Berenbaum to give 2 presentations for EJLCC

Michael Berenbaum, a noted scholar of the Holocaust, will address “The Uses and Abuses of the Holocaust in Contemporary Politics” at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Everett Jewish Life Center. He will also speak on “Controversies Memorializing the Holocaust” at the 12:15 p.m. Brown bag lunch Tuesday at EJLCC.

Berenbaum, a scholar, rabbi and filmmaker, is best known for his work as deputy director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, project director of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and director of the museum’s Research Institute. He had a major role in the museum’s creation as well as in the development of the permanent collection. He is the author or editor of 18 books, including After Tragedy and Triumph, The World Must Know-Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp and Not Your Father’s Anti-Semites. As filmmaker, he co-produced the Academy Award-winning film One Survivor Remembers: The Gerda Weissmann Story.

Berenbaum was educated at Queens College, Hebrew University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Boston University and Florida State University. He was ordained an Orthodox Rabbi at the age of 23. He is currently professor of Jewish studies at the American Jewish University, Los Angeles.