Director Named for the Center for Holocaust Education
at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio

Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Joe Hale, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Holocaust Education, are pleased to announce the appointment of Racelle R. Weiman, Ph.D. as the Director of the Center for Holocaust Education in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Center will create and provide educational and curricular resources and teacher training in Holocaust and tolerance education for educational, religious, and civic institutions in the greater Cincinnati area. In addition, the Center will sponsor courses, conferences, and symposia on the Holocaust and tolerance education, and serve as a focus for Holocaust remembrance ceremonies for Jews and non-Jews throughout the Cincinnati community.

As director of this new Center on the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Dr. Weiman will oversee the development of the Center and manage its day-to-day operations, work with the HUC-JIR faculty to expand course offerings in Holocaust Studies, and collaborate with the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities to develop courses, curricula, and educational programs.

Dr. Weiman is currently on the faculty of the University of Haifa, teaching courses on “Conflict Resolution and Democratic Values” and “Tolerance and Coexistence.” She is also responsible for the educational branch of the USA-based NGO, Global Dialogue Institute; and a research fellow on Professional Ethics at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Recipient of many grants and awards, Racelle Weiman earned her Ph.D. at the Department of Religion at Temple University, Philadelphia, in the field of Interfaith Relations.

“We are proud to appoint Dr. Weiman as the director of the Center for Holocaust Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion,” stated Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, President of HUC-JIR. “We are delighted that she will bring her dedication, considerable expertise, and extensive experience to our Center and to our community. We are confident that Dr. Weiman and our Board of Directors will create a unique community resource which will serve as an example of religious tolerance and social justice for generations of educators, clergy, and youth.”

The search committee, chaired by Sam Knobler, initiated a world-wide search for a director to head this newly created Center, established by HUC-JIR in cooperation with the Combined Generations of the Holocaust of Greater Cincinnati. A resident of Israel for more than 20 years, Dr. Weiman was born in Mexico, and lived for many years in California and Pennsylvania. Dr. Weiman and her family will be moving to Cincinnati, to begin her new position as director of the Holocaust Education Center on August 1.