Michael Berenbaum (born July 31, 1945, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

) is an American scholar, professor,

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

, writer, and filmmaker, who specializes in the study of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. He served as deputy director of the President's Commission on the Holocaust (1979–1980), Project Director of the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

(USHMM) (1988–1993), and Director of the USHMM's Holocaust Research Institute (1993–1997). Berenbaum played a leading role in the creation of the USHMM and the content of its permanent exhibition. From 1997 to 1999, he served as president and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, and subsequently (and currently) as Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust, located at the

American Jewish University American Jewish University (AJU) is a Private university, private Jewish university in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2007 from the merger of the University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute. AJU's academic division includes ...

(formerly known as the University of Judaism), in Los Angeles, California.

Professional career

Berenbaum, who is Jewish, graduated from Queens College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 and received his doctorate from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in 1975. He also attended The Hebrew University, the Jewish Theological Seminary and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. Berenbaum received Rabbinic ordination ( Orthodox) by Rabbi Yaakov Rabin at the age of 23. Berenbaum held teaching posts at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, and is currently a Professor of Jewish Studies at the

(Los Angeles). He is the author and editor of eighteen books, including ''After Tragedy and Triumph'', a study of the state of American Jewry in the early 1990s, as well as ''The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust'', and ''Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp''. He co-edited ''After The Passion is Gone: American Religious Consequences'', an examination of the social impact of the film ''After the Passion is Gone'',with Shawn Landres (2004). Berenbaum and Landres took a public role in shaping the interreligious response to the film. Berenbaum was the Executive Editor of the ''New

Encyclopedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'', 2nd ed., which includes 22 volumes, six million words, and 25,000 individual contributions to Jewish knowledge, published in December 2006 (). It won the Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association for outstanding reference work of 2006. Berenbaum co-produced '' One Survivor Remembers: The Gerda Weissmann Klein Story'', a film which was recognized with an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

, an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, and the

Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

ACE Award. He was the chief historical consultant for ''Last Days'', which also won an

in 1998. In 2001, Berenbaum was historical consultant for the History Channel's ''The Holocaust: The Untold Story'', which won the CINE Golden Eagle Award and a silver medal at the US International Film and Video Festival. He was also Executive Producer of a film entitled '' Desperate Hours'' about the unique and rarely acknowledged role The Republic of Turkey played in rescuing Jews from Nazi Germany's final solution and "About Face: The Story of The Jewish Refugee Soldiers of WWII." Berenbaum was executive producer of ''Swimming in Auschwitz'' and was a consultant for ''Defiance'' and ''Uprising'', among other Holocaust-related films and documentaries. Berenbaum is the founding partner of Berenbaum Jacobs Associates, a firm that designs museums, special exhibitions, memorials and educational denters. In 2019 and 2020 he served as a history consultant for the Serbian historical drama film '' Dara of Jasenovac''.

Personal life

Berenbaum's wife is Melissa Patack Berenbaum. Berenbaum is the father of four children: Rabbi Ilana Berenbaum Grinblat, Phillip Lev Berenbaum, Joshua Boaz Berenbaum, and Mira Leza Berenbaum. He is the model for the character Monty Pincus in Tova Reich’s 2007 satirical novel '' My Holocaust''.

References

External links

Bio of Michael Berenbaum

Michael Berenbaum, AJU Directory

Book reviews: A Convenient Hatred

Holocaust history books

Michael Berenbaum at American Jewish University

Articles by Michael Berenbaum

The Madness of Contemporary Times

The Complexity of the Jewish Narrative in Our Times

Op-eds by Michael Berenbaum

Middle east 2010

Essays by Michael Berenbaum

Foreword
to Jewish Roots in Poland
Foreword
to Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova {{DEFAULTSORT:Berenbaum, Michael American encyclopedists American social sciences writers Queens College, City University of New York alumni Florida State University alumni Boston University alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni Yale University faculty Florida State University faculty Wesleyan University faculty Georgetown University faculty George Washington University faculty University of Maryland, College Park faculty American Jewish University faculty American documentary filmmakers American University faculty American historians of the Holocaust Jewish American historians American male non-fiction writers 1945 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American Orthodox rabbis Historians from California