2024 Evening of Roses Ad Journal

30th Anniversary Celebration

JUNE 18,

“I know the power of teachers. It is my deepest wish that teachers in our public and parochial schools, with scholarship assistance, will be able to enroll in Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University to stem the tide of ignorance in our schools and in society.”

— Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D.

Full tuition scholarships are available from the Sister Rose Thering Fund for teachers and educators from New Jersey public, private or religious-affiliated schools in grades K – 12 to enroll in graduate courses in Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University. Visit www.shu.edu/sisterrose E-mail: srtf@shu.edu or call 973-761-9006

WELCOME

PROGRAM

Susan Feinstein and Deborah Lerner Duane

Interim co-Chairs, Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

GREETINGS

INVOCATION

REMARKS

INTRODUCTION

REMARKS

INTRODUCTION OF SRTF

FOUNDING SUPPORTERS

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

PRESENTATION OF AWARD

REMARKS

PRESENTATION OF AWARD

REMARKS

BENEDICTION

FAREWELL

Anthony C. Sciglitano, Jr., Ph.D.

Executive Director, Sister Rose Thering Fund

Associate Professor of Religion, Seton Hall University

Msgr. C. Anthony Ziccardi, S.T.D., S.S.L

Coordinator for Undergraduate Admissions and Retention and Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Seton Hall University 2023 Recipient, Sister Rose Thering Fund Award for Outstanding Service to the Sister Rose Mission

Amy F. Newcombe, J.D.

Interim Vice President for Board Affairs and University Strategy and Assistant Provost, Seton Hall University

DINNER

Heather Mecka

Vice-Chair, Sister Rose Thering Fund

Kathleen Walsh

Academy of the Holy Angels, Religious Studies Chair

Sister Rose Thering Fund Teacher-Scholar

Susan Feinstein

Cantor Perry Fine

Karina Bruk, Piano

Deborah Lerner Duane

Cantor Perry Fine

Anthony Sciglitano

Daniel Mendelsohn

Rabbi Simeon Cohen

Temple Beth Shalom, Livingston, New Jersey

Susan Feinstein and Deborah Lerner Duane

Greetings from

Anthony C. Sciglitano, Jr., Ph.D.

Executive Director

Associate Professor of Religion

Dear Friends of Sister Rose,

This year, we come upon the milestone of 30 years of the Sister Rose Thering Fund’s mission! Thirty years ago, the founders we honor this evening supported Sister Rose’s mission to fight antisemitism and bigotry through education and advocacy. This mission lives on through the more than 500 teachers who have received scholarships from SRTF, the teacher-scholars present with us this evening, and the 16 scholarships SRTF granted this year for study in our graduate program of Jewish-Christian Studies.

This mission lives on through our outreach. This past year, we remembered Kristallnacht on the 85th anniversary of that terrible event. From the center of Seton Hall’s campus, Cantor Perry Fine’s voice rang out in prayer and reverberated to call forth a renewal of our efforts against antisemitism. We are honored by his presence, his work to bring harmony to interreligious relations, and his voice with us this evening.

The mission lives on through the Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf lecture, which this year brought to us the wonderful scholar from Dartmouth, Professor Susannah Heschel. On October 22nd, Professor Heschel spoke movingly about her father Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the importance of interreligious dialogue, and the meaning of the Sabbath both in her home and in the Jewish theological tradition.

And this evening, the mission lives on as we honor Daniel Mendelsohn, professor, translator, and author who exemplifies two essential elements of the Sister Rose Thering Fund’s mission: education and the fight against antisemitism. In his brilliant memoir, The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, he brings education, the beauty and power of storytelling, and remembrance together. Like the music of Cantor Fine, the story of Daniel Mendelsohn’s quest to find his family works against prejudice on a level deeper than logic. We need to elevate such powerful and talented voices for good in our midst!

Finally, the mission lives on through the devotion of our Board of Trustees, our Advisory Council, and all of your support. We thank you!

It is especially important to celebrate the accomplishments of 30 years and, indeed, the accomplishments of this past year when we live in such challenging times for the Jewish people and for the State of Israel. It is in the midst of such challenges that Sister Rose and her mission shine like a beacon calling for justice and peace. We at the Sister Rose Thering Fund intend to carry this light for the next 30 years and beyond!

Anthony C. Sciglitano, Jr.

A Message from co-Chairs

Starting a nonprofit isn’t an easy task. It takes tenacity, vision, conviction and a fair amount of chutzpah.

Researching the painful unknown of your family’s history requires tenacity, curiosity, love and commitment.

And sustaining decades-long interfaith conversations in a diverse and sometimes fractious community demands tenacity, imagination, confidence and a belief in the future.

This evening, as the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies congratulates the Founding Supporters of the Fund, author and scholar Daniel Mendelsohn and interfaith advocate Cantor Perry Fine, we recognize their collective vision, curiosity, imagination and confidence. Most important, we respect and value the tenacity that has brought them to where they are today. We are in awe, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share their achievements with you.

It was during the pandemic that the Sister Rose Thering Fund Board began to look toward this 30th anniversary. As we made our way through the changes shaped by those years, we saw a world very different from the world Sister Rose had known. A surge in antisemitism, breakdowns in civil dialogue and massive shifts in classroom teaching and how our children learn made us understand that we would need to manage our approach to our mission and vision in order to honor and sustain Sister Rose’s legacy.

We currently have several endowed scholarships made possible through bequests. The graduate program in Jewish-Christian Studies offers classes online and in person. Our community outreach efforts have brought us into churches, synagogues, civic organizations and to the Seton Hall community. We inaugurated an effort to recognize local clergy whose commitment to interreligious advocacy reflect the passion and chutzpah we admired in Sister Rose Thering.

We still have work to do. And in order to succeed for another 30 years, we look to you. We need your passion. We need your chutzpah. We need your tenacity, your vision, your conviction and curiosity. We want you to share your imagination, your confidence and your belief in a future that decries the ugliness of religious intolerance and discrimination of any kind. Too much is at stake.

Join us as we make our way in the world. You can volunteer your time, contribute what you’re financially able, contact us to start a conversation.

We welcome you this evening, and welcome you for years to come.

Deborah Lerner Duane

Susan Feinstein

Interim co-Chairs

Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

S I S TER R OS E THERIN G FUND AWARD IN THE HUMANITIE S AND H O L OC AU S T LITERATURE

DANIEL MENDELSOHN

Daniel Mendelsohn was born in New York in 1960 and educated at the University of Virginia, where he received his B. A. in Classics in 1982, and at Princeton, where he received his Ph. D. in Classics. His 11 books include the international bestsellers An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic and The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million; a translation, with commentary, of the Modern Greek poet Constantine Cavafy; and three collections of essays, most recently Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones (2018). His most recent book, Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate (2020), was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, a Literary Hub Favorite Book of 2020, and was named Best Foreign Book of the Year in France. Over the past 30 years Mr. Mendelsohn has contributed over 300 essays, reviews, articles, and translations to numerous publications, most frequently The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books, and has been a columnist for The New York Times Book Review, New York magazine, and BBC Culture. His writing for mainstream publications covers a wide range of subjects, from Classical civilization to contemporary literature, as well as film, theater, opera, and television.

Mr. Mendelsohn’s honors include the National Jewish Book Award, the National Book Critics’ Circle Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Prose Style, the Society for Classical Studies Presidents’ Medal, the Prix Médicis in France and the Malaparte Prize, Italy’s highest literary honor for foreign authors. In 2022, he was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France.

Daniel Mendelsohn, who is also Editor-at-Large of the New York Review of Books and Director of the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, a charitable trust promoting nonfiction writers, teaches literature at Bard College and lives in the Hudson Valley of New York. His translation of The Odyssey will be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2024.

photo by Matt Mendelsohn

Inaugural Recipient of the Sister Rose Thering Fund Clergy Award

CANTOR PERRY S. FINE

Cantor Perry Fine has devoted  much of his time and passion as a cantor to interfaith outreach.  He is the cofounder and principal conductor of Voices in Harmony, an interfaith choral ensemble that has served the Essex County community for the past 27 years.  This group has performed in numerous concerts and interfaith services throughout the region, and with pride, has been a musical presence at numerous Evening of Roses celebrations over the years.

This year Cantor Fine celebrates both his 12th anniversary at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston and his 32nd year in the cantorate.  He has been singing Jewish music ever since his days as a boy soprano soloist in his Baltimore, Maryland, hometown with Cantor Hillel Lipsicas’ High Holy Day choir. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cantor Fine has given concerts and lectures around the country on various aspects of Jewish music.  His benefit programs with regional colleagues helped establish the Oheb Beth Yisrael Scholarship Fund for Jewish Theological Seminary cantorial students.  For many years, he toured with the trio ensemble Cantors’ Cabaret, highlighting the music of Jewish Broadway.

Cantor Fine has been awarded the Conservative Movement’s Nathan H. Winter Award for Professional Excellence, and in 2015 was recognized for his work with the SOMA (South Orange/Maplewood) Community Coalition on Race. Since 1997, Cantor Fine has served on the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary, teaching Biblical Cantillation to a generation of budding cantorial students.

Cantor Fine’s recordings include settings of the Yom Kippur Service for the Milken Archive Series of Jewish Music, as well as his innovative Friday Night Live worship service.

Cantor Fine is married to Miki — together this year celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary!  He is the proud stepfather to Yonatan and Daniel, and Saba (grandfather) to Lyla Rose.

S I S TER R OS E THERIN G FUND

F O UNDIN G S UPP O RTER S

Julia Altholz

David Bossman, Ph.D.

Susan Feinstein

Eugene Fisher, Ph.D.

Rev. Lawrence E. Frizzell, D.Phil.

Sister Mary Gomolka, R.S.M.

Rabbi Irving Greenberg

Blu Greenberg

Luna Kaufman

Marlene Jacobs

Murray Laulicht, Esq.

Jacqueline Levine

Karan Oleckna

Kenneth Oleckna, Esq.

Marilyn Rosenbaum

Howard N. Tepper, M.D.

Regina Townsend

Joseph Volker, Ph.D.

Robert Werbel, Esq.

Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf

present at the initial 1992 organizational meeting

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, conducting research and creating publications for 15 years when he sensed the need for a program coordinator to flesh out his work and bring his lessons to the wider community at Seton Hall. Thus, in 1968 he advertised for someone to fill this position. As fate would have it, Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D., with a background in education and Jewish-Christian Studies and a 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. Called the Menorah Institute, the program’s 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 30 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., who 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 Jewish-Christian 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 by-laws.

In 1994, the State of New Jersey, then led by Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and urged on by Sister Rose and others, including former Governor Thomas H. Kean, 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, We Remember: A Reflection 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 annual scholarships and has reached more than 500 educators during 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. Bossman has remarked, in reality they are "no longer hidden but treasures found" as the Fund contributes annually in scholarship funding to the University. Through advocacy and education, the Program continues to promote understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christians and people of other religious traditions.

The Sister Rose Thering Fund Founders

To recognize Sister Rose Thering on her 70th birthday, Dr. David Bossman thought an endowment fund at Seton Hall University in her name would be an appropriate gift. When he consulted Sister Rose for approval and purpose of this fund, she suggested that it be designated for the recruitment and education of teachers.

Envisioning a world without religious prejudice, Sister Rose believed in studying the Holocaust, fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel. Through the scholarships awarded by the fund to take courses in Seton Hall’s Jewish-Christian Studies Program, teachers would learn the lessons of the Holocaust and would then go on to teach what they had learned to their students.

In a subsequent birthday meeting at the home of Pearl Randall, along with many of Sister Rose’s friends, David and Julia Altholz led the discussion about how to best implement this Fund. Bob Werbel and Charlie Steiner presented the Fund’s bylaws to the University. From this meeting, these initial friends and founders established the Sister Rose Thering Endowment Fund for Education in JewishChristian Studies at Seton Hall University.

In 1994, the Sister Rose Thering Fund awarded its first six scholarships to deserving New Jersey teachers. At the same time, with the encouragement of Governor Thomas Kean, the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education was established. Sister Rose played a major role in promoting the implementation of Holocaust and genocide studies in New Jersey schools. She participated in writing a curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade, and she worked tirelessly with Holocaust Commission Director Paul Winkler to establish these programs in the classroom.

Over the past 30 years, the Sister Rose Thering Fund has provided hundreds of scholarships to New Jersey educators. These teachers have gone on to educate tens of thousands of students in the lessons of the Holocaust. The Fund continues to enable Sister Rose’s vision by “fostering understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christians and people of other religious traditions.”

The Fund is grateful to Seton Hall University for providing an atmosphere of interreligious dialogue and understanding that this important work can continue and thrive.

1993

Sister Rose Thering Fund: 30 Years

of Milestones

Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies is formed.  Full-tuition scholarships are made available to educators who take courses in the graduate program in Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University.

1998

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel is awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Seton Hall University at the annual Evening of Roses.  He chants Ani Ma’amin at the event, echoing his childhood chanting at the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.

2004

Documentary film Sister Rose’s Passion, directed by Oren Jacoby, wins Best Documentary Short at Tribeca Film Festival.  It is nominated for an Academy Award in 2005.

2005

Anti-Defamation League honors Sister Rose with its ADL Cardinal Bea Interfaith Award, recognizing her contributions to Catholic-Jewish relations.

2006

Sister Rose passes away May 6. An interreligious memorial attended by hundreds of admirers is held at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark.

2007

Cooperman-Ross Endowed Chair for Jewish-Christian Studies in honor of Sister Rose Thering established through the extraordinary generosity of Leon Cooperman and Eric Ross. Rabbi Alan Brill is awarded Endowed professorship.

2008

SRTF Essay Competition’s first celebration of high school essayists whose personal reflections about Sister Rose’s Passion were selected for their proficiency in writing and their plans to use Sister Rose’s ideals in their own lives.

2009

SRTF founding trustee and Chair Emerita Luna Kaufman receives an honorary degree from Seton Hall. She donates all her papers to the University.

2011

Through the exceptional generosity of SRTF trustee Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf, the Fund launches the Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Endowed Lecture. The annual event, open to the community at no charge, has featured luminaries and public intellectuals, including, among others, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Ambassador Dennis Ross, author Mark Oppenheimer, Rabbi Ron Kronish and Dr. Susannah Heschel.

2018

SRTF Trustee Alan Silberstein presents a paper on Sister Rose’s contribution to fighting anti-Semitism at an international symposium in Vienna, co-sponsored by the University of Vienna, Tel Aviv University and New York University.  He later presents it at the inaugural Sister Rose Thering Legacy Day event at Seton Hall in 2019.

2019

SRTF Founding Executive Director and Professor of Jewish-Christian Studies Dr. David Bossman retires.  Msgr. C. Anthony Ziccardi is named Interim Executive Director of the Fund.

2021

Seton Hall Associate Professor of Religion Dr. Anthony Sciglitano is named Executive Director of the Fund.

2023

SRTF presents a Kristallnacht Remembrance on the SHU campus to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the first atrocity of the Holocaust.

2023-2024

The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Dear Friends of the Sister Rose Thering Fund,

It is with great pleasure that I write to congratulate the honorees of the Sister Rose Thering Fund at the 30th Anniversary Evening of Roses Gala. Their tireless efforts to find common ground are a beacon of hope in an increasingly polarized world.

Daniel Mendelsohn, an award-winning author, is the winner of the Sister Rose Thering Fund Award in Humanities and Holocaust Literature. Mr. Mendelsohn has written two books on the Holocaust, a subject that must be explored and documented to ensure history is not repeated.

The winner of the Sister Rose Thering Fund Clergy Award, Cantor Perry Fine of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston and a long-time resident of South Orange, has dedicated his lifeJo bringing people together through music and prayer. Cantor Fine has led programs for the Seton Hall community including a Kristallnacht Commemoration last October.

I commend and celebrate the Sister Rose Thering Fund and its exceptional honorees tonight for their outstanding work in it8 mission to advance and foster understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christians, and people of other religious traditions through advocacy and education.

Sincerely,

Assemblywoman Garnet R. Hall

Seton Hall University

The Sister Rose Thering Fund

For Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

400 South Orange Avenue

South Orange, NJ 07079

Dear Friends of Sister Rose Thering Fund:

It is an honor for the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education to support The Sister Rose Thering Fund and the impactful academic programs the Fund has developed at Seton Hall University.

We often quote, with appropriate attribution, the instructional building blocks and positive thoughts that Sister Rose initiated and that the Fund has maintained. Her example stands as a monument to her beliefs and has created educational guidelines that teachers appreciate and that students admire. Her leadership and her ability to project her ideas into lessons leading to good fellowship among scholars has already served two generations of attentive students and waits for another presently maturing in our grade schools. The fact that these children were born into a world motivated by respect for one another adds to Sister Rose’s legacy and makes us proud to have known her.

It gives me a great deal of pleasure as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education and on behalf of the Commission, to congratulate both Dr. Daniel Mendelsohn who is being awarded the Sister Rose Thering Fund Award in the Humanities and Holocaust Literature and Cantor Perry S. Fine who is being awarded the 2024 Sister Rose Thering Fund Clergy Award.

These two outstanding individuals exemplify the spirit of Sister Rose in trying to make this a better world in which we live and have dedicated their lives to this truly admirable cause. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Holocaust and Genocide Education Mandate in New Jersey. In 1994, the State of New Jersey was the first state to recognize the importance of Holocaust Education and was able to have legislation passed to mandate Holocaust Education in our schools with age-appropriate materials and resources. There are now 27 other states that have mandated this education to make sure that the memory of the victims of the Holocaust will be remembered and that we continue the work of educating our students and our communities on the importance of Holocaust Education.

The Commission wishes you well in your work and looks forward to participating in your ongoing success as a leader in Holocaust education.

Sincerely,

Doug Cervi, Executive Director New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education

SISTER ROSE THERING FUND

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2023-2024

OFFICERS

Interim Co-Chairs, *Deborah Lerner Duane** • Susan Feinstein

Vice Chair, Heather Mecka**

Treasurer, Wayne Hanlon

Secretary, Ruth M. Ross

TRUSTEES

Paula Becker Alexander, Ph.D.

Rabbi Alan Brill, Ph.D.

Ann Burgmeyer

Rev. Lawrence E. Frizzell, D.Phil.

Roger B. Jacobs, Esq.

*Luna Kaufman##

Marilyn Rosenbaum

Robin Sanders

Julia Altholz

Gail H. Barry

David M. Bossman, Ph.D.#

Concetta Donvito, Ed.D.

Peter Dudek**

Judith Elbaum

Steven Elbaum

Miki Fine**

Eugene Fisher, Ph.D.

STAFF

Ruth Loew Schildiner

Alan Silberstein

Rachel Slutsky, Ph.D.

Franklin Stebbins

Jason Tramm, D.M.A.

*Robert Werbel, Esq.

Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf

Monsignor C. Anthony Ziccardi, S.T.D., S.S.L.

Anthony C. Sciglitano, Ph.D., Executive Director

Yolanda Sheffield Williams, Program Manager

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Kenneth Gaines

Sister Mary Gomolka, R.S.M.

*Melinda Hanlon, Ed.S.

Louis Izzi**

Allan Janoff

Murray Laulicht, Esq.

Jacqueline Levine

Przemyslaw Murczkiewicz**

Robin Neuman

HONORARY BOARD

Trustee Laureate

Monsignor Robert Sheeran, ’67, S.T.D.,

President Emeritus, Seton Hall University

Senator Cory Booker

Honorable Chris Christie

Honorable Jon Corzine

Rabbi Irving and Mrs. Blu Greenberg

# Executive Director Emeritus

*Chair Emeritus/Emerita

Karan Oleckna

*Kenneth Oleckna, Esq.

Sylvia Orenstein, Esq.

Teri Rosen

Emmanuel Ruranga

Gary Survis

Joseph Volker, Ph.D.

Honorable Thomas H. Kean

Sister Maryann McMahon, O.P.

Senator Robert Menendez

Honorable Phil Murphy

Katia Passerini, Ph.D.,

Interim President, Seton Hall University

Sister Sharon Simon

**M.A. Jewish-Christian Studies, SHU

##Honorary Doctorate, 2009, SHU

With Thanks to our Special Sponsors

Rose Sponsors

Dr. David M. Bossman

Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane

Carol and Alan Silberstein

Upstander Sponsors

Susan Feinstein

Underwriters

Dinner

Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf and Dr. Perry Robins

Invitation

Cantor Perry Fine and Miki Fine

Proceeds to benefit the annual scholarship fund and work of the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

Alan & Carol Silberstein

honor our Founding Supporters and honor the memory of Sigmund A. Rolat, z"l 1930-2024

Holocaust Survivor

Co-founder of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and dedicated to interfaith dialogue

We are in awe of your accomplishments Mazal Tov

DANIEL MENDELSOHN

CANTOR PERRY FINE

FOUNDING SUPPORTERS OF THE SISTER ROSE THERING FUND

Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane

June 18, 2024

In Memory of Michael S. Kogan 1942-2024

We remember Michael S. Kogan, long-time supporter of the mission of the Sister Rose Thering Fund and member of the Sister Rose Thering Fund Advisory Board, who passed away on April 6, 2024. He taught us that Christians and Jews can find a path to theological mutual affirmation. In his essay, in honor of John Pawlikowski, Michael Kogan writes:

“Martin Buber predicted that Israel would someday come to see Jesus as occupying an important place in its history of faith, but under a new category that he does not describe. Here I am suggesting that Jesus’ role for a Judaism willing to readmit him would be as a “son of man,” a representative human being who reveals the divinity in all of us humans He shows us clearly who we are.

“. . . I wonder whether this formulation of a role for Jesus in our Jewish history of faith would satisfy Martin Buber.”

“Welcoming Jesus Home,” in Righting Relations After the Holocaust and Vatican II, Essays in Honor of John T. Pawlikowski, OSM

David M. Bossman

Executive Director Emeritus

Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

With gratitude and heartfelt thanks to Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf for 30 years of loving generosity.

The Sister Rose Thering Fund Board of Trustees, Staff, and our Teacher-Scholars

The Sister Rose Thering Fund Honors the NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON HOLOCAUST EDUCATION

Commemorating 30 Years of Remembrance and Resistance

Evening of Roses

June 18, 2024

With appreciation to our founding supporters for their vision and dedication in fulfilling the mission of our dear Sister Rose

The

Werbel/Siegler Family In Memory of Eleanor Siegler

Mazel tov and best wishes

Daniel Mendelsohn

Cantor Perry Fine

Susan Feinstein

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.

and the Clergy, Religious and Lay Staff of the Archdiocese of Newark extend warm

Congratulations to

The Sister Rose Thering Fund 2024 Gala Honorees

Daniel Mendelsohn and Cantor Perry Fine

on the 30th

Anniversary of the Sister Rose Thering Fund

Karan & Ken Oleckna and Family

Harwood & Berman families

Honor The Legacy of Sister Rose

In memory of Mary Vazquez

from her family

It is our great pleasure to congratulate

Cantor Perry Fine

on receiving the Inaugural

Sister Rose Thering Fund Clergy Award

Mazel Tov on this well-deserved honor and may you continue to go from strength to strength!

With love and admiration from your friends at Temple Beth Shalom

IN MEMORY

GAIL ABRAMS SCHILDINER

SHU Class of '91

Frank, Ruth, Andrew, Sydney & Joshua

Schildiner

Congratulations Perry

In honor of CANTOR PERRY FINE

we appreciate all you do

The

Janoff Family

Poppy and Richard Segal Mom ... You Teach and We Learn

Thank You for Guiding Us

Thank You for Everything You Do for Sister Rose

All our love always, Geoff, Adena, Lane, Gayle, Lauryn, Ari, Reid, Lance and Sophie

With gratitude to teacher, author

Daniel R. Mendelsohn for his efforts to spread

Holocaust awareness through writing and film

Ruth Ross

Best Wishes FROM

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

To Sister Rose

With gratitude for her vision of tikkun olam Regina Townsend

Congratulations to tonight’s honorees Daniel Mendelsohn, Cantor Perry Fine and all the Founding Members of the Sister Rose Thering Fund!

May the work of the Sister Rose Thering Fund continue to bring the dream and the legacy of Sister Rose to life in the world one teacher at a time!

Congratulations on 30 years! y Clare Giangreco

Tributes

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the SRTF, with gratitude to Sister Rose, Luna Kaufman and David Bossman. Paula Alexander

In honor of my grandchildren – Rachel, Jonathan and Eleanor. Julia Altholz

Celebrating my amazing friend – Deborah Lerner Duane. Rachel Ingber

In Honor of Marilyn Rosenbaum for all her work with the SRTF. Linda & Kenny

We are proud to support this year’s Evening of Roses Gala. Frank and Katie Stebbins

M. Jane Balanoff

Richard A. Bernstein

Ruth Bernstein

Anne Marie Cottone

James Fingeroth

Donations

Kenneth Gaines

Paul Kadin

Lucy McCartan Manheim

Bryna M. Ringel

Louis Weiner

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 June 1, 2024. If somehow we missed your name, please know how grateful we are for your support. We apologize for any omissions or errors.

THE SISTER ROSE THERING FUND

TEACHER-SCHOLARS

The following educators in Seton Hall's graduate program in Jewish-Christian Studies have been awarded sponsored scholarships since the 2019-2020 academic year. Generous foundations, bequests, individuals from the Board of Trustees and the community at large have donated funding to cover tuition for a single course for each student, thereby furthering Sister Rose Thering's legacy of understanding and cooperation among Christians, Jews and people of other religious traditions through advocacy and education.

FALL 2020

Sally Leara

Jeanette Pine

Karen Santos

Michelle Scheps

Darlene Claussen

Casey Boyle

SPRING 2021

Darlene Claussen

Sally Leara

Jeanette Pine

Pamela Romanchuk

Karen Santos

Michelle Scheps

FALL 2021

Darlene Claussen

Sally Leara

Jeanette Pine

Pamela Romanchuk

SPRING 2022

Pamela Romanchuk

FALL 2022

Sara Voorhees

Brian Beyer

SPRING 2023

Sara Voorhees

Brian Beyer

FALL 2023

Daniel Hrdina

Father Akash Kurian

Sister Irene Musindi

Christina Rozanski

Satu Minna Schmitz

Sara Vorhees

SPRING 2024

Daniel Hrdina

Stanley Membreno

Satu Minna Schmitz

Kathleen Walsh

Nathaniel Houston

Christina Rozanski

You have completed one milestone today, but you have many more goals to attain. As you do this, you must question, everything and always. When you and I stop questioning, you and I stop learning. It is that simple!

— Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D.

THE SISTER ROSE THERING FUND

SPONSORED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Begun in 2004, the SRTF Sponsored Scholarship program has awarded more than 150 scholarships for one course per semester to selected teachers. These awards, made by foundation and individual support, are a means of introducing sponsor to student, allowing them to learn about one another while also providing an opportunity for sponsors to follow students through their paths of study. Students and their sponsors are honored at an annual event in the Spring.

We gratefully acknowledge the following donors whose gifts and generosity have provided scholarships this year, allowing the legacy of Sister Rose to live on.

Hattie and Arnold Segal Endowed Scholarship

The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Scholarship

Dr. David M. Bossman Scholarship

Marsha Kreuzman Endowed Scholarship

Gene Hoffman Scholarship

Deborah Lerner Duane and Daniel J. Duane Scholarship in memory of Ruth & Murry Lerner and Katherine & Daniel J. Duane, Sr.

We welcome scholarship donations in honor of or in memory of someone. If you would like to donate a Sponsored Scholarship, please contact us at 973-761-9006 or e-mail us at srtf@shu.edu.

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 & Margaret Pogany

2002 Sir Martin Gilbert, Rev. John F. Morley and Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf

2003 Dr. Nechama Tec, Theodore Bikel, David & 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 & Kenneth Oleckna and Toby & 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 & 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

2021 Peter Friedmann, Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation; Evi Meinhardt (posthumously) & Edward Meinhardt, Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation and Gene Hoffman

2022 Oren Jacoby, Director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Sister Rose's Passion

2023 Rabbi Noam Marans, American Jewish Committee’s Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations

Rev. Msgr. C. Anthony Ziccardi, S.T.D., S.S.L., Coordinator for Undergraduate Admissions and Retention and Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Seton Hall University SISTER ROSE THERING FUND EVENING OF ROSES

2024 Winners of Literary Arts & Video Competition Essay

FIrst Place · FIONA HU · Grade 8 · Millburn Middle School · Mrs. Bryan

Honorable Mention · LIANN CAPELLAN · Grade 8 · Hackensack Middle School · Mrs. Mecka

FIrst Place · OKEEN SORIAL · Grade 9 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Kowalski

Honorable Mention · JANA EMARA · Grade 9 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Kowalski

FIrst Place · TALEEN McOMBER · Grade 10 · Trinity Hall · Mrs. Sobieski

Honorable Mention · ANISA MATOS · Grade 10 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Russell

FIrst Place · EMILY CABRAL · Grade 11 · Jose Marti STEM Academy · Professor Weisman

Honorable Mention · HILLARY GUARANGO · Grade 11 · Jose Marti STEM Academy · Professor Weisman

FIrst Place · CAROLINA BAEZ · Grade 12 · Bayonne High School · Ms. David

Honorable Mention · MICHAEL POLAROLO · Grade 12 · Mt. Olive High School · Ms. Sacco

Poetry

FIrst Place · ANNABEL LAU · Grade 7 · Chatham Middle School · Mrs. Palma

Honorable Mention · TARYN THOMAS · Grade 7 · Chatham Middle School · Mrs. Palma

FIrst Place · DANNA NAVARRETE · Grade 8 · Hackensack Middle School · Mrs. Mecka

Honorable Mention · JOSYAN IBRAHIM · Grade 8 · Belleville Middle School · Ms. Oumarir

FIrst Place · JACKSON DANH · Grade 9 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Kowalski

Honorable Mention · ANISA CHAUDRY · Grade 9 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Kowalski

FIrst Place · JULIAN HANNA · Grade 10 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Russell

Honorable Mention · SAVANNAH MEJIAS · Grade 10 · Bayonne High School · Mrs. Russell

FIrst Place · JOYCE AZZER · Grade 11 · Bayonne High School · Ms. David

Honorable Mention · BOGDAN GRIDIEV · Grade 11 · Bayonne High School · Ms. David

FIrst Place · GABRIELA HENAO CORDOBE · Grade 12 · Bayonne High School · Ms. David

Honorable Mention · MARK FOUAD · Grade 12 · Bayonne High School · Ms. David

Video

FIrst Place · JUDAH COOK · Grade 8 · Belleville Middle School · Ms. Oumarir

In Memory of

Michael S. Kogan, Ph.D.

1942-2024

former Trustee, Sister Rose Thering Fund and Advisory Council Member

Thank You

We would like to thank the committee members who worked tirelessly to make this day very special for all Ann Burgmeyer, Deborah Lerner Duane, Susan Feinstein, Wayne Hanlon, Heather Mecka, Marilyn Rosenbaum, Ruth Ross

The SRTF staff would like to thank our student workers Alana Gooding and Issys Ortega for their hard work and the positive energy they bring to the office.

Save the Date

Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Annual Lecture

September 22, 2024

Bethany Hall, Seton Hall University, South Orange

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