The Dr. Leatrice B. Rabinsky Holocaust Education Resource Fund at Kol Israel Foundation

This Fund will honor the lifetime work and legacy of Dr. Rabinsky, a noted Holocaust scholar who pioneered Holocaust education in public schools dating back to the early 1970s. Her ‘Literature of the Holocaust’ class at Cleveland Heights High School became a model for Holocaust education curriculum on a national level and her ‘Journey of Conscience’ trips with students and Survivors to Poland and Israel were trailblazing efforts that were used as models for the noted March of the Living Holocaust commemoration trips that continue until this day.

In her own words, Dr. Rabinsky explained her motivation for advancing Holocaust education by saying she had “an overwhelming desire to keep alive the memory of those who were murdered, to sustain the emotional lives of those who survived, and to spread the message of tolerance.”

Dr. Rabinsky was a Master Teacher who believed in the power of Holocaust-themed literature and other media format presentations to convey the important stories of survival, moral integrity, and tolerance. These are among the key lessons of the Holocaust that she taught and nurtured with her thousands of students. The Fund seeks to further her work by reaching teachers and students who might otherwise not have access to Holocaust-related educational materials that can make a difference in their lives.

The Kol Israel Foundation, working with several local Holocaust educators, including Mark Sack, a former student of, and now successor to Dr. Rabinsky at Cleveland Heights High School, will actively seek Northeastern Ohio teachers (eventually expanding to teachers in all of Ohio) who are interested in providing their students with powerful Holocaust-related materials. The Kol Israel Foundation will not only provide the educational materials to the committed teachers and their students, it will also help guide them as they teach the truth about the Holocaust and keep the memory of its victims and its Survivors alive.

The Rabinsky Holocaust Education Resource Fund at the Kol Israel Foundation will also be utilized to help students from schools with limited financial resources get access to local Holocaust education institutions in our community, including but not limited to Shaarey Tikvah’s ‘Face to Face’ program and the Maltz Museum.

Teacher Application for The Dr. Leatrice B. Rabinsky Holocaust Education Resource Fund