The latest installment of the Daniel Pearl Education Center Speaker Series will feature a presentation by Sheryl Olitzky, the co-founder in 2010 of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 26, beginning at 7:30 pm at Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick, and there is no cost to attend.
Olitzky will talk broadly about the work and goals of the organization and will be joined by Heba Macsoud, an active member of the charter Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom chapter. Macsoud will share stories about the impact that the Sisterhood has had on her life. Following the presentations and panel, Olitzky and Macsoud will take questions from the audience.
“We are thrilled that Sheryl and Heba will be joining us for what we know will be an important and captivating presentation,” said Dr. Andy Boyarsky, chair of the Daniel Pearl Education Center (DPEC). “Like the DPEC, the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom is committed to building community and understanding – a very important mandate in these difficult times. The Sisterhood has developed, since its founding, a blueprint for creating understanding between Muslim and Jewish women, who share so much shared history and customs.”
Previous installments of the DPEC Speaker Series have included:
• Dr. Perry Brickman, an Atlanta oral surgeon who was the subject of a documentary, From Silence to Recognition: Confronting Discrimination in Emory’s Dental School History.
• Dr. Berndt Wollschlaeger, the son of a decorated Nazi tank commander who traveled to Israel, converted to Judaism and later served in the Israel Defense Forces.
• The showing of Sister Rose’s Passion, a documentary film that examines the life of Sister Rose Thering, a Roman Catholic nun and former professor at Seton Hall University who battled anti-Semitism within her church and contributed to a historic Vatican declaration that Jews were not collectively responsible for the death of Jesus.
• The NJ premier of Karski & The Lords of Humanity, the acclaimed documentary about Jan Karski, a courier for the Polish Underground who tried in vain to stop the Holocaust by delivering secret information — including eye-witness accounts of the attrocities — to world leaders in England and the US.
The DPEC, a non-profit, charitable organization committed to the ideals of understanding and community. The DPEC sponsors a number of area programs and activities, including an annual trip to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for Temple B’nai Shalom’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah class, the eighth grade class at East Brunswick’s St. Bartholomew’s parochial school, and other youth groups; Daniel Pearl scholarships to graduating seniors at East Brunswick High School; an annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days community concert; teacher training workshops; and much more.
To reserve seats or to get more information about the program, contact rbrenowitz1@aol.com.