Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko

Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko is the Rabbinic Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. In that capacity he is responsible for the Chicago Jewish community’s relationships with a variety of Christian churches, denominations, seminaries, and leaders. In addition, he is responsible for relations with a number of national Christian organizations in the Catholic Church, the mainline Protestant denominations, and the Evangelical community. He is the author of a book-length treatment of the person of Chana in Rabbinic literature and liturgy, and is a published poet.

Some Perspectives on the Destruction of European Jewry

The destruction of European Jewry, designated as the Holocaust, is an epoch-making event, after which the fundamentals of civilization are never again the same. This evening’s effort will attempt to present an outline of some of the features of this epoch-making event, its history, its religious consequences for Christianity and Judaism, and its effects on the development of the Jewish people and Western civilization.