Sister Rose Thering Fund 2021 Evening of Roses Ad Journal

Evening of Roses Virtual Gala June 1, 2021 Changing the World One Teacher at a Time

2021 Virtual Evening of Roses PROGRAM Welcome

Melinda A. Hanlon, Ed.S., Chair, Board of Trustees, Sister Rose Thering Fund

Greetings

Anthony C. Sciglitano, Ph.D., Executive Director, Sister Rose Thering Fund and Associate Professor of Religion, Seton Hall University

Invocation

Father Colin Kay, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, Seton Hall University

Remarks

Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D., President, Seton Hall University

Keynote Address

Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Ph.D.

Musical Program

Jason C. Tramm, D.M.A., Conductor Let There Be Peace on Earth words and music by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson/Arr. C. Courtney

Virtual Choir performance by members of the Seton Hall Chorus Morris Choral Society Taghkanic Chorale Ocean Grove Festival Choir

Quinton Tramm, Audio/Video Engineer

Remarks

Msgr. Robert Sheeran, S.T.D., Trustee Laureate, Sister Rose Thering Fund and President Emeritus, Seton Hall University

Remarks

Kibwe Miller, M.A., ‘18

Honoree Remarks

Gene Hoffman, Doctor of Science in Jewish Studies and Philanthropist

Remarks

Franklin Stebbins, Trustee, Sister Rose Thering Fund

Honoree Remarks

Peter Friedmann, Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation

Honoree Remarks

Edward Meinhardt, Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation

Benediction

Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Ph.D.

Farewell

Anthony Sciglitano and Melinda Hanlon

With gratitude to Michael Soupios, Christopher Petruzzi and Corey Howell, Teaching Learning and Technology Center, Seton Hall University Special appreciation for Christine Aromando, Public Relations and Marketing, Seton Hall University

Greetings from the Executive Director Dear Friends, We at the Sister Rose Thering Fund are grateful for your involvement and support.

Sister Rose was a courageous and bold actor for good in this world, but she well knew that such action requires more than any one individual might provide. Pope Francis recently reflected on the Parable of the Good Samaritan in his Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers). Certainly Francis underscored the important point that we are all neighbors, and any one of us can find ourselves in a position of need hoping for someone who cares. But Francis adds the insight that towards the end of the parable the Samaritan leaves the hurt man with an Innkeeper to see to him while he is away. For Francis, this connection with others is an opening to speaking both against a kind of individualist version of heroism that scorns solidarity on the one hand, and for a politics of solidarity and connectedness on the other.

While I did not know Sister Rose, I know of her through many stories, and from them, I glean that she knew Francis’s lesson well. She consistently reached out to others to involve them, almost irresistibly, in her crucial mission to empty the Catholic Church of anti-Semitism and to educate teachers against prejudice so they might form generations of students and thus transform the world. The reach and power of her mission is astonishing.

It would be wonderful to report, of course, that in my position as Executive Director, I would discover that Sister Rose’s mission was no longer necessary, that bigotry, anti-Semitism, and cruelty had been finally routed with the spiritual weapons of dialogue, mutual respect, justice, and even love. That Martin Luther King, Jr.’s hope of a land where the “lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid” would become our truth, or that all elected officials in our country would act “justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.”1 Alas, it is not so.

A 2020 study by the Network Contagion Research Institute found disturbing patterns of anti-Semitism in online forums that produce rafts of anti-Jewish disinformation conspiracy campaigns. Too often, these campaigns find sympathetic audiences that generally intensify during our election cycles and are not infrequently disseminated by internet trolls in foreign countries. The chilling reality is that anti-Jewish disinformation is frequently accompanied by a broader anti-immigrant animus, with both Jews and immigrants painted as alien to whatever is deemed properly human. Our work—the work of Sister Rose—is not finished. The work of our teachers is not finished.

While it is necessary to reiterate these unfortunate reasons our mission remains important, it is equally important to recall the mission’s life-affirming role. Like Martin Luther King, Sister Rose knew that all people are made in the image and likeness of God, and thus to encounter another human person is to encounter something sacred, someone loved by God regardless of the world’s judgments. Hatred is parasitic on this holiness; it adds nothing creative or redemptive of its own, but only detracts from the beauty that is given. Hatred is not so much unholy as anti-holy: it defames what is sacred, what is lovely, what is good, and what is beautiful. So while the mission of the Sister Rose Thering Fund stands up against hatred through education, it is important to remember that first and foremost it stands for all that is good and holy wherever it is found.

In the few months since taking on my new position with the Sister Rose Thering Fund, it is this goodness that I have been privileged to encounter. The volunteers for this mission, their energy, their purposiveness and their joy are contagious and bring genuine hope in their wake. It is truly an honor to be with them. It is my hope that as news of our mission reaches far and wide, the teachers of our generation and the next and the one after that will help young people to live in this world with courage and compassion, and to treat each encounter with another human person as an encounter with the sacred.

Anthony C. Sciglitano, Ph.D.

1. From “Where Do We Go from Here?” in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 1986), p. 251. Assist from prophets Isaiah and Micah.

Message from the Chair Dear Friends, Welcome to our Evening of Roses celebration! We may be gathering virtually this year, but please know you are with us in spirit as together we continue the mission of our beloved Sister Rose Thering. This last year has brought many challenges and wrought many changes for our world. However, some things remain unchanged, most importantly, the transformative power of education. Sister Rose understood well the impact teachers have on their students. At a time in our history when the educational process of so many students has been disrupted, our work to support teacher-scholars here in the Jewish-Christian Studies Program at Seton Hal University remains vital. In a world where every kind of prejudice and hate attacks are on the rise; our students need to learn the lessons of the roots of such biased speech and acts, in order to become agents of change for a world so in need of repair.

It is a privilege to recognize this evening’s honorees: The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation for their loyal and generous support of scholarships for our Sister Rose Thering Fund teacher-scholars Evi Meinhardt (of blessed memory) and Edward Meinhardt, Silberman Foundation Trustees, for their advocacy and support of the Sister Rose Thering Fund Gene Hoffman- Philanthropist and Benefactor of the Sister Rose Thering Fund On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Sister Rose Thering Fund, I extend our gratitude for your fidelity and generosity to our students and programs. Your contributions directly impact the education of generations of students and you are changing our world in ways that cannot be measured. Be assured of our prayers and good wishes for you and all those you hold dear.

We are blessed tonight to be joined by His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, and Monsignor Robert Sheeran, President Emeritus of Seton Hall University. We are thankful for their prayerful presence at our Evening of Roses Gala and their ongoing support for the mission of the Sister Rose Thering Fund.

I also wish to express our gratitude to Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Ph.D., our keynote speaker, for his meaningful message this evening and for his understanding throughout the planning for Evening of Roses.

Tonight’s program represents months of planning and hard work. I am indebted to Susan Feinstein, Chair of this evening’s gala, and Deborah Lerner Duane, SRTF Trustee and Past Chair of the Board, for their extraordinary commitment and countless hours of work. We cannot place a value on their gifts of time and talent or measure their fidelity to the mission of Sister Rose. I can only hope they know the depth of my gratitude. Many thanks to Michael Soupios and his team at SHU’s Digital Media and Web Development department for their guidance and assistance with tonight’s virtual program. And kudos to our new Executive Director Dr. Anthony Sciglitano in his debut as the master of ceremonies this evening!

To all of our Evening of Rose’s sponsors, participants and supporters, I extend the thanks of our Board of Trustees and our teacher-scholars. Your gifts to this year’s Evening of Roses will directly impact the minds and hearts of students for generations to come. Thank you for partnering with us as together we strive for Tikkun Olam and work to repair our world.

Blessings,

Melinda A. Hanlon, Ed.S. Chair, Board of Trustees, Sister Rose Thering Fund

CURT C. AND ELSE SILBERMAN FOUNDATION The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation was established by the Silbermans to support their commitment to organizations that advance understanding of and responses to the Holocaust.

Curt C. Silberman was a jurist, community leader, and organizer of numerous Jewish organizations and social agencies in Germany and the United States. He devoted his life to fighting for the rights and serving the interests of Jews and Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, and to assuring that the roots of prejudice and the Holocaust, and the lessons thereof, are understood so as to serve the betterment of society.

Curt Silberman was born in Würzburg, Germany in 1908, and practiced law in Germany until the Nazis excluded Jews from the legal profession in 1935. During the 1930s he was responsible for the saving of lives and emigration of Jews from the Würzburg region, often as a result of negotiations with the Gestapo. He was briefly imprisoned by the Nazis during this period.

Also born in Würzburg, Else Kleemann Silberman studied medicine in Germany until she was forced to stop by the Nazi regime. She and her husband fled Germany for the United States after Kristallnacht in 1938 and settled in New Jersey.

As a member of the executive committee of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Dr. Silberman played a key role in the establishment of a just body of reparations law and the fair distribution of resources to victims of Nazism. His intellectual pursuits ranged from the Holocaust to immigration and reparations issues to the broader lessons of the Holocaust learned from the failure of democratic society in Germany, which he witnessed firsthand until he and his wife escaped, and to which he devoted the rest of his life memorializing, understanding and teaching.

Dr. Silberman was a founder of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, of which he was president between 1963 and 1986. He was a co-founder of the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City, the leading research institute for German Jewry. He continued his leadership as founder and president of the Jewish Philanthropic Fund. In 1995, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Middlebury College. There, he and his wife endowed the Curt C. and Else Silberman Chair in Jewish Studies.

Dr. Silberman served as President of the Jewish Family Service Association of Essex County, and he was a member and trustee of Temple B'nai Abraham in Livingston.

The Silberman Foundation donates to those organizations that share the charitable goals of the Silberman family, including Sister Rose Thering Fund's support of teacher-scholars’ Holocaustrelated studies. Leading the Silberman Foundation’s engagement with Sister Rose Thering Fund programs was the late Evi Meinhardt, a trustee of the Foundation, until her death in March 2021.

EVI MEINHARDT June 14, 1936 – March 27, 2021 Born in Vienna in 1936, Evi Singer was two years old when she and her parents, Gertrude and Heinrich, emigrated to Santiago, Chile. In 1949, a year after Gertrude died, Heinrich, who now used Enrique, the Spanish form of his name, remarried. In a December 2020 feature profile in the Jewish Standard, Evi recalled her stepmother Lotte Singer as “… wonderful. She raised me, and today I am what she decided I could become. Up to this day, I thank her for what she did for me.”

Evi made her first trip to the United States in 1957, the year she graduated from high school in Santiago. She traveled to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where an uncle had settled some years earlier.

Her six-month visit with her American relatives was life-changing, and Evi made the decision to move permanently to the United States. Immigration quotas in the late 1950s made a quick return impossible, however, and it wasn’t until 1962 that Evi was able to come back to Allentown.

While staying with her family, she was introduced to Albert Meinhardt, who came to visit one evening from Newark. They were engaged within three weeks, and three months later were married at Temple B’nai Abraham, in Newark, by Rabbi Joachim Prinz.

Soon after their marriage, the young Meinhardts joined Temple B’nai Abraham, and the synagogue became their spiritual home for the rest of their lives. Evi served the congregation in many capacities, including Sisterhood, where she was elected president, and as a Board of Trustees member. In recognition of her commitment and dedication, TBA ultimately named Evi an honorary lifetime Board Trustee.

Curt C. and Else Silberman were also members of Temple B’nai Abraham, and when the Silberman Foundation was formed in 1952, Curt invited Evi to join its board. Having lost most of her European relatives in the Shoah, Evi clearly understood how valuable the Silberman Foundation’s work is. She was an active and enthusiastic Foundation trustee, bringing insight and compassion to her decision-making. As Silberman trustees, Evi and her son Edward became Sister Rose Thering Fund champions, encouraging the Foundation to make grants to the Fund, which for many years has been able to award Silberman Foundation scholarships to teacher-scholars enrolled in JCST Holocaust studies courses.

During their married life, Evi and Al worked together, managing the operation of B. Meinhardt, Inc., an import company founded by Al’s father in 1939. Their shared experiences, their worldview and their love for their son Edward and later their daughter-in-law Elena and grandchildren Jillian and Garrett, shaped a happy and meaningful life partnership until Al passed away in 1999.

Evi’s death on March 27 is mourned by the many people whose lives she touched through her kindness, generosity and genuine interest in what mattered to them.

The memory of the righteous is invoked in blessing.

Proverbs 10:7

EDWARD MEINHARDT Edward Meinhardt is a New Jersey native, having grown up around the corner from Seton Hall, in Short Hills. He graduated from Boston University in 1986 with a BS/BA in finance. Ed has been in sales since working in his family business B. Meinhardt, Inc. until the business was sold. He is currently a Senior Sales Executive for European Granite and Marble.

Ed has been a member of the Livingston Town Council since 2015, currently serves as Deputy Mayor and was elected by the Council to serve as Mayor for 2018. He was a member of the Livingston Zoning Board of Adjustment from 2013 to 2014, Chair of the Livingston Municipal Alliance Committee from 2016 to 2017 and currently sits on a variety of town committees as a liaison.

Since moving to Livingston with his family in 1999, Ed has been an active member of the community, beginning with Livingston town sports. Ed has been a committed board member of the Livingston Soccer Club since 2005, holding several positions. He has been a member of the Travel Committee since 2008, Field Coordinator/Scheduler since 2009, served as Club Registrar between 2007 and 2010 and Travel Soccer Manager from 2005 until 2012. He has coached his two children in the Livingston town basketball, baseball, softball and soccer programs.

Ed has attended Temple B’nai Abraham since childhood, and joined with his family in 1999, where he has remained an involved and dedicated member. He was elected to two two-year terms as President, from 2009 until 2013. He has been on the Board of Trustees since 2001, was Membership Co-Chair between 2001 and 2003, Assistant Secretary from 2005 to 2007, and Vice President from 2007 to 2009. He has been Ritual Committee Co-Chair since 2013.

Ed was also the 2013 Temple B’nai Abraham Gala Honoree in recognition of his presidency, and was honored to be among the select group of NJ Jewish News 40 Under 40 in 2003-2004.

Ed and his wife Elena have been married for 29 years and have two children. Jillian, 26, is a 2013 Livingston High School graduate. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland in 2017 and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Rutgers University in 2019. She currently works in Rockville, Maryland and resides in Washington, DC. Garrett, 23, graduated from Livingston High School in 2016 and received his bachelor’s degree in 2020 from the University of Michigan.

He lives and works in New York City.

GENE HOFFMAN A notable feature of Gene Hoffman’s life has been the link he sees between religion and education. His family is Jewish, and he pursued career-specific business education, but it was only after serving in the Air Force during the Korean War that he began asking the deeper questions about the meaning of life.

This led Gene to want to learn more about his own Judaism and to pursue education in other religions, which he did by pursuing a Religious Studies baccalaureate at Seton Hall University. As an upper-level undergraduate student, he also took graduate courses in Jewish-Christian Studies.

In 2019, on the occasion of the retirement of Dr. David Bossman, Executive Director Emeritus of the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies and one of his professors in Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall, Gene made a generous gift to the University to help continue the work of Dr. Bossman after his retirement. The funds will be used to provide tuition scholarships to teachers enrolled in the Jewish-Christian Studies program, as well as to assist JCST teacher-scholars in travel related to their work in this field.

Gene Hoffman graduated high school in 1946. He earned associate degrees from the University of Bridgeport in 1948 and from General Motors Institute in 1950 before joining the Air Force.

After retiring from his BMW-Chevrolet auto dealership in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Gene continued studies to enrich his learning at several New Jersey colleges and universities. He earned his master’s in Jewish studies from Gratz College in Pennsylvania in 2013, and then decided to pursue an online doctorate in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, a Chicago institution.

In May 2021, Spertus Institute awarded Gene a Doctorate of Hebrew Letters, honoris causa, in recognition of his personal dedication to and philanthropy for education. “I always was fairly interested in various religions, and Judaism, of course, is the most important to me,” he explained. “I had a bar mitzvah and a Jewish wedding, I’m a Reform Jew, but I wasn’t active in the temple at all after my bar mitzvah.”

Gene is a generous donor to Gratz College, Birthright Israel and Hebrew Union College, among others. Through a grant made with his wife Adele, he funded the online study program of the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University.

Message from Evening of Roses Chair Tonight we celebrate our honorees Gene Hoffman and the Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation and its trustees, Evi Meinhardt, of blessed memory, and Edward Meinhardt. Their dedication and devotion to the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in JewishChristian Studies enables us to promote Sister Rose’s vision of a world without religious prejudice.

The Fund in Sister Rose’s name provides scholarships to educators so they may take graduate courses in the Jewish-Christian Studies program here at Seton Hall. Seton Hall University was the first in the nation to offer such courses, and when New Jersey mandated that Holocaust education be taught in all public and private schools, it was Sister Rose who was instrumental in writing the necessary curriculum.

The Sister Rose Thering Fund continues Sister Rose’s vision by making it possible for educators to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and the meaning of social justice in today’s world. How necessary these lessons still are in our world today!

I am honored to be this year’s Evening of Roses Chair. In these unprecedented times, we have experienced many firsts, of which this year’s Virtual Evening of Roses event is one. I want to personally thank my committee members, the Sister Rose Thering Fund Board, the Seton Hall University staff and our guest participants for making this event a success.

I also want to thank you for your continued support of the Sister Rose Thering Fund. Your donations have created full-tuition scholarships for more than 400 educators who take our courses in Jewish Christian Studies, allowing them to teach tens of thousands of children and teenagers the value of dialogue, interreligious understanding and acceptance of people who are different from themselves.

The ripple effect of professor to teacher to student is incalculable.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Susan Feinstein

THE SISTER ROSE THERING FUND for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

Our History The concept of teaching about interfaith relations in this Catholic university dates back to the arrival in 1953 of Monsignor John M. Oesterreicher, who established the Institute for Judaeo-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. Oesterreicher, a convert from Judaism to Catholicism in 1927, had been lecturing, doing research and creating publications for fifteen years when he sensed the need for a program coordinator to flesh out the work he was doing and bring his lessons to the wider community at Seton Hall. Therefore, in 1968 he advertised for someone to fill this position. As fate would have it, Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D., with her background in education and Jewish-Christian Studies and her keen interest in the Jewish roots of Christianity and the State of Israel, responded to his ad and was hired for the position. Its tasks included organizing summer trips to Israel for teachers and lay persons to learn about the Holy Land. The program was called the Menorah Institute. Its positive impact, both on Monsignor Oesterreicher and teachers, led to the establishment of a Master’s degree program, directed by Father Lawrence Frizzell, now offered in the Department of Religion.

During the more than thirty years of her career as professor of higher education in the College of Education and Human Resources, Sister Rose continued to lead the Menorah Institute and became a close colleague of David M. Bossman, Ph.D. He had arrived at Seton Hall in 1985, served for a time as Provost and then as chair of the Department of Jewish-Christian Studies. Dr. Bossman and a group of close friends of Sister Rose wanted to offer teachers more courses in JewishChristian Studies, and eventually discussed the possibility of offering scholarships to teachers.

The idea of developing a significant fund to help

defray costs of tuition led to the establishment in 1993 of such a fund and program. Originally called the Sister Rose Thering Endowment, later changed to the Sister Rose Thering Fund, it is overseen by an elected Board of Trustees who created a set of working bylaws.

In 1994, the State of New Jersey, under then Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and urged on by Sister Rose and others, signed into law a mandate to teach about the Holocaust and Genocide in all public schools in New Jersey, grades K-12. This law created the Mandate and was bolstered by the message of Pope John Paul II to Catholic schools to remember the Shoah, “Reflections on the Shoah” (March 1998). Sister Rose became a founding member of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, charged to carry out the Mandate, and served until her death in 2006.

Today, the Fund offers scholarships annually and has reached some 400 educators in the course of its existence. It raises funds through donations received primarily at the Evening of Roses, held each spring, a program that has honored outstanding educators and individuals who have shown traits of compassion, altruism and courage in various endeavors.

The Sister Rose Thering Fund and the graduate Program in Jewish-Christian Studies have been called “the hidden jewels” of Seton Hall University, but as Dr. Bosman has remarked, in reality they are no longer hidden but treasures found as the Fund contributes more than $60,000 annually in scholarship funding to the University. The Program continues to promote understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christians and people of other religious traditions through advocacy and education.

With thanks to our Sponsors and Underwriters Rose Sponsors Dr. David M. Bossman Deborah Lerner Duane & Daniel J. Duane Luna Kaufman Carol & Alan Silberstein

Upstander Sponsors Susan Feinstein Melinda and Wayne Hanlon The Werbel/Siegler Family and The Eleanor Siegler Family Fund

Advocate Sponsors Ellen Hayes Karan and Ken Oleckna

Sponsored Scholarship Underwriter Drs. Marcia Robbins Wilf and Perry Robins

Music Underwriters Sheila Lurie Karan and Ken Oleckna

The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies TRUSTEES

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Officers

Julia Altholtz

Pearl Randall Lehrhoff

Melinda Hanlon Chair

Concetta Donvito, Ed.D.

Jacqueline and Howard Levine

Susan Feinstein Vice Chair Alan Silberstein Treasurer

Judith and Steven Elbaum Miki Fine**

Robin Neuman

Eugene Fisher, Ph.D.

Karan Oleckna

Kenneth Gaines

Ruth Loew Schildiner Secretary

Monsignor John J. Gilchrist

Board of Trustees

Allan Janoff

Paula Becker Alexander, Ph.D. Christine Aromando Gail H. Barry David M. Bossman, Ph.D. † Rabbi Alan Brill, Ph.D.

Przemyslaw Murczkiewicz**

*Kenneth Oleckna, Esq. Sylvia Orenstein, Esq.

Rita Horowitz

Teri Rosen Emmanuel Ruranga

Michael Kogan, Ph.D.

Joseph Volker, Ph.D.

Murray Laulicht, Esq.

Michael Zeiger

HONORARY BOARD

Ann Burgmeyer

Trustee Laureate

Ki Joo Choi, Ph.D.

Monsignor Robert Sheeran, ’67, S.T.D., President Emeritus, Seton Hall University

*Deborah Lerner Duane** Piotr Dudek** Rev. Lawrence Frizzell, D.Phil. *Paul Gibbons Sister Mary Gomolka, R.S.M. Wayne Hanlon Ellen Hayes Louis Izzi** *Luna Kaufman‡ Marilyn Rosenbaum

Senator Cory Booker Honorable Chris Christie Honorable Jon Corzine Rabbi Irving and Mrs. Blu Greenberg Honorable Thomas H. Kean Sister Maryann McMahon, O.P. Senator Robert Menendez Honorable Phil Murphy

Franklin Stebbins

Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D., President, Seton Hall University

Gary Survis

Sister Sharon Simon, O.P.

Cherelle Tolor, Esq.

Regina Townsend

Jason Tramm, D.M.A. *Robert Werbel, Esq. Dr. Marcia Robbins Wilf Rev. Msgr. C. Anthony Ziccardi, S.T.D., S.S.L. *Chairmen emeriti

STAFF Anthony Sciglitano, Ph.D. Executive Director

** M.A. Jewish-Christian Studies † Executive Director Emeritus

‡ Honorary Doctorate, 2009, SHU

Carol & Alan Silberstein Salute The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Foundation Chair Peter Friedmann Foundation Trustee Evi Meinhardt z"l Foundation Trustee Edward Meinhardt Philanthropist Gene Hoffman and Rabbi Abraham Skorka

For all they do to make this a Better World "It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either."

Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot

The Trustees of the Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation celebrate the Evening of Roses, and honor in memoriam our beloved fellow Trustee Evi Meinhardt, who was instrumental in our support of the Sister Rose Thering Fund’s mission to educate and train Holocaust teachers

Gratitude to Silberman Foundation Trustees Evi Meinhardt, of blessed memory June 14, 1936 - March 27, 2021 and her son, Edward Meinhardt and Special appreciation for Gene Hoffman, D.H.L. honoris causa Model for life-long learning and generous sponsor of educational programs David Bossman, Ph.D.

"Give instruction to the wise and they will be still wiser, Teach the righteous and they will increase their awareness."

-- Proverbs 9:9

Thank you, Rose, for being our guiding light.

Luna

With gratitude to Gene Hoffman The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation with special appreciation for Evi Meinhardt of blessed memory and

Edward Meinhardt You are making it possible to change the world, one teacher at a time

Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane

Congratulations to Gene Hoffman Evi Meinhardt, of blessed memory and Ed Meinhardt Peter Friedmann and the Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation

For your dedication in promoting Sister Rose’s vision of peace and religious understanding.

Susan Feinstein

In memory of Evi Meinhardt and with deep appreciation for her dedication in fulfilling the mission of our dear Sister Rose.

The Werbel/Siegler Family and the Eleanor Siegler Family Fund

We are proud to support this year’s Evening of Roses Program as we Honor The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Evi Meinhardt and Edward Meinhardt, Silberman Foundation Trustees Gene Hoffman Philanthropist and Benefactor Wayne and Melinda Hanlon

“And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”

Isaiah 32:17

Mom/Grandma/Evi Your gift of love, kindness and devotion is greatly missed, but never forgotten.

Thank you for always guiding us toward the right path.

You were a true inspiration to all of us and will continue to be so in our hearts.

Love always, Elena, Ed, Jillian and Garret Meinhardt

IN LOVING MEMORY OF SISTER ROSE, THE MOTHER OF US ALL, AND IN HONOR OF DAVID BOSSMAN, WHO HAS SO LOVINGLY AND SKILLFULLY CONTINUED HER WORK OF RECONCILIATION.

Michael Kogan

“Blessed are the Peacemakers."

from

Sigmund Rolat

HARWOOD & BERMAN FAMILIES HONOR THE LEGACY OF SISTER ROSE

RWJBarnabas Health proudly supports Seton Hall University and the Evening of Roses.

Congratulations to this evening’s honorees.

Clara Maass Medical Center Community Medical Center Jersey City Medical Center Monmouth Medical Center and The Unterberg Children’s Hospital Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey

rwjbh.org

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset Saint Barnabas Medical Center RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Center Children’s Specialized Hospital Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

is proud to celebrate this year’s Evening of Roses and TONIGHT ’S HONOREES

Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation and

Gene Hoffman, D.S.J.S. Philanthropist

We also remember SISTER ROSE THERING, O.P., Ph.D.,

and her work to forge a world of greater understanding.

Best wishes for a wonderful evening.

“We are all children of God, striving to understand God in our own ways.”

— SISTER ROSE THERING

Imagine a world without religious prejudice...

Heartfelt thanks to Gene Hoffman for his generous tuition donation for the Sister Rose Thering Fund scholars.

Continued thanks to the Silberman Foundation and its trustees Evi Meinhardt, of blessed memory, and her son, Ed Meinhardt for their long-standing dedication and generosity. The Foundation’s support has meant so much to so many.

Mazal Tov! Father Colin Kay and the Office of Mission and Ministry

AJC and AJC New Jersey extend our warmest congratulations to our dear friend, Gene Hoffman.

This well-deserved honor is a worthy reflection of the powerful legacy of Sister Rose, with whom AJC shared a special relationship, and of your dedication to Jewish scholarship and to AJC’s mission to foster meaningful interfaith relations through advocacy. May you continue to go from strength to strength, sharing the light of inter-religious understanding and friendship.

In Memory of our good friend Evi and Congratulations to Ed and all of tonight’s deserving Honorees!

The Janoff Family and all your Friends at the Crystal Plaza

Louis and Rosemarie Izzi congratulate the Sister Rose Thering Fund for its educational endeavors

In Appreciation The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation & Gene Hoffman

In honor of our dear friend

Susan Feinstein and the important work of The Sister Rose Thering Fund

with special gratitude to Evi Meinhardt, may she rest in peace, and Edward Meinhardt Pamela and Jay Greenbaum Mary and Paul Gibbons

To our special Honorees, The Talmud teaches us that: “‫דֵמֹוע םָלֹועָה םיִרָבְד הָׁשלְׁש לַע‬, ‫הָרֹוּתַה לַע‬ . ‫”םיִדָסֲח תּוליִמְּג לַעְו הָדֹובֲעָה לַעְו‬ The world stands upon three things: the Torah, the Temple service, and the practice of acts of piety.

(Pirkei Avot 1:1)

We are grateful to you for making the world a better place!

Cantor Perry and Miki Fine

In loving memory, and with gratitude to

MARC SMITH

August 14, 1964 - October 21, 2020

from Ellen Hayes

To Our Mom and Bubbe…

To Our Mom and Bubbe...

Susan Feinstein In Honor of All You Do for Sister Rose and The Sister Rose Endowment Fund

All Our Love, Geoff, Adena, Lane, Gayle, Lauryn, Ari, Reid, Lance and Sophie

You Teach and We Learn

In Loving Memory of Evi Meinhardt

Marilyn and Ann

Best Wishes FROM

We honor The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation and Gene Hoffman with special admiration for Evi Meinhardt, of blessed memory and Edward Meinhardt

Melinda A. Hanlon, Ed.S., President www.holyangels.org

In Honor of Marilyn Rosenbaum In Memory of Evi Meinhardt In Honor of Edward Meinhardt Linda & Ken Wasserman

Karan and Ken Oleckna

Best Wishes Linda Malanga

Donations Thank you to all who have generously shared your treasure with us, gifts big and small, in support of the important mission of the Sister Rose Thering Fund. Throughout this journal we have tried to acknowledge the many people who have contributed to this event and gifts received through May 13. If somehow we missed your name, please know how grateful we are for your support and apologize for any omissions or errors.

Dr. Paula B. Alexander

Mr. Bernard W. Freedman

Mrs. Claire Asarnow

Mr. Peter A. Friedmann

Mr. Philip Ball

Mr. Kenneth Gaines

Mrs. Gail H. Barry

Mr. William A. Gatti

Dr. Esther M. Bearg

Mr. David Brown Gerstein

Mr. Robert Bennett

Mrs. Janellen Gerstein

Mr. Myron Berman

Ms. Clare M. Giangreco

Mrs. Ruth P. M. Bernstein

Mrs. Mary M. Gibbons

Beth El Sisterhood

Mr. Paul F. Gibbons

Dr. David M. Bossman

Mr. Daniel A. Giovinetto

Ms. Alice P. Boyle

Mr. Lawrence M. Glaser

Ms. Barbara J. Bromberg

Sister Mary Gomolka

Ms. Ann H. Burgmeyer

Mr. Jay Greenbaum

Mrs. Donna Burkat

Dr. Rabbi Irving Greenberg

Mr. Stephen Burkat

Ms. Rivka R. Halperin

Mrs. Teresa Ciuffreda

Mr. David Halpern

Ms. Marjorie W. Cohen

Mrs. Melinda Hanlon

Dr. Leonard Cole

Ms. Ellen D. Hayes

Congregation Sons of Israel

Mr. Steven Hernandez

Mr. David N. Crapo

Mr. Bernard Hochberg

Mrs. Patricia B. Crapo

Estate of Sylvia Holder

Ms. Maud Dahme

Ms. Nancy Hoober

Mrs. Kathleen A. Dischler-Noreen

Ms. Rachel Ingber

Ms. Kathleen M. Dorry

IUOE Local 68 Charity Fund, Inc.

Mr. Daniel J. Duane

Mr. Allan Janoff

Mrs. Deborah Duane

Jewish Communal Fund

Mr. Piotr Dudek

Jewish Community Endowment Fund

Mr. Charles Edwin Epstein Mr. Geoff I. Feinstein

Jewish Community Foundation of Greater

Metrowest NJ

Mrs. Susan Feinstein

Mr. Paul Kadin

Ms. Rita Ferenci

Mr. Henry L. Kaplowitz

Mr. James Fingeroth

Dr. Amalia Luna Kaufman

Ms. Patricia Fingeroth

Dr. Jack Kirschenbaum

Ms. Patricia Fiorillo

Ms. Sonia Kobrin

Mr. Bernard L. Flashberg

Ms. Rita Kraft

Florin Family Foundation, Inc.

Mr. Robert Kuchner

Mrs. Pearl Randall Lehrhoff

Mr. James A. Schwarz

Dr. Susan K. Leshnoff

Mrs. Sharon Schwarz

Mr. Howard H. Levine

Dr. Anthony C. Sciglitano

Ms. Helen R. Levy

Mr. Zachary Segal

Mr. Benay Lipstein

Ms. Dorothy Shanahan

Ms. Sheila Lurie

Mrs. Arline Shapiro

Mr. Brian Lynn

Mr. Floyd Shapiro

Ms. Jeryl Maglio

Mr. Harold Shapiro

Dr. Lucy Manheim

Mr. Timothy S. Shea

Mrs. Margaret E. McDermott

Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation

Ms. Anisa Mehdi

Mr. Alan M. Silberstein

Mr. Edward Meinhardt

Mr. Bernard Simon

Ms. Barbara J. Meislin

Carl A. Singer, Ph.D.

Mr. Mark Meyerowitz

Mrs. Ethel Singer

Mrs. Gail Milchman

Dr. Miriam Joy Singer

Mr. Lee E. Miller

Mr. Robert Singer

Mr. Vernon Mosheim

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Mrs. June Newman

Sisters of St. Dominic

Mr. Kenneth S. Oleckna, Esq.

Mr. Jonathan Allan Soros

Mrs. Sylvia Orenstein, Esq.

Mrs. Wilma S. Steinberg

Ms. Edith Oxfeld

Mr. James F. Suell, Esq.

Patricia Segal and Stephen Segal Family

Charitable Foundation

Mr. Gary Survis

Ms. Carole Payne

Temple Beth Shalom

Mr. Benjamin Perlmutter, Esq.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

Mr. R. Mark Phillips

Mr. Richard Tietjen

Prudential Foundation

His Eminence Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.

Dr. Tina Reich

Mrs. Bonni J. Tomczak

Richard & Poppy Segal Charitable Trust

Mrs. Regina West Townsend

Mrs. Bryna Ringel

Mrs. Andrea Tuber

Ms. Ellen R. Rose

Mrs. Ernestine Turkel

Mrs. Marilyn Rosenbaum

Mrs. Cynthia Waller Vallario

Ms. Natalie Monash Rosenbaum

Mr. Richard W. Vallario

Ms. Shiri Rosental

The Honorable Judge Peter J. Vazquez

Mr. Meyer L. Rosenthal

Mr. Kenneth Wasserman

Ms. Ruth Ross

Mrs. Linda Wasserman

Mr. Michael Rottblatt

Mr. Louis Weiner

Mrs. Geri M. Samuel

Dr. Steven J. Weisholtz

Mrs. Rena Sandler

Mr. Robert H. Werbel, Esq.

Mr. Richard M. Sandler

Dr. Marcia Robbins Wilf

Ms. Audrey H. Sanko

Mrs. Frances T. Wiener

Ms. Ruth Loew Schildiner

Mr. Robert D. Woog

Mrs. Deborah Taffet

THE SISTER ROSE THERING FUND TEACHER/SCHOLARS FALL 2019 thru SPRING 2021

T

he following Sister Rose Thering Fund teacher-scholars in Seton Hall’s graduate program in Jewish-Christian Studies have been awarded sponsored scholarships. The contributions made by generous individuals, foundations and endowments that cover tuition for a single course for each student are instrumental in advancing the legacy of Sister Rose, fostering understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christians and people of other religious traditions through advocacy and education.

Recipient Course Scholarship Donor /Name of Scholarship

––––––––––––––

FALL 2019

Julian Acebo Philosophical Perspectives on the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Patricia Benavides Christian-Jewish Encounter The Hattie and Arnold Segal Endowed Fellowship Fund Scholarship Sarina Drummond Philosophical Perspectives on the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Janet Greve Philosophical Perspectives on the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Mary McGuire Philosophical Perspectives on the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Jessyca Villareal Philosophical Perspectives on the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Michelle Scheps Philosophical Perspectives on the Holocaust Luna Kaufman Scholarship

––––––––––––––

SPRING 2020

Julian Acebo Modern Jewish Ethics Scholarship in Memory of Howard Feinstein, contributed by Dr. David Bossman Patricia Benavides Judaism of the Second Temple Period Scholarship in Memory of Niutek and Sigmush Silberstein, contributed by Carol and Alan Silberstein Niutek and Sigmush were children murdered in the Holocaust Casey Boyle Lessons from the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Darlene Claussen Modern Jewish Ethics Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane Scholarship Janet Greve Jewish Roots of Christian Spirituality Sister Rose Thering Scholarship, contributed in part by Susan Feinstein Sally Leara Lessons from the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Mary McGuire Modern Jewish Ethics Stephen and Patricia Segal Scholarship in Memory of Hattie Segal Jeanette Pine Lessons from the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Karen Santos Lessons from the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Michelle Scheps Lessons from the Holocaust Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Jessyca Villareal Lessons from the Holocaust Richard and Poppy Segal Scholarship in Memory of Hattie Segal & Karan and Ken Oleckna Scholarship

Recipient Course Scholarship Donor /Name of Scholarship

––––––––––––––

FALL 2020

Casey Boyle Biblical and Jewish Eschatology Dr. Marcia Robbins Wilf Scholarship Darlene Claussen Holocaust: History and Interpretation Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Sally Leara Holocaust: History and Interpretation Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Jeanette Pine Holocaust: History and Interpretation Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Pamela Romanchuk Holocaust: History and Interpretation Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship Michelle Scheps Holocaust: History and Interpretation Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship

––––––––––––––

SPRING 2021

Darlene Claussen Jewish Philosophy of Education Maria and Robert Kreuzman Endowed Scholarship Fund Sally Leara Collaborative Models of Integral Ecology Scholarship in Memory of Dr. Richard Ognibene, contributed by Dr. David Bossman Dr. Ognibene served as Dean of Seton Hall University’s College of Education and Human Services Jeanette Pine Collaborative Models of Integral Ecology Scholarship in Memory of Professor Father John Morley, contributed by Dr. David Bossman Father Morley taught Holocaust Studies in the Jewish-Christian Studies Graduate Program and the Department of Religion at Seton Hall University Pamela Romanchuk Collaborative Models of Integral Ecology Scholarship in Memory of Professor Rabbi Asher Finkel, contributed by Dr. David Bossman Rabbi Finkel was a founding faculty member of the Jewish-Christian Studies Program and a long-time pillar of its faculty and Seton Hall University Karen Santos Collaborative Models of Integral Ecology Scholarship in Memory of Niutek and Sigmush Silberstein, contributed by Carol and Alan Silberstein Niutek and Sigmush were children murdered in the Holocaust Michelle Scheps Peace and War in Bible and Jewish Tradition Scholarship in Memory of Ruth & Murry Lerner and Katherine & Daniel J. Duane, Sr., contributed by Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane

www.shu.edu/sisterrose

THE SISTER ROSE THERING FUND SPONSORED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Begun in 2003, the SRTF Sponsored Scholarship Program has awarded 150 scholarships for one course per semester to selected teachers in our program. These awards are made by individual supporters, foundations and endowed funds as a means of introducing the sponsor to a student, allowing them to learn about one another and enabling the sponsor to follow the student through his or her path of study.

Students and their sponsors are honored at our annual Celebration of Education event.

We gratefully acknowledge the following donors, foundations and endowments whose gifts and generosity have provided scholarships in the Fall 2019, Spring and Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.

Each gift assures the legacy of Sister Rose.

Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation The Hattie and Arnold Segal Endowed Fellowship Fund Maria and Robert Kreuzman Endowed Scholarship Fund Dr. David M. Bossman Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane Susan Feinstein Luna Kaufman Karan and Kenneth Oleckna Richard and Poppy Segal Stephen and Patricia Segal Carol and Alan Silberstein Dr. Marcia Robbins Wilf We welcome scholarship donations in honor of or in memory of someone, as well as interest you might have in establishing a legacy endowment or bequest.

Please contact us at srtf@shu.edu or 973-761-9006.

Thank you

SISTER ROSE THERING FUND EVENING OF ROSES

Past Honorees 1992 Drs. Charles and Gloria Steiner 1995 Rabbi Jehiel and Sylvia Orenstein 1997 Rev. Edward F. Flannery and Abraham Foxman 1998 Professor Elie Wiesel, Eva Fleischer and Murray Laulicht, Esq. 1999 Cynthia Ozick, Rabbi Israel Singer and Christophe Meili 2000 Sister Rose Thering, Archbishop Peter L. Gerety and Luna Kaufman 2001 Judith Banki, Anneke Burke-Kooistra and Nicholas and Margaret Pogany 2002 Sir Martin Gilbert, Rev. John F. Morley and Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf 2003 Dr. Nechama Tec, Theodore Bikel, David and Julia Altholz and

Dr. David Bossman

2004 Dr. Eugene Fisher, Blu Greenberg and

Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral E Abranches (posthumously)

2005 Sylvia and David Steiner 2006 Karan and Kenneth Oleckna and Toby and Leon Cooperman 2007 Monsignor Robert Sheeran 2008 Pearl Randall Lehrhoff and Seymour Lehrhoff 2009 Maud Dahme and Irena Sendler (posthumously) 2010 Joshua Bell 2011 Ela Weissberger 2012 Drs. Charles and Gloria Steiner and Raoul Wallenberg (all posthumously) 2013 Dr. Paul B. Winkler 2014 Sister Rose Thering Fund Founders 2015 Holocaust Survivors and Liberators 2016 Our Women of Valor – Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Mary Vazquez, Ellin Cohen

(all posthumously) and Marilyn Zirl

2017 Father Lawrence Frizzell, Luna Kaufman, Pearl Randall Lehrhoff

and Hattie Segal

2018 Marilyn Rosenbaum and Darrell Terry, Sr. 2019 David M. Bossman, Ph.D. and Deborah Lerner Duane

MISSION STATEMENT

of The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

To advance the legacy of Sister Rose Thering by fostering understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christians and people of other religious traditions through advocacy and education