ACF – “Samara Hutman, Director, Remember Us: The Holocaust Bnai Mitzvah Project”

Samara Hutman is the Director of Remember Us, The Holocaust Bnai Mitzvah Project, which offers an invitation to children preparing for bar/bat mitzvah to connect with the memory of children lost in the Holocaust before they could be called to the Torah. Hutman has steered the organization on a path of expansion and outreach, building the foundation for partnerships with educational and artistic institutions throughout the city.

Hutman first joined Remember Us as a volunteer in 2007 after her daughter, Rebecca, participated in The Holocaust Bnai Mitzvah Project. “Our family was deeply moved by the experience,” said Hutman, who served Remember Us as board president for three years. “It was a simple yet powerful act of remembrance for a child we never knew but whose memory became a part of our family story. And in the name of Victoria Farhi and her family, we were moved to act for good and righteousness. To quote Rabbi Irving ‘Yitz’ Greenberg, ‘It is thus that we turn cruelty and oppression into a source of energy… we show that love and memory can overcome hatred and evil, amnesia and apathy’.”

Hutman was a ChangeMaker Fellow in NewGround’s Muslim Jewish Partnership For Change in 2017-18, and a part of the inaugural cohort for CORO Lead LA in 2018-2019. Hutman is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, and studied at New York University’s film program.