 tournament, securing a spot in the 2030 competition.
“I am honored and excited to take on this role,” Ausmus said before the March tournament. “I’ve been incredibly proud to be part of Team Israel’s journey. My focus remains exactly where it has always been: building a cohesive, competitive team that proudly represents Israel on the world stage. We have a solid foundation, and I’m ready to hit the ground running with our talented staff and players to achieve our goals for 2026.”
Ausmus, a former catcher, played for the Astros from 1997-1998 and again from 2001-2008. He won three Gold Glove Awards for his defense with Houston and was an All-Star in 1999 with Detroit. His 1,971 career MLB appearances are the most ever by a Jewish player, according to the Jewish Baseball Museum.
“I am very excited to be back in Houston,” Ausmus said in a statement. “The Astros and the city of Houston have been a huge part of my life, and I’m thrilled to create a new chapter as the team’s manager. I can’t wait to get to work.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Houston Astros hire former Team Israel manager Brad Ausmus as skipper appeared first on The Forward.
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Netanyahu’s son calls dad’s opponents ‘saboteurs’ in book to be distributed by Simon & Schuster
(JTA) — Simon & Schuster will distribute a new book by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, which says that foreign and domestic Israeli enemies coordinated to unseat his father.
Yair Netanyahu, a 35-year-old political activist, has authored “Two-Front War: Inside Israel’s Fight for Survival — Against Foreign Enemies and Domestic Saboteurs.” The book is set to be released by RatPac Press in March 2027.
A blurb for the book on Simon & Schuster’s website said Yair Netanyahu was “a proud Jew and a devoted Zionist” who discovered that Israeli institutions conspired against his father.
“When the institutions that govern Israel — its prosecutors, judges, intelligence bureaucracy, military command, media networks, and foreign-funded NGOs — turned their attention toward removing his father from power, he found himself inside a Kafkaesque system that few citizens ever see,” the description said.
The prime minister has been on trial since 2020 in three corruption cases, facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he has denied. Yair Netanyahu has alleged that prosecutors and police involved in his father’s trials sought to stage a “coup” and committed “treason.”
The blurb also said the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel “unmaskted” [sic] an “alliance between neo-Nazi, radical Islamist movements, and far-left ideological networks,” which targeted Israel as the first obstacle in “a broader project to destabilize the West and erod [sic] the foundations of free civilization.”
Yair Netanyahu is a divisive figure in Israel known for social media posts that back his father’s politics and can advance far-right conspiracy theories. In 2017, he drew international condemnation for sharing an image that featured Jewish philanthropist George Soros controlling his father’s political adversaries, a post that earned him praise from the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. He alleged this week that Israel’s Oct. 27 election was rigged against his father, saying the vote was “stolen by enemy states that bribed Arab voters.”
Yair Netanyahu’s publisher, RatPac Press, is part of RatPac Entertainment, founded by filmmaker Brett Ratner and Australian billionaire James Packer. Ratner immigrated to Israel in 2023 after sexual misconduct allegations stalled his Hollywood career, though he denied the allegations. He was a special guest of Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023 and posted a photo of them together on Instagram.
Packer was named in one of Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption indictments, which alleged that he gave the prime minister and his wife gifts of cigars and champagne between 2014 and 2016. He told Australian Federal Police agents in 2017 that he was “happy to give him presents, many times at his request and his wife Sara’s request,” according to Israel’s Channel 10. Packer sold his stake in RatPac in 2017.
Simon & Schuster and RatPac Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Netanyahu’s son calls dad’s opponents ‘saboteurs’ in book to be distributed by Simon & Schuster appeared first on The Forward.
