Mira Brichto
I can't bring back the dead, but I can help restore their written word...The irony of this pains me: We spend so much money on Holocaust memorials, but if who died was so important to us, then their lives should be also. What did they treasure? What were their values? What was contained in their writings?
Brief audio excerpts from Brichto’s interview for Jewish Sages of Today
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On her education as an Orthodox Jewish girl
(1:11 min)
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Speaking about how integral being Jewish was to her identity when she was a child
(2:54 min)
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About the origins of her work rescuing books and other written materials
(3:04 min)
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On when she realized her sense of purpose in terms of rescuing/restoring Jewish texts
(1:21)
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On the disreputable state of hospital equipment in Eastern Europe
(34 sec)
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On meeting her husband and her mother’s frustration with her not being a good Orthodox Jew
(2:01 min)
Articles about Brichto’s work rescuing Jewish texts, a speech of hers, and an excerpt from one of her children’s books
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R’fa-aye-nu Society
Brichto founded the R’fa-aye-nu Society in 1993; its mission was to recover and preserve Jewish texts endangered by war and neglect in Central and Eastern Europe and to promote spiritual healing by bringing together Jews and Christians. As part of its mission, the organization worked to advance physical healing by organizing donations of medical equipment and supplies to distribute in Europe. While the organization has no website, below is a selection of articles about Brichto’s work. -
“Grandmother tries heal old hatreds,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 26, 2000
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A companion article to above, “Brichto’s projects build understanding,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 26, 2000
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“An American Crusader Bent on Healing a European Scar,” New York Times, August 8, 1996
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Brichto’s speech at the dedication of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for the Study of Eastern European Jewry at Spertus College of Judaica in Chicago, July 22, 1987
Brichto was instrumental in founding this Center. At the dedication, she delivered an inspirational speech, generously provided for web posting courtesy of the Center (for more information on the Center, see “More Online Resources”).
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The God Around Us (volume II): The Valley of Blessings
Brichto is the author of two children’s books; this is a look inside one of them.
Brichto's children's books
R’fa-aye-nu Society, the organization founded by Brichto, has no website of its own, however the important work accomplished by this organization is reflected in the following links.
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L’viv Archives Preservation Project
Building on a proposal by Brichto, in August 2005 the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, in cooperation with the R’fa’aye-nu Society, launched the L’viv Archives Preservation Project, a $105,000 initiative funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Brichto had approached the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation with the idea of creating a project to preserve the cultural and historical treasures contained within the L’viv Archives.
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Spertus College of Judaica
In 1987, Brichto was the project director of the Spertus College of Judaica in Chicago, Illinois. Under her leadership, the College opened the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for the Study of Eastern European Jewry. Named for the Catholic archbishop of Chicago, with whom Brichto worked closely, it houses art, artifacts, and scholarly works of one thousand years of Eastern European Jewry that were saved during World War II by Polish citizens.
An article about Brichto’s work and a series of documents related to the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center, which she helped establish
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“Beliefs; A century ago, in what is now Chisinau, hundreds fell victim to a pogrom. Yesterday, a day of healing, Christians and Jews remembered.” New York Times, May 30, 1998
This article discusses an interfaith ceremony orchestrated by Brichto in commemoration of the 1903 Kishinev Massacre, a brutal pogrom which left forty-nine Jews dead and more than four hundred injured.
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Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for the Study of Eastern European Jewry at Spertus College of Judaica in Chicago
The following links provide more information about the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for the Study of Eastern European Jewry, which Brichto was instrumental in establishing. All documents about the Center are provided courtesy of the Center. -
“Spertus Will Open Bernardin Center,” Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1987
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Outline of the vision of the Bernardin Center and its four institutes, ca. 1987
This document discusses the Center’s vision and the function of its four institutes: Institute for the Study of Eastern European Jewish Art and Artifacts, Institute for the Bibliographia Judaic, Institute for the Study of the Jewish-Christian Experience, and Insitute for Advanced Jewish Studies.
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Speech delivered by Dr. Howard A. Sulkin, president of Spertus College, at the dedication of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center on July 22, 1987
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Remarks by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, at the dedication of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center on July 22, 1987
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Chronology of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center
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1992 Update of the Center’s Accomplishments