28 | JULY 28 • 2022 

T

he Zekelman Holocaust Center 
(The HC) will host a virtual 
storytelling of An American Rabbi 
in Buchenwald on Aug. 7 at 2:30 p.m. by 
author and historian Dr. 
Rafael Medoff. 
The story centers around 
Rabbi Herschel Schacter, a 
chaplain whose unit liberated 
the Nazi concentration camp 
of Buchenwald. Schacter 
was thrust into the role of 
helping survivors rebuild their shattered 
lives and serving as their voice to the 
world. 
Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director 
of the David S. Wyman Institute for 
Holocaust Studies and the author of 

more than 20 books about the Holocaust, 
Zionism and American Jewish history, 
including The Rabbi of Buchenwald. Medoff 
has taught at Ohio State University and 
Purchase College of the State University 

of New York. He is a Fellow of the 
Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at 
Bar-Ilan University.
“We are honored to welcome Dr. 
Medoff to the Zekelman Holocaust 
Center to tell the story of Rabbi 
Schacter,” said Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, the 
center’s CEO. “He is a brilliant historian 
and prolific author with great insights 
into the history and circumstances of the 
Holocaust and American Jewish history. 
It is most appropriate that we will hold 
this event on the Jewish holiday of Tisha 
b’Av, which commemorates the great 
losses of the Jewish people throughout 
history.”
Register at holocaustcenter.org/August. 
The event will be held on Zoom. 

folks to help fund this vision. Whether it’s $18 or 
$18,000, we’re hoping the community helps close 
our campaign gap.”
With generous help of a $350,000 grant 
expansion from one of its largest donors, the 
William Davidson Foundation, Rudman says they 
are on track to raise additional funds yet remain 
about $230,000 short of their goal.
To invest in the Reimagining the Downtown 
Synagogue Capital Campaign, Rudman says you can 
help by leaving a permanent mark on the building.
“We are offering this chance to invest in the 
Downtown Synagogue’s future with our capital 
campaign. For $10,000, your family’s or your name 
will forever be associated with one of the iconic 
stained-glass windows, and you can really be part of 
the building of our vibrant future.”
To celebrate this new chapter, the Downtown 
Synagogue will be hosting a free block party 
in Detroit on Griswold Street Sunday, Aug. 14. 
The transformational building renovation project 
is expected to finish in February 2023. 

For more information and to donate, contact Rachel Rudman at 

execdirector@downtownsynagogue.org or (313) 962-4047. To RSVP 

to the block party, visit www.downtownsynagogue.org/blockparty.

The sanctuary 
is ready for its 
renovation.

Construction 
has started on 
the facade.

OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 26

‘An American Rabbi in 
Buchenwald’ Virtual Event

Dr. Rafael 
Medoff

