The Year of Altruism will commemorate the atrocities of the Holocaust and the thousands who risked their lives to rescue and protect victimized Jews at a special Holocaust Memorial Convocation on Monday, March 24 at 7 p.m. in Younts Conference Center at Furman University. The event is part of the Year of Altruism’s year-long series of engaging and celebratory events highlighting and promoting altruism – the unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.
As part of the Year of Altruism’s mission to encourage and celebrate altruism, the Holocaust Memorial Convocation will bring light to humanity's immeasurable capacity for compassion, mercy, self-sacrifice and idealism as a universal story.
The Convocation, hosted by the Year of Altruism in partnership with the Greenville Jewish Federation, will feature Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and senior scholar of the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University in New York City. In his presentation, titled "Remembering the Holocaust: The Importance of Altruism," Schacter will reflect on how the lessons of the Holocaust continue to be relevant today as the world contemplates bigotry and intolerance in the 21st century. Dr. Paul Thompson, associate professor of history and chair of the Department of History and Political Science at North Greenville University, will offer introductory comments.
“We've resolved to perpetuate an annual Holocaust Memorial Convocation for all community members in Greenville, not just those who are Jewish,” said Rabbi Marc Wilson, founder and director of the Year of Altruism. “The remaining Holocaust survivors will not be with us much longer. We must cherish them, reaffirm them, and give perpetuity to their otherwise lost stories. We must introduce one generation after the next to the reality of how deep inhumanity can sink, and how high humanity can rise again.”
The Holocaust Memorial Convocation is free and open to the public. To learn more about this and all Year of Altruism events, please visit the Upcoming Events page at www.yearofaltruism.org/upcomingevents.
About the Year of Altruism
The Year of Altruism is a series of celebratory events, taking place from August 2013 through June 2014, hosted by more than 100 participating groups in the Upstate of South Carolina and beyond. Established in the spring of 2013 under the 501(c)(3) umbrella of the Community Foundation of Greenville, the Year of Altruism’s mission is to encourage and celebrate altruism in thought, speech and deed, focusing the community on fostering acts of kindness in its organizations and individuals, thus creating a better future, one life at a time. Learn more about the Year of Altruism by visiting www.yearofaltruism.org and following them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/yearofaltruism) and Twitter (@yearofaltruism).
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