Righteous Among the Nations: Honoring Spiritual Resistance in a Time of Pandemics

Telling the stories of people who risked their lives to save victims of the Holocaust through music is the focus of a project called The Garden of the Righteous. This project was introduced in a recent article in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, called “Righteous Among the Nations: Music Without Borders” (Eisner et al., 2019). This piece provides an update on the evolution of the project during a time of pandemics

Righteous Among the Nations: Music Without Borders

The Garden of the Righteous, a program presented by Naye Strunes, a Minneapolis-based Yiddish music ensemble, weaves together original Yiddish music and stories of fearless individuals from among the thousands of non-Jews who risked their lives to save innocent people during the Holocaust. The program gives audience members an opportunity to reflect on the extent of courage and compassion during dark times. All proceeds are given to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), a contemporary humanitarian organization that provides medical assistance to populations experiencing crises. This article explores the concept of righteousness among the nations, particularly in the context of partnership scholarship; the history and present-day renaissance of Yiddish language, music, and culture; and Médecins Sans Frontières as a contemporary example of living courageously