Sylvia Elinoff refuses to be silenced by hatred.
The Village of Hadley resident has lived the commitment for a decade after being told that Jewish people should stop talking about the Holocaust because it was so long ago. Elinoff said that education is key to end hatred as antisemitic incidents surge over 360% since 2014, according to a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League.
“I was so shocked that people felt like that in this day and age,” she said. “I felt so terrible and it made my husband mad, but I still want to educate. We don’t want people to forget about the Holocaust because we don’t want it to happen again. Never again. Never forget.”
Susan Sirmai Feinberg, a child of two Holocaust survivors who has experienced antisemitism throughout her life, said being uneducated can make one susceptible to false information.
“A lot of the time, hatred comes from not knowing or because you’ve been told things that you don’t know aren’t true from people who like to have a scapegoat to incite fear,” the Village of Pennycamp resident said.
Growing up not experiencing Passover Seder in a temple or synagogue, Ellen Faulkner said she understands why there is so much confusion about Jewish heritage.
“People really don’t understand what Judaism is,” the Village of Santiago resident said. “The might know what a Seder is but they don’t understand what’s all involved in Passover Seder.”
“Growing up my parents wanted us to have an American way of life, so they raised us to be culturally Jewish not religiously Jewish. We had the pink Christmas tree,” Faulkner said. “After I moved here and we started the Amazing Jewish Women club of The Villages, people wanted to do things the more traditional way. It’s been great. I’m learning more about my own religion every single year, so I know it can be confusing for people who aren’t Jewish.”
Elinoff, the chairperson of the Temple Shalom of Central Florida’s sisterhood holiday outreach program, said she has had positive reactions from people who participate in the program that teaches about Jewish holidays including Hanukkah and Passover.
Along with visiting home bound seniors, the program travels to independent living, assisted living, nursing home and memory care facilities.
“We tell about the holiday’s history, how we celebrate it today and about the foods we eat,” Elinoff said. “The Christian people in the room usually have no idea about the history and are open to learn. The Jewish people there are usually between 80 and 90 years old. They are are in tears by the end of the program because of all the memories that come back.”
Elinoff, Faulkner and Feinberg agree that there is a need to educate about Jewish hardships while individuals who experienced it first hand are still alive, so the significance isn’t lost.
With the median Jewish Holocaust survivor age being 87, more than 70% of Jewish Holocaust survivors will have passed away within the next 10 years, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference.
Feinberg, who is serving as chairman of the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day hosted by the Temple Shalom of Central Florida, said the concerning statistics helps motivate her to educate everyone about the Holocaust and other parts of Jewish history.
“Once you get to the fourth generation, they are so far removed from their great grandparents, maybe they didn’t get a chance to meet them, so the stories are lost,” she said. “I know there are a lot of people in The Villages who have been exposed to Jewish heritage and want to learn more. Over 13,000 people attend the annual Holocaust survivor event we had at St. Timothy and the majority of the people who attend that event are not Jewish. To have kids say I need to learn more, to me that is very memorable. I’m overwhelmed from the positive responses we’ve gotten.”
By hosting programs and events including ongoing classes teaching Jewish history, the “Survivor of Auschwitz” program and community menorah lighting for the general public, Rabbi Yossi Hecht said The Chabad Lubavitch of Ocala and The Villages prioritizes education a foundation for ending hate.
“As a Jew, we’ve seen the growing level of hate,” Hecht said. “A lot of it comes from simply not being educated or learning where the others come from and what they’re are about.”
“We like to say the menorah lighting is like spreading more goodness and light, one candle at a time,” he said. “A little light can dispel darkness around us, like knowledge and dispel the rise in hate. We want to encourage others to find a way to spread goodness and kindness in whatever way possible.”Finding Comfort in CommunityFaulkner, founder and co-leader of the Amazing Jewish Women club of The Villages along with Rae White, said the Jewish population in The Villages has grown since she moved to the area in 2016. She said the club gets about 40 to 60 new members every year.
Spending time with other Jewish people in The Villages and educating non-Jewish people all helps Faulkner, who is also a member of The Village Kibitzers and The Borscht Belt Club, cope with the increase in hatred.
“When I was first telling people I was moving to The Villages that would say, ‘why there’s no Jewish population there,’” Faulkner said. “I’d say, ‘I’ll find my people,’ and I did. Being together creates a force.”
“I understand and can relate to people who have experienced antisemitism — really everyone has a story,” she said. “Being apart of a group that desires to be treated equally doing traditions how we were raised to. Having people who can understand where we come from and being able to come together for all the Jewish holiday’s and events, it’s nice.”
While she enjoys spending time with Jewish clubs, Faulkner said that recently there were safety concerns that led to several Jewish-based clubs to request having a police escort walk members to their cars during night meetings.
A request that the Sumter County Sheriff’s office granted.
“We did that for about three months,” Faulkner said. “They understood our concerns and put us completely at ease. Cant say we are living on eggshells anymore. I do feel safe, it’s not so much The Villages as it is the rest of the world. We have a sense of community here so I feel comfortable and safe. “
After he stopped wearing clothes that could identify him as a Jewish person, comfortable isn’t the word that Kenneth Elinoff, Sylvia’s husband, would use to describe living in The Villages as an adult Jewish man.
“I’m sensitive about that because there are so many (Make America Great Again) people here and we worry. It’s been like that for a year or two. I feel bad, but I want to be safe.”
While there are mixed feelings about safety in The Villages for Jewish residents, the desire educate the public in hope of ending hate is a uniform feeling.
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