- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

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- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

-_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone.

Steve Adubato.

I'm here with my colleague, Jacqui Tricarico.

Jacqui, we are introducing two compelling interviews.

They're really great, mostly 'cause Jacqui did them, and we have great guests.

These are from interviews that we did down in Atlantic City at the annual New Jersey Education Association Convention.

First shoot, we're talking to Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg?

- Yeah, that's correct.

This half hour special is really dedicated to two important and influential Jewish women.

Like you said, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is up first.

She is an author.

She's written eight books and has appeared on a ton of different networks as well as has written for a lot of publications, like The New York Times and The Washington Post.

And her most recent book is called "On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World."

And we get a little bit into that, into this discussion that you'll see up next, really thinking about how we can just become a more inclusive and understanding community and citizens in our world amidst all of the chaos and the harm that we're seeing in so many different regards.

So really eye-opening discussion with her up first, - But hold on, isn't... Jacqui, she also did a keynote presentation, a keynote speech at the New Jersey Education... New Jersey Education Association, one of our longtime underwriters, to fully disclose.

One of the themes in her keynote is challenging antisemitism, debunking the myths, teaching facts about the Holocaust, about Judaism, et cetera, et cetera.

More important than now than ever before, particularly what's going on in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

- Definitely, yes, and we get into that, into her interview as well and taking some of those really important topics from the keynote address and her really being able to lay that out for us and describe that and really make us understand what the messages she was trying to deliver that day to our educators here in New Jersey.

- And on the back end of this half hour special is someone who I've known for many, many years.

I think she's 88 years young.

Tell everyone who it is.

- Yeah, Maud Dahme.

She is a Holocaust survivor and she's considered one of the hidden children of the Holocaust.

Her parents made sure that during that time in the Netherlands, they found a family, a non-Jewish family to take their children and hide them for several years under that new identity to keep them alive.

And her story is so powerful.

She didn't share it for so many years.

She said, she didn't really talk about that until she decided to do the "60 Minutes" special many years ago and started opening up about her story.

And that transitioned to a PBS documentary called "The Hidden Child", which was done a few years ago, but it was actually shown this year at the NJEA Convention as part of their film festival special this year.

So Maude and I speak.

You'll hear in her voice, it's a little raspy because she was talking so much during this whole convention speaking with so many people, engaging with so many people, signing her book.

She also has a book out as well and just really special woman who's educating folks all over the state and around the world as well, about her story and the need to remember and honor those from the Holocaust.

- And Maude's been at this for a long time.

She's been teaching state legislators down the State House and helping them understand why these issues matter so much, her personal experience as a Holocaust survivor, as one of those hidden children, if you will.

It's so important.

It's not just factual information about history, it's a personal story that is real and painful and powerful.

But we kick off with the rabbi, right?

You tee that up, Jacqui?

- Yep, Rabbi Danya up first, and then right after that you'll see my interview with Maude.

- Good stuff from AC, go ahead.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I am Jacqui Tricarico, on location at the NJEA Convention here in Atlantic City, and I'm so pleased to be joined by one of the convention's keynote speakers, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, who is an author and a scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women.

So pleased to have you with us.

- I'm thrilled to be here.

Thank you.

- We'll get to the keynote in a minute.

First, I'd love to have an understanding of what the National Council of Jewish Women is, talk about that organization and what you all are trying to do.

- We are 130-year-old grassroots advocacy organization that fights for women and children and families.

And so, we do advocacy, we do education, but a lot of it is focused on systemic change, centering those most impacted, so voting rights and access, reproductive freedom and health and justice.

our key issues, gun control, right?

It's about creating a world that is more safe and more free for families.

- And I'm sure that ties into your keynote a little bit today.

So you had this keynote addressed here, I know a big theme of that was challenging antisemitism, talk a little bit about that.

Our world today, we're seeing an uptick in anti-Semitism, all over the country, but all over the world, and especially since the war broke out Talk a little bit about why we're seeing that uptick, and how that's impacting us here in the States.

- The thing with anti-Semitism, is that it is a very tricky sort of oppression, because, blame the Jews, not me, has been the operative way of thinking since the Middle Ages, right?

From the very beginning, if there was a plague, if people were upset with a ruler, if the crops were failing, people would be upset, and we will just point the finger at the Jews and kick them out or something.

- So it dates back that far.

- It dates back that far, and the tropes that we see today absolutely echo the systems that got set up then.

And this idea that there's this worldwide Jewish global conspiracy was developed through that, through the czars propaganda and that sort of thing.

And so, we now have this moment where we have a time of deep instability, globally, even before this moment, we have this moment of real pain, And, umm... of deep pain, with Israel, Palestine, and people see the power imbalances that are happening there, but it is very, very easy for people to grab onto this ancient conspiracy theory, and to superimpose it on top of a political situation.

And so, instead of engaging with an injustice that needs to be dealt with in clear eyes, and to be able to be oppose Hamas, as well as fight for freedom and justice for all Palestinians, and safety and freedom for all Israelis, every single human being deserves freedom, and every single human being deserves safety, we see the conspiracy theory come in.

- Right, it's becoming a us-verse-them situation again, instead of, all of us, let's fight against what the real enemy is.

- The real enemy is fundamentalism and everybody who dehumanizes the other.

- Yes.

- Right?

The real enemy is everybody who is in the way of justice and freedom.

And so, the dehumanization happens because there are these other forces swirling around.

- Right, and October 7th, when that war started, I mean, it was a collective trauma for people all over the place, especially Jewish Americans here, and like you said, you mentioned that pain that they felt.

How have you first handedly seen the impact for yourself that that has caused, but the people around you, and how can we address that as a society?

I know empathy was part of your keynote as well, and finding that empathy right now, describe that and talk about what that could look like for us.

- Half of the Jews in the world live in Israel, so this is both the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, and- - Just saying that is so powerful, to hear that, because we see a lot of representation of the Holocaust here at the convention this year too, and making sure that that education continues and that discussion continues today.

But now we have this whole 'nother horrible, inhumane situation that just happened, and it's bringing a lot of people back to that time of the Holocaust.

- Right, and the people's traumas are triggered, a genocidal, fundamentalist terrorist group came in and committed a mass murder.

Hamas is not all Palestinians, at all, right?

Hamas does not represent most Palestinians.

And Hamas committed a great horrific harm.

And many American Jews have family there, right?

And for many American Jews, it also just pings ancestral stuff.

And so, people are walking around really in mourning, and with raw, tender, traumatized feelings as they're looking at this war, as they are empathizing, many of us, the suffering of everybody, as we are hoping for a more whole and just future for everyone.

And often, American Jews are being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government, and that's where this dual loyalty trope kicks in, as though, you know, of course you're all, all the Jews are loyal to each other and not to us.

and you know, people's hearts are hurting.

- Yeah.

And in terms of that and what we can do, and using your book too, your book on repentance and repair, talk about that book, how we can take some of those ideas and ideals and use them in our society today to help further, even just the repair of Jewish people here in America, but worldwide, but also for non-Jews to know and to have that empathy, and use that for a way to understand, and have that empathy and education behind all the things that you're saying, the history of all of this.

I mean, all that matters.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So "On Repentance and Repair" takes ancient ideas about accountability and repairing harm, and applies them to our world today, both in our intimate relationships, 'cause listen, we all cause harm, we all have been harmed, we're all bystanders to harm, and sometimes we have to clean up when we screw up with the people we love, but also then applies these ideas, these sort of steps in the work of taking responsibility for harm, beginning to change so that you don't keep doing the harmful thing again, amends, then apology, later in the game, for specific reasons, and then eventually not doing the thing again, right?

This journey of accountability and transformation also applies to systemic harms in our world, and also applies to harm caused by institutions.

There are all these ways that this roadmap can help us, and every one, and every institution, and every nation that has caused harm needs to do the work of owning it and transforming so that another future is possible.

- And how can all of this be implemented in the classrooms?

You're here at the convention this year, talking to educators, from all walks of life, with your keynote.

How can this all be implemented into the classroom right now to make sure that our kids, who are not so exposed to the world around us in many ways that adults are, but are also very open to empathy and understanding in such a innocent way?

- Mm-hmm.

So, key in terms of understanding antisemitism is sort of seeing how it functions because, blame the Jews, not me, as the way that antisemitism functions., it allows for Jews to be successful, right?

Sometimes Jews are oppressed, and we play blame the Jews, not me, but there's room for Jews to be successful in that conspiracy.

And so, laying bear the ways that this conspiracy got developed and created and constructed, so that people can see it when it's happening.

You lay bare the code, and then you can start to see it, and then you can start to address it.

But first, people need the tools to understand what they're seeing, and people need the analysis to be able to remember that ultimately, antisemitism supports white nationalism, right?

Like, there's antisemitism everywhere, just like there's misogyny everywhere, and there's transphobia everywhere, right?

- Right, these are all issues that we're constantly dealing with as a society.

- Correct.

It is pervasive, but who it helps is ultimately white supremacy.

And so, those of us who want a different future need to come together in solidarity, and to say, we're all in this together.

- And use that as an educational tool within our classrooms.

- Yes.

So people need to be able to see what antisemitism is, they need to see the ways that dividing Jews from other communities is actually an intentional strategy, right?

And then they can sort of start to understand what else might be possible for our society.

- So from your keynote today, what do you hope is the most significant thing that educators are taking away with them?

- I want educators to really be able to see, I hope that they've been able to see the source code, to be able to see the intentional construction of antisemitism, from Constantine's dilemma, "Oh gosh, I just converted to Christianity, but if we say the Romans killed Jesus, but the Roman empire is Christian now, what do we do, who can we say killed Jesus?"

Blame the Jews, from that, straight to- - From then all the way to what we're seeing.

- The Soros is funding the protestors, right?

Oh, the Soros backed DAs.

Oh, the globalists are the ones driving the trans lobby.

You can start to be able to see, I hope that they've been able to see the construction of- - The connection, the construction from- - Right.

Because anti-Semitism is manufactured, which means we can take it apart.

- And there's power in that, there's power in that to be able to take it apart, and there's so much power in the education behind all of this.

And I know you're helping us learn more here on PBS, the educators here that are working in our classrooms with our students to learn more so that we can be an empathetic, these kids can grow to be empathetic citizens, and we can all rally around equity, justice, So I know that's just such an important part of what you're doing, the work that you're doing.

Thank you so much for being able to talk to us a little bit about it, and educate us, because it's a lot of complexity behind all of this, and thank you for breaking it down for us.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- I'm Jacqui Tricarico on location at the NJEA Convention, here in Atlantic City, and I am so honored and pleased to be joined by Maud Dahme, who is a Holocaust survivor, former president of the New Jersey State Board of Education, and the person in a documentary here that we're showing, it was done a few years back, called "The Hidden Child," about your experience during the Holocaust.

Maud, thank you so much for talking with us.

First, can you tell us a little bit about that experience for you?

I know that if we watch that documentary we get, really, an in-depth look, but just an overview of that experience for you during that time in the Holocaust when your parents decided that it was time to hide you and your sister from the Nazis.

- Well, it was very difficult, especially in the beginning, because my mother told me we were going on a vacation to a farm, my little sister and I, and of course it wasn't, and while they would go on their vacation.

So the next three years were very difficult because I was only 6 1/2 years old.

- 6 1/2, so three years, from 6 1/2 to 9 1/2, living this completely different life.

- And that was difficult.

Plus, I had to watch over my sister.

- Your little sister.

- So it got to the point after the war, whenever I told her to do something she goes, "No more."

'Cause I was... - She was knew that you were always the one telling her what to do.

(laughs) - But it was very difficult, though.

She never understood.

I started to understand it very quickly because my name was changed, I had people I had to call aunt and uncle who I didn't know.

So that was, you know, for a 6 1/2 year old- - Yeah, three years of being hid and living with that fear during that time, I mean, bombs going off around you all the time, just a horrible, horrible situation.

Your mother and father both survived and came, 'cause they were hiding separately, right?

And then they came back to find you and reunite with you, but being a child and not seeing your parents for three years, you describe in the documentary that you were a little afraid, you didn't really know them anymore, that was a huge transition for you and your sister.

- It was difficult for us, but I could imagine for my parents, to finally realize their children are still alive, they come all the way out to where we were- - So excited to embrace you and you were scared.

Small child, of course, scared.

- And they stayed for a little bit, but even then I told them, "We will go home with you, but if we don't like you we're coming back and living with Aunt."

- Yeah, yeah.

So this whole experience, you've been able to now take so many educators with you, back to the Netherlands, to Europe, and retrace your steps and your story.

Just this past summer, you went with Steve Beatty, the Vice President of the NJEA, and 28 other educators to do that.

What is that experience like for you?

- It was very difficult the first time because suddenly I was faced with some things I had heard about but had never seen.

But it's, now I've been doing it some time, so I'm in Europe two or three times a year, but it's still difficult 'cause I know what I'm going see but it's still difficult on a... Where sometimes one of the local guides will say something that will just hit me and I start to cry.

So it's not easy to do it.

- An emotional journey every time.

- Yes.

- And emotional journey every time.

An emotional journey, too, I think, for you, for so many years you didn't talk about your story but then you started opening up about it and you saw how impactful it could be to so many to hear from you, and you've been traveling all over New Jersey and the United States, sharing your story.

How does that make you feel?

Obviously, like we said, an emotional rollercoaster, but overall, why has that become such an important part of who you are and the legacy you wanna leave behind?

- Well, to me it's so important, especially in the way the world is today, 'cause genocides have not stopped and I feel especially to our students, if I can tell my story, though I'm not graphic at all, but still tell my story of the war but also the emphasis is positive, of how people cared and risked their lives.

- Right, there was humanity within the inhumanity.

- To really instill in them the respect and I've seen, one example was a school teacher had the students write thank you, the first paragraph they had to write, "Thank you, Mrs.

Dahme."

The second paragraph, how are you going to use it?

And a little boy wrote, he said, "I have a new baby brother.

I don't like him, but I'm going to be very nice to him, as the big brother."

So you know, even in that child's mind, I reached him.

- The impact you can have on children is so different than the impact you can have on adults, where we're already desensitized to so much and there's so much that we're exposed to on a daily basis, especially right now in our world, another war breaking out and anti-Semitism on the rise again here in our country but across the world, the impact of your story more now than ever before, do you feel?

- Definitely.

Very, very important.

Because it's, as I said, the genocide continues.

And I'm trying to tell the world how people cared.

It didn't matter that I was Jewish, they were Christians, they saved us.

- And we need more of that.

(laughs) We need more of that today more than ever.

Thank you so much, even with your hoarse voice, for talking with us today and sharing some of your story.

No, and I'm so glad that people have the opportunity here, with this new film festival that they've created as part of the convention, to view your documentary and learn more about your story.

Thank you so much, Maud.

- My main, I am just so pleased with the teachers 'cause it's life changing, and they're doing wonderful things in their classroom.

- Our educators are unsung heroes, and you're part of that education system now too, especially here in New Jersey.

Thank you so much, Maud.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Kean University.

Wells Fargo.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

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