Ilyse Muser Shainbrown, at The Blogs

Oct 31, 2023, 5:03 AM

Kristallnacht in 2023

Jewish businesses vandalized, Jewish students attacked at school, cries of “gas the Jews and rid the world of them” are ringing through the streets. This is today in 2023; in the United States. This is 85 years after Kristallnacht; an...

Apr 16, 2023, 3:06 PM

Featured Post

The little sukkah that could

For years, it was a place to celebrate our Judaism – this year, I discovered our sukkah could also be a temporary refuge from obsessing over antisemitism

Sep 9, 2022, 4:17 PM

A Princess of War, A Queen for Decades

When war broke out in Europe, young Elizabeth was only 13 years old. She lived a nice, very comfortable life with her parents and sister in London. She was born after the First World War and had only known...

Mar 23, 2022, 1:43 PM

Despite the Events, ‘Never Forget’ Is Working

Just recently a Holocaust Survivor in his 90s spoke to a group of 12- and 13-year-old Jewish Americans, telling them his story and answering their questions. The conversation went somewhat like this: Survivor: 'I was lucky enough to be sent...

Jan 17, 2022, 10:14 PM

A return of antisemitism for today’s young American Jewish generation

Growing up in the New Jersey suburbs in the 1980s, antisemitism felt like history. It was important to learn about and discuss it – but it was not a part of my everyday life. We walked into synagogue services,...

Jan 3, 2022, 11:31 PM

The Lessons of Starting Anew

Depending on where in Europe a Jew was living in the 1930s and '40s the reign of terror that wreaked around them could have potentially lasted almost 12 years. The time in which the Nazis rose to power until...

Oct 1, 2021, 8:59 PM

Self Identity – Before and After a Worldwide Crisis

Several years ago, I read about the story of a lovely Polish woman named Roza. Roza had a smile that seemed to speak volumes, even in the magazine picture and a pensive, thoughtful look streaming from her crystal blue...

Jun 2, 2021, 3:12 PM

Wait, What?! The Hitler Project

Wait, what?! We have a 5th grader coming to school dressed as Hitler?
Adolph Hitler / The 'Accomplishments' essay. (Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-10460 / Hoffmann, Heinrich / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons)

Several years ago, I heard the saying, “wait, what?” for the first time. And it is a saying that now drives my own thoughts and decisions both personally and professionally. The concept -- while simple in nature – is...

About Me

Ilyse Muser Shainbrown was a former Middle and High School History teacher who now holds a master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Over the years she has done extensive research on various portions of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide including, Rwanda, the Belgian Congo and Bosnia. Currently, Ilyse Muser Shainbrown is the Director of Holocaust Education at the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest. Through both programs, Ilyse works to ensure that Holocaust education is taught broadly in public, private and parochial schools throughout Essex, Union, Morris and Sussex counties.

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