[Jewish] Upcoming Program - R 2/25 The Mitzvah Project

[Alyssa Coffey]

Hello JSU,

Below is an announcement forwarded to me from Amy Dryansky about an 
upcoming program that may be of interest to some. This is an optional 
Community Education event. I know that the material, while very 
important history, may be sensitive for some.

-Al

The Mitzvah Project, with Roger Grunwald
Thursday, February 25, 1 PM - 2:30 PM via Zoom

Mitzvah is a Hebrew word and commandment, but most importantly, it's an 
encouragement to perform conscious acts of empathy and kindness. Through 
one soldier's story, The Mitzvah Project reveals the startling history 
of tens of thousands of "partial Jews" or mischlinge, who served in 
Hitler's military, most of whom were discharged in 1940. Nearly all were 
sent to forced labor camps—or worse. However, a few thousand who had an 
"Aryan appearance" and who were deemed by the Reich to be "valuable to 
the war effort," were exempted from the Nazi race laws. A "Declaration 
of German Blood" (a Deutschblütigkeitserklärung) — signed by Hitler 
himself — allowed these select few thousand to fight for the Nazi cause. 
Most died in battle.

In this one-person drama, lecture, and talkback, theater artist Roger 
Grunwald uses this history to raise several socio/cultural/historical 
issues:

Who decides what culture, race and ethnicity mean? What is identity?
How did the American Eugenics movement influence Federal and State 
legislation in the U.S, which, in turn, inspired the Nazi's promulgation 
of several Nuremberg Laws?
What responsibility, if any, do we have to the dead?
Does killing another human being have a place in a moral universe?
Do human beings have the capacity to learn from history?

After the talk, Grunwald will lead a discussion with the audience. 
https://www.themitzvah.org/about

This program is part of Community Education Day. No classes are held, 
and CEL-1 credits can be applied for each program students participate 
in.

For more details, Zoom links, locations and the full schedule, check the 
Daily Digest, HampEngage & hamp.it/feb25

Sponsored by the Office of Institutional Diversity (IDI) & the Community 
Commons (CoCo)