August 2024 Newsletter: Remember, Educate, and Combat Hate
Hello Friend,
Since October 27, 2018, family members and survivors of the synagogue shooting have been honoring the memories of those who were killed by speaking out against hate and spreading messages of kindness and inclusion. Following in the footsteps of Holocaust survivors, Oct. 27th families and survivors have now created REACH, a new outlet for reclaiming agency and sharing their stories with the world.
REACH is the 10.27 Healing Partnership’s Speakers Bureau that seeks to Remember, Educate, and Combat Hate through connecting families and survivors of Oct. 27th to schools and organizations where they can speak about their personal experiences of antisemitism, community care, and justice. REACH is centered in trauma-informed practices to uplift and empower speakers, and REACH speakers themselves utilize the support of both educators and therapists in order to educate and share in an emotionally impactful way without increasing feelings of vicarious trauma.
Over the last year, Amy Mallinger, granddaughter of Rose Mallinger, who was killed on October 27th, has been leading the efforts to form REACH to provide equitable and organized processes that support those directly impacted by October 27th and provide schools, teachers, students, and organizations with profound learning experiences.
Our goal is to allow audiences to connect intimately with Oct. 27th and to understand the real-life consequences of antisemitism and white supremacy. REACH engagements allow students to ask questions and connect with the speakers in a personal way. We believe relationships are one of the primary and most lasting ways we learn, and REACH speakers provide listeners with memories and experiences that cement their learnings around antisemitism both historical and current.
Amy Mallinger hopes that students who have attended REACH events will spread the message as they go off into college or their adult lives. “They can be that educator,” Amy says, “they can pass on that wealth of knowledge so that people outside of the Pittsburgh area know a little more about Jewish people and antisemitism. One student can talk to two people, and those two people can talk to others, and it spreads from there.”
REACH is shaped after inspirational models of the past, and we thank the Holocaust Center for supporting us with their learning from facilitating the Generations Speaker Series. We have been grateful to learn from the antisemitism and Holocaust educators in Pittsburgh about how to do this work, and we are especially grateful to the LIGHT Initiative for providing excellent training to our speakers and our 10.27 Healing Partnership staff, as well as coordination within schools.
Each family member and survivor of October 27th has a unique message and authentic voice, and we are honored to share the diversity and the full spectrum of their messages with the world through as many outlets as possible. Over the last year REACH has begun piloting panels, Q+As, and other speaking engagements for both schools and adult audiences. If you would like to request a REACH speaker for your school or organization, please utilize this webpage to learn more about our speakers and request a REACH engagement. We are excited to connect with you soon.
In Solidarity,
Maggie Feinstein
Executive Director
10.27 Healing Partnership