Drawing on Jewish Family History – Audrey Reich

Episode 63.
Audrey Reich is an artist and art teacher in New York and is also involved in Holocaust education. Audrey is a speaker and board member of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center. Daughter of two Holocaust survivors, she credits her parents with modeling awe and appreciation, openness and curiosity. Despite their trauma, deportations, and long paths to the U.S. they each managed to heal some and focus on building a new future. They neither dwelt in the past nor forgot it. Audrey has much to share, so I have made it into two parts. In this first part, we talk about her family, childhood, Poland, and begin exploring her teaching. 

Highlights:
·       The evolution of Audrey's engagement with the Jewish community, from a conservative synagogue to an open modern orthodox community
·       Audrey’s parents are Holocaust survivors. The impact of their resilience and curiosity about life, is evident in their openness to different backgrounds and stories.
·       The importance of active remembrance of the past, coupled with a focus on reconciliation and moving forward rather than living in anger and resentment.
·       Audrey's exploration of Poland and China to document her family's story and her role as the family's storyteller.
·       Audrey's efforts to bridge cultural differences, particularly in relation to the Jewish community in Poland.
·       Audrey's approach to educating students about the Holocaust, emphasizing the role of active witnesses and the impact of carrying on the victims' stories.
·       Lessons learned from art history and Judaism, and how they intersect in the appreciation of nature, craftsmanship, and the ability to create something from nothing.

Social Media links for Audrey:
Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center – https://hhrecny.org/generations-forward/#unger

Social Media links for Méli:
Talking with God Project – https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066435622271


Transcript:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/14687177


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Chapters

• 0:05 Introduction
• 2:16 Audrey's Jewish path
• 6:43 Family Holocaust story
• 13:44 Being open to learning

Transcript

Audrey Reich transcript

Drawing on Jewish Family History

Meli  [00:00:05]:

Hello and welcome to Living Our Beliefs, a home for open conversations with fellow Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Through personal stories and reflection, we will explore how our religious traditions show up in daily life. I am your host, Meli Solomon. So glad you could join us. This podcast is part of my Talking with God Project. To learn more about that research and invite me to give a talk or workshop, go to my website, www.talkingwithgodproject.org. This is episode 63, and to my guest today is Audrey Reich. She is an artist and art teacher in New York and is also involved in Holocaust education. Audrey is a speaker and board member of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center. Daughter of two Holocaust survivors, she credits her parents with modeling awe and appreciation, openness, and curiosity. Despite their trauma, deportations, and long paths to the US, they each managed to heal some and focus on building a new future. They neither dwelt in the past nor forgot it. Audrey has much to share, so I have made it into 2 parts. In this first part, we talk about her family, childhood, Poland, and begin exploring her teaching. Hello, Audrey. Welcome to my Living Our Believes podcast. I am so happy to have you on today.

Audrey [00:01:52]:

Thank you. I'm happy to be here, Meli.

Meli  [00:01:55]:

I'd like to start with my usual first question. What is your religious and cultural identity?

Audrey [00:02:02]:

I'm an American Jew. I've lived in New York my whole life, and I'm Ashkenazi background.

Meli  [00:02:10]:

How were you raised? Were you raised with a lot of Jewish activity or or what was that about?

Audrey [00:02:16]:

So it's interesting. I was brought up on Long Island in a large conservative synagogue, and, it really functioned as our our social life. I went to Hebrew school. We had we were part of men's club and couples club and family events and celebrated all of our holidays, and it was a very active community. We marched in Soviet Jewry parades and the Israel day parade and planted gardens and sang for people in the Jewish local Jewish nursing home. It it was all encompassing, but it was not, not very we didn't have theological discussions. It was more about action, social, environmental.

Meli  [00:03:01]:

And has that continued in your adulthood? That kind of active engagement with a community more on a social maybe social action basis?

Audrey [00:03:13]:

Yes. So I did have a change because after I got married, we joined an open modern orthodox synagogue, and I've been part of an a modern orthodox synagogue for almost 30 years now. But I I think I approached it in the same way, getting involved in committees and felt that I could belong even though I didn't have as much Jewish education as many of the members and didn't feel that I needed to follow the letter of the law in many ways. I love the communal aspect. You know, we had many meals together, and I I began to really appreciate the the community value, the celebration of holidays. So, you know, it was similar to how I was brought up.

Meli  [00:03:58]:

Yeah. Interesting. Similar kind of values, similar cultural, communal activity rather than I'm not hearing about theology. I'm not hearing a lot about practice.

Audrey [00:04:10]:

You know, I identify very much as Jewish just as my parents did even though they came from very different backgrounds. And this community is is open in the sense that people come from reform, from conservative, from Mizrahi, Sephardi, Ashkenazi background. So it's a wonderful accepting community, but the the davening, the the rituals are done in an orthodox way. And I've always had a mixture of loving, ritual for its traditional, for its the way it reaches into past times because I love history, but I had the chutzpah to choose what what resonated for me and what feels relevant to me. And, luckily, I'm part of a community that is accepting of that.

Meli  [00:04:57]:

Yeah. Interesting. Is that what you mean by open? You said it was an open modern orthodox community, which I've I've never heard that term.

Audrey [00:05:06]:

Yes. So we I remember we I was on a committee to choose a tagline at one point, and we thought of doing a a thoughtful Jewish living, open Jewish. We talked about it a lot. And the main thing is that people are from different backgrounds. Many people drive to synagogue. So the idea is celebrating the holidays, celebrating Shabbat, observing Shabbat, but if it's necessary to drive, that's okay. You know, it's about the spirit of the law more than the letter of the law. And and most people are in agreement about that. 

I've raised my children in a wonderful community of of White Plains, New York, where there's a Reconstructionist synagogue, a conservative synagogue, 2 orthodox, and a reform. My children went to Jewish schools first to one affiliated with conservative movement, then to more orthodox for high school, And everybody has a mixture of different schools they send their children to, and everybody goes to each other's synagogues for different occasions. And we have lecture series. So it's something that people who moved to this community have bought into. They're willing to listen to everybody's approaches and that every approach has something to offer.

Meli  [00:06:23]:

A piece of your bio which I just read is about your family history, about surviving the Holocaust. We're going to focus on the lessons of that history, but could you just briefly tell us the the arc of the family history just so that we have a grounding?

Audrey [00:06:43]:

Well, so my father is a Polish holocaust survivor. He was born in Tarnow, Poland. That's near Krakow. And unfortunately, because the Germans entered Poland in 19 39, he was under occupation for 4 years, lived in the Tarnow ghetto, was in a series of concentration camps after that. And then was I, in a DP camp in Southern Italy and ended up coming to New York in 1948. My mother, I thought had a very different background, but I've come to understand that in essence, it wasn't so different. She's also a survivor. She was born in Shanghai, China in 1936 to Russian Jewish parents who had come during the Russian revolution to China to escape pogroms and, difficult living situations.

And she lived in China until she was 14. When the communists took over, they asked all not asked, but forced all foreign nationals to leave. And, they, looked for a country that accepted them and they ended up in Sydney, Australia. And then she came on her own to New York. And it's a pretty miraculous story that my parents, both very deserving people who are very much alone, found each other in New York and in the 19 fifties and ended up staying in New York and raising 3 children in New York. But as I said, my mother, we always talked about it as if they came from two ends of the world, which was true, with very different stories. But as I've examined both both of their stories, I've, you know, realized how they did have so much in common that they were victims of violence, of of displacement, of, you know, trauma, loss, and became very self reliant afterwards. They really came together and had each other and were became amazing examples of resilience to us.

Meli  [00:08:52]:

Powerful story. Thank you for sharing that. And it is amazing. I mean, to think, you know, Italy and Shanghai and Australia, and they land in New York, and they actually find each other. And I can well imagine how their histories have those commonalities and would they would find a home in each other. You know, just emotionally, that makes so much sense. They would really understand each other.

Maybe that was quite common, actually, holocaust survivors kind of finding other holocaust survivors, you know, the right age and and understanding each other's trauma.

Audrey [00:09:33]:

Yes. There's many communities in the New York area where holocaust survivors came together and found each other. Interestingly, I always thought of my background as different. I I began getting involved in Yom HaShoah programs, holocaust remembrance programs, when my children were young. And it was often with many second generation survivor family members whose both parents were European Holocaust survivors and they were born immediately after sometimes in DP camps, you know, in the 19 fifties and really grew up in a home where the parents were very much still traumatized. It made me feel fortunate that my parents didn't get married till 1959. My father had come here in 48, and he has verbalized how he spent those years first in Italy and then 10 years here really healing and and trying to put his past behind him. And I think my parents, besides having that past in common of trauma and loss, they had this this, vision for the future where they wanted to write a new story and look towards the future and, put the past behind them and recreate family and community in a, in a positive way.

And I think that in a lot of survivor communities, that wasn't necessarily the truth.

Meli  [00:11:05]:

Yeah. Point well taken. I've I've certainly heard a range of those stories of some you know, the trauma lingering, the trauma being recreated, and and others saying, no. I'm gonna close the door on that. I'm gonna build to the future. I'm gonna focus on marrying and having children and grandchildren and moving into the future. Just like there are lots of ways of being a Jew, there are lots of stories coming out of the holocaust and moving on. Your story is your story, and that that's what we're going to focus on.

Audrey [00:11:39]:

Yes. And I and I've really tried to examine it, especially in recent years as I got more involved in the the holocaust and human rights education center and went to Poland to document my father's story and went to China to to, try and find my mother's street and and some of the things she remembered. I'm I'm the story keeper of the family, and I love examining and finding, these places. And and it it comes from a sense of rootlessness as you mentioned before. We were unusual in our in our Long Island community and that we were first generation Americans, my brother, sister, and I, and our parents had accents and we had relatives all over the world because when they my father's family was not intact anymore. My but my mother's family spread to, Australia, Canada, Israel, London, all over the place. So we we would go and visit them and we'd have foreign visitors all the time, which was fascinating to our neighbors. You know, there was a sense of rootlessness that it was very arbitrary that we were in New York and that we could have been living in any of those places.

The Australian relatives who would come would always try to convince my parents to move back to Australia and have some more family around them. So, you know, it it it was a search for that.

Meli  [00:13:02]:

But you as an adult, you are now a teacher and an artist? The family history and the engagement in the Jewish community is obviously important. But the other thing that's really important to you is your teaching and your art. I'm really curious to hear how that family history, the upbringing, the unusual international element of the family. I'm I'm not quite sure what aspects of your family history, the lessons of that. Let's talk about the lessons. One of the things that you mentioned before our call was really about education.

Audrey [00:13:43]:

Yes.

Meli  [00:13:44]:

And, of course, education is a huge part of your life. You commented that education happens in surprising places. I'd love to hear a story of some particular time that was surprising. What happened? Who was there? What did you learn? Or what did you teach? Maybe it was about you teaching.

Audrey [00:14:10]:

Right. Well, I can answer that in sort of a a broad way, I guess. When I said that my parents, you know, showed us resilience and what I've examined is that they kept about them this sort of curiosity and awe about life. And I think many survivors of trauma, it's very hard to do that. And some stay in anger and kind of stuck in resentment and anger. And part of that determination and look towards the future was to continue to appreciate life and stay engaged in it and learn from it to be open. And they had all different kinds of friends from all sorts of backgrounds and they really believed that everybody had a story. And I used to listen to them talking to neighbors with different backgrounds, telling their story, which they obviously thought was interesting and meaningful to others, but always listening to others and finding, you know, the real kernel of connection in them.

Was it about adaptability to a new culture? Was it, you know, about how to go on after loss and enjoying everything, you know, appreciating everything from a healthy grandchild to just a delicious meal out with friends? And what I found on my trips to Poland, I guess this is a combination of education and learning empathy and being open. You know, when you talk and listen to other people's stories, it opens you up to a whole new world and you see the connection between things. I studied art history because you learn all the context, whether it's the religious context and mythology and the history surrounding the art. So that was very interesting to me. And, the visual was always very interesting to me. Nature, the things that are constant that everybody can appreciate. What are the commonalities and appreciation of nature, of, man's craftsmanship, of the ability to create something from nothing. These are lessons I learned, lessons I try to impart in children that art is so much more than the sum of its parts.

It has meaning for everybody. Everybody can read their own subjective feelings and lessons from it. So, you know, that's something I found in art and something I found in Judaism.

Meli  [00:16:36]:

Yeah. Yeah. I love this point about being open to other ways, open to the world, open to someone else's story and expression. And I'm I'm completely with you about it showing up in both a religious and an artistic context. Yeah. Absolutely. Great great point. What do you think helps someone increase that kind of curiosity? You know, some of us are just naturally really curious about the world and other people.

Audrey [00:17:10]:

Mhmm.

Meli  [00:17:11]:

And some people are a little more reticent, a little more fearful of something that is different. What do you think increases the curiosity and increases the empathy?

Audrey [00:17:27]:

You know, I think it's having a strong identity. I think that my parents, despite my mother grew up with no Jewish education, but she still had this Jewish identity. I don't know whether it was only in relation to everybody else around her in Shanghai at the time, but they celebrated Jewish holidays, and she had a strong cultural Jewish identity. And my father had come from this religious background, but talked about how his father was sort of progressive and had come from a long line of very orthodox rabbis but he kind of rejected that and he he my father used to talk about how his father had told him that he had gotten in trouble for reading a secular book. It was reported by an uncle to his father. Anyway, so, you know, I grew up knowing that you could have this identity but still be open. And the people I've met on my trips to Poland, Poles who have helped to, renovate Jewish cemeteries and help to create commemorations of the former Jewish community of people often who have met one Jewish person who told their story and something about the story. They could connect with the story.

Often, it's in the way the teller tells the story that makes somebody connect and have empathy. And, you know, maybe these people, like you said, were naturally curious, but they are often people who missed, like, in Poland in the in the very homogeneous society it is now. They they feel that they're missing this cultural diversity. And and when it was more heterogeneous and welcome no you know, and think that they would be enriched by that, you know, and wanna spread that to others too. So, you know, you need the environment. You need the connection with somebody. You know, the the feeling that I try to create in my classroom now that we're all kind of in this together, that there's a commonality. And like I said, nature could be a commonality, art, and creating a setting where there's something bigger.

And this is I get from my Judaism too, that there's something bigger than all of us, and we're all part of a whole and, trying to spread that.

Meli  [00:19:48]:

Are there certain kinds of difference that you would really like to bridge through art or through Judaism? Certain communities or types of people or on certain issues that you would think, oh, god. If I could if I could bridge that difference, that would be great.

Audrey [00:20:10]:

Well, you know, as an example, in Poland, I've been to Poland three times. You know, I got involved a bit in the JCC in Krakow, which, you know, I believe in their philosophy of trying to rebuild the Jewish community there and to recognize that the history of Jews in Poland isn't just about the Holocaust. There's a 1000 year history of call of a vibrant culture and community, art, theater, scholarship. So, you know, after an initial visit where I visited camps and and absorbed the horror of the destruction, I looked to what people can go there and appreciate. And I always, when I tell my father's story to all sorts of groups, to students, to adults, I say that, and I've gotten plenty of push back. There's people who say I would never go there. And even I led a group of women on my, one of my visits there. And one of them was looking for signs of antisemitism.

And it's so against my thinking. Let's look for the people who are trying to bridge a gap and think of ways of reconciliation because we we can't live in the past. We have to find a way to move on. It doesn't do any of us on a individual level or a communal level to live in the past and and continue the anger and resentment and feelings of revenge. We have to acknowledge the past and, you know, in an active way. So when I talk to students, I tell them a few things. I say that, that my parents' story is one of course of sadness and, you know, destruction and brutality, but it's also about strength and resilience. And so my family has come to realize that we have this story of strength and resilience that we can access when we need to.

And I've told kids the last few years, like during COVID when we have to face challenges. So then I tell the students, first of all, when I speak, I try to tell them details that they can connect to. So they don't think this is something that happened so long ago in another world. I tell them my father was at summer camp, and he had a bar mitzvah. And and he liked to skate and ski and bike and things that they can relate to. But when I get to the death and destruction, you know, I tell them that by listening to their story, they're becoming active witnesses and they can carry on the story and they are providing justice to the victims just by listening to their story and hearing their names And, they have a role in this, not not just hearing another sad story.

Meli  [00:23:00]:

Yeah. Interesting about how history shows up and moves on into future generations. 

Thanks for listening to part 1 of my conversation with Audrey Reich. The second part will be released in 2 weeks. In the meanwhile, Audrey's social media links will be listed in the show notes. This Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of my Talking with God Project. If you'd like to keep up to date about the project, subscribe to my twice monthly newsletter at www.talkingwithgodproject.org. A link is in the show notes. Thanks so much for tuning in. Till next time. Bye bye.