by Debra Rubin
NJJN Bureau Chief/Middlesex

February 19, 2008

On a day devoted to tolerance and understanding, a multiethnic group of young people visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to see firsthand the deadly results of intolerance.

The group of 100, including 65 students in grades eight-12, was hosted by the Daniel Pearl Education Center at Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick, which sponsored the Martin Luther King Jr. Day excursion for the third straight year.

As in years past, students, parents, clergy, advisers, and teachers from the religious school of Temple B’nai Shalom were joined by their cohorts from the full-day school at St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church, also in East Brunswick.

For the first time, the excursion also included participants from Aldersgate United Methodist Church of East Brunswick, the Indian Association of Central Jersey, and B’nai B’rith Youth Organization.

Andrew Boyarsky, chair of the Daniel Pearl Education Center Committee, said the visit was the perfect way to honor the center’s namesake, a Jewish Wall Street Journal reporter murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

“I believe deep down inside that Danny would have loved what we are doing here,” said Boyarsky.

Although all the students knew about the Shoa from their exposure to Holocaust education, many did not grasp its enormity until the trip.

“I learned on this trip Jews were really treated unfairly,” said St. Bart’s student Kerriann Cahillane, 13, of East Brunswick. “I saw a lot of things that made it seem real to me. I saw shoes and outfits and pictures of the hair shaved off them. We also saw pictures of their families and learned [that] they were split off into different groups.

“I was aware of it before, but it didn’t seem real, so harsh to me until I saw the trains they were squished into and their luggage and stuff.”

Michael Kuebler, 14, of Milltown said he was fascinated with learning the intricacies of Hitler’s plans and statistical information such as how many Jews died in each country.

“There was a lot more information that hadn’t been covered before,” said Michael.

He said he learned a valuable lesson from the trip.

“Everybody should definitely be treated equally because the Jews weren’t,” he said. “I learned that even the little things can hurt somebody, that if you exclude someone from your lunch table or game you hurt them. I’m definitely going to treat people differently. I’m going to invite them to join my group if I see them sitting alone.”

B’nai Shalom student Allison Schaechter, 16, of East Brunswick said that although it was her third time going on the annual trip, she noticed the impact it had on others. Some cried.

Allison said as a Jew she had a slightly different reaction than others may have had to the experience.

“I’m proud to know as horrific as it was, we came through it,” she said. “The Nazis never got rid of us.”

Emily Kestlinger, 16, of East Brunswick was inspired to explore her Jewish roots.

“It definitely made me want to go to temple whenever I get the chance and I didn’t before,” she said.

“I want to become more involved.”

Students gathered at B’nai Shalom early on the morning of the trip were greeted by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Dist. 12), who urged them always to speak out against injustice and inhumanity. Letters from Gov. Jon Corzine and Pearl’s parents, Judea and Ruth, were read.

After leaving the museum, the group went to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping at the spot where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, they were addressed by Irwin Steinlight of East Brunswick, a Vietnam vet whose friends and battalion mates are memorialized on the memorial wall.

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