How do you rise above HATE?

This week, the cast performed at Beth Am Israel, a congregation in Penn Valley. Thanks to our partners at the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center, we shared the evening with Michael Herskovitz, survivor of Auschwitz.  Michael told his incredible and difficult story to all of us following the performance of I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  He answered questions from the audience with grace.  When one audience member asked, "Do you hate the Nazis?" he bravely explained that there is no use of holding hate in your heart.  This revelation caused our actors to think about HATE. 

"I believe that rising above hate requires so much more than bracing yourself against the pain it can cause. Rising above hate is occupying yourself with something much greater than your enemy, and proving that the hate has no effect on you and cannot stop you from achieving great things. I believe that it is not good enough to ignore hate; rather, it is imperative that action is taken so that, when it is observed by the antagonist, he has no option but to realize how insignificant or foolish his belligerence is. Rising above hate is the act of winning back over those your enemy has turned against you, and using only the simple truth to do so."

-Haley W, Age 16, Older Raja

Share your thoughts:

Have you ever come across hate in your life?  How did you stand against it?

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