Sunday, April 15, 2012

Emanu-El Religious School - 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage from England to New York City.  Coverage of Jewish interest is available on-line at the Forward (the original articles from 1912 were published in Yiddish, but don't worry - everything on the website is in English).

That year, our school newspaper (the 1912 Emanu-El Religious School Chronicle) featured poems written by our students in response to this tragedy, with titles like "Ode to the Heroes who Perished on the 'Titanic.'"   According to that venerable news source, Wikipedia:

"The immediate aftermath of the sinking saw an outpouring of poetry, though much of it was dismissed by The New York Times as 'worthless' and 'intolerably bad.'"
I am sharing with you two of the better poems, written by H. Reinheimer in Class II and by Vera K. in Class I.  If this event has been on the minds of the children in your household (or perhaps even if not), you may wish to read these together.  I think they do a fine job of telling the story and expressing its significance to our community.