- JFCS in the Media
- Education
- Holocaust Center
J Weekly
By Rob Gloster
As a child, Iris Bendahan was confused when her grandmother would speak of relatives who were “not here because of Hitler.” It wasn’t until her sixth-grade class in Israel saw an exhibition on the Holocaust that she finally understood.
As an adult, the former religious school principal at Congregation Beth David in Saratoga has made it her mission to ensure Bay Area kids have no such confusion.
Bendahan, 57, personally created a Holocaust museum that has been on display each spring at Beth David since 2009. This year, it will be available for viewing until May 3. The museum is open during synagogue hours and there’s no admission charge.
The museum project helped make Bendahan one of the three winners this year of the Morris Weiss Award for Outstanding Holocaust Education, presented by the Holocaust Center at Jewish Family and Children’s Services. The award was established by the family of the late Morris Weiss, a survivor and the founder of the JFCS Holocaust Center.