Episode 3: COHEN

Brandon Cohen is the Head of School at the Brawerman Elementary School in West Los Angeles. It is affiliated with the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, one of the largest on the West Coast. Cohen talks about educating children while surrounded by a compound-like security infrastructure, complete with armed guards. And he reveals how he and his staff broach the topics of hate crime and the Holocaust with his elementary students.

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
January thirtieth, nineteen thirty nine,during a two and a half hour speech,
German dictator Adolf Hitler tells a crowdof thousands that if another World War
were to break out, he predictedthe annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.
Eight months later, Germany invaded Polandand World War Two began, and

(00:30):
Hitler continued his genocide of the Jewsinside Germany itself. The Elizas is the
famous stadium of Nuremberg. On Mayeighth, nineteen forty five, the war
in Europe ended chapter of this famoussouthern German city. The American flag blouped
out the Swastika after the dust settled. It was estimated that more than six

(00:52):
million Jews died in the Holocaust,but what didn't die was anti Semitism.
In fact, it flourished throughout historyand today, almost eighty years later,
anti Semitism has evolved and become evenmore dangerous, largely due to technology.
If Adolf Hitler had an Instagram account, the Holocaust would have happened a lot
quicker because the public would have beenconvinced a lot sooner. This is the

(01:21):
iHeartRadio original podcast Hate Modern Anti SemitismI'm investigative journalist Steve Gregory in Los Angeles.
Brandon Cohen is the head of schoolat the Brauerman Elementary School in West
Los Angeles. It is affiliated withthe Wilshire Boulevard Temple. It's one of
the largest on the West Coast.I began by asking him about the tight

(01:44):
security around the school, including thearmed guard at a checkpoint to the entrance
of the parking lot. Yeah,that has always been part of our temple
in our school is having security andthey are armed. So nothing has changed
based on anything that's happened recently.That's that's what we've been since I've started

(02:04):
here. I will tell you thoughthat it's something that comes up quite frequently
as something that is appreciated by ourparents, for sure. But I will
tell you my son when I startedhere, I worked here one year before
bringing my I have two boys,they're now fourteen and seventeen years old.
But my oldest son started as afourth grader and he was at a wonderful

(02:27):
public school in the valley. Wedidn't leave that school, was a great
school, but when you know Iwas working here, we brought him over
here, and one of the firstthings he mentioned to me about a month
after attending here, is how safehe felt here, And it's always stuck
with me as something that maybe Inever really thought of as something that you
know, I think he was nineor ten years old at the time that

(02:49):
he did think of. And Ido think that's when when families were looking
for schools and they they visit us, they're very aware of and it's an
important part of who we are.Did you go to an elementary school with
this kind of security? No?Yeah, No, nor a high school
or any So what do you thinkthat says about the state of things that

(03:12):
there are schools that have armed securityat the entrance. You know, I
think it's unfortunate that we live ina world where that is an important part
of you know, a family makinga decision about where they send their child
to school. You know, obviouslythere's been terrible events across the country and
all different kinds of schools where there'sbeen violence against students. I think that's

(03:40):
something that you know, I wishthis wasn't, you know, an answer
to that problem. But I knowfor this community, it's something that everyone
is very grateful for and that that'snot something they really have to think about
on a day to day basis.So, yeah, I would like to

(04:02):
live in a world where this wasn'tsomething that that felt necessary, but you
know, it is the world welive in now. And speaking of that,
then, since we are focusing onanti Semitism, does that come up
at all in the curriculum? Andyou know, we're at an elementary school
campus. How young do you startto teach children about the realities of the

(04:28):
world they live in. Yeah,I think, you know, working in
elementary school makes it a complicated equation. So to be very clear that we
do have a curriculum that addresses antiSemitism, and it's really part of a
Holocaust curriculum where we start teaching aboutthat. We do not start teaching that

(04:49):
until fourth grade, and even infourth grade we touch on it very lightly
and we sort of build on thatintroduction through sixth grade. Even today,
our sixth graders are going to bevisiting with a Holocaust survivor um and that's
part of the sixth grade curriculum whenthey actually meet Holocaust survivors here from them

(05:12):
their specific stories. Our students visitthe Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust Um
and start to learn about the atrocitieswith um that took place during the Holocaust
in more real terms, but thatdoes not take place until sixth grade.
Before that, it's really through literaturethat touches on issues around the Holocaust.

(05:34):
And you know, we're we're carefulabout you know, any time there's moments
of violence, and not necessarily ourcommunity. It could be something, you
know, like when when the Treeof Life Synagogue and Pittsburgh was um,
when there was that attack, oranything that happens it may not be even

(05:57):
against a Jewish community. We're carefulabout how we introduce that. What we
really try to do is equip ourfamilies with information on how they can talk
to their students, and then inthe early grades, we generally do not
talk to the students about it,and starting in fourth, fifth, and
six we will talk to them aboutit. But many times we allow sort
of the students to drive like ifthey're aware of it or not, because

(06:19):
each family wants to handle these situationsdifferently and we like to respect that.
But we do have a curriculum aboutanti Semitism that doesn't start to fourth grade
fourth grade, and how active arethe parents in that curriculum they're not a
part of the curriculum, and that'sintentional. We want to you know obviously,
but they eventually do they have tosign off on that because of the

(06:41):
sensitivity and the nature of it.I you know, look, I think
as a Jewish day school families,I think in most cases are they want
to have their children exposed to theseissues in a thoughtful, intentional, deliberate
way, which is what we do. So that being said, you know,
whenever we have a piece of literaturethat may have you know, violence

(07:08):
in them or you know, touchon things like the Holocaust, we let
them know ahead of time. Andthere have been situations where parents have opted
their children out of those pieces andwe give them something in an alternative piece
of work. But generally speaking,I think this is what our families want,
you know, their their children tolearn and build their understanding of what's

(07:32):
happened. And for our families,it helps them build their Jewish identity as
they move on to secondary school andyou know, they get exposed to more
and more. So this is likea way of doing in a very scaffolded,
intentional way. Then when they goon to secondary school, do these
students usually go on to more ofa continue on with a Jewish centric school.

(07:56):
Actually, it's usually only about twentyto twenty our graduating class go on
to continue with the Jewish day schooleducation. The other seventy five or eighty
percent go into secular, mostly independentprivate schools. So that's to me,
part of the importance of what wedo here is that they're building that foundation,

(08:18):
building some pride in their Jewish identityand understanding of the Jewish heritage as
they go into these other secular schools. You're in such a unique position because
you know, you're helping to developthese young minds when they get to that
sixth grade level and you say thatyou've you've incrementally introduced the more you know,

(08:39):
horrific parts of the reality of thepast and the present. Do you
if you were to sort of encapsulatethe definition of hate for the kids on
this campus, what do you thinkthey think hate is? You know,
I think terms like that are interpreteddifferently by different people, but I think,

(09:03):
you know, heat is not thatthis is not a word that necessarily
use with an elementary age student,but it's antipathy toward a group or an
individual based on their identity, whichcan be religious, you know, as
Jews, but it could be race, ethnicity, heritage, or anything else.

(09:26):
So you know, maybe that's alittle above an elementary age. But
when they get to that sixth gradelevel, do you think they have those
sixth graders have based on that scaffoldingapproach you talked about, do you think
by the time they hit the sixthgrade they have a pretty clear understanding of
how hate exists, what it is, and do you think you've prepared them

(09:48):
for the next step of their life. So unfortunately, I do think that
they do have a good understanding ofHey, maybe it's not unfortunate, like
that's part of the world we livein, so they need to understand that.
But I I will tell you somethingas someone who grew up in Los
Angeles, and I think it isand like I said before, I have
two children on my own. There'sno doubt that the students today have a

(10:13):
better understanding of that that hate isreal and in our community than I think
when I was growing up. Andwe know our families. Browerman families had
those flyers, the anti Semitic firesthat were put on driveways several weeks ago.

(10:33):
We have families who drove under thebanners that were under the four or
five Freeway that we're anti Semitic innature. We know that, unfortunately at
such a young age now. Butkids are on social media and they know
what Yay is saying in social mediaor Kyrie Irving has has you know,
posted, and so they understand thatas as Jewish kids, that there are

(10:58):
people out there who eat them andum, and so they have to grow
up at that reality. And I'llbe really honest, I'm a grandchild of
two Holocaust survivors. I think whenI was their age, I thought the
world had changed, that we werein a different place, and they are
not able to feel that way becauseit's not true and that we are in

(11:20):
a different place. But I couldalso say with great confidence that our students
are moving on to their secondary schoolswith a very strong sense of who they
are as and to be upstanders,and that they have to voice there their

(11:43):
feelings when these kinds of things comeup, that it's not okay, that
they are not going to be okaywith it, and it's not okay not
just for them, but when othersare being treated in that way, and
that's an important piece of it.We don't want our students just leaving only
focused on the fact that you know, if when hates Jews that it has
to be addressed. It's when there'shatred against other people based on whoever they

(12:05):
are, that's not okay. Andso you know, and and we do
actually know that our students are goingto some of these other schools in both
their secondary schools, but even we'rehearing about it in college and they're taking
on leadership roles and making sure,uh, these issues are being talked about
in schools, in the high schoolsand in the colleges where they're going.

(12:30):
You touched on a couple of thingsyou talked about when you were your grandparents'
age and you thought things were gettingbetter. Um, do you ever see
things getting better now? I mean, you know in your years as an
adult, what you see, you'reyou're dealing with the future generation every day.
Do you see this getting better?Yes? I mean I feel like

(12:56):
in my job as an educator andgetting to work with young people every day,
I know the kids that are graduatingour school are not defeated by this.
They want to go make it abetter place. So they want to
make they want to make a differencein the world to be positive forces for
good in our communities and in theworld. So I get to see sort

(13:20):
of the future generations, you know, earlier than everyone else, and I
have to believe that we will makeprogress. It's just much slower than I
could have ever imagined or want itto be. But you know, I
say this almost every gate, everygraduation with this group, is that I

(13:43):
want to remind people, the grandparentswho come to the graduations and the parents
that are in the graduations, thatthis group, these kids are really exceptional.
They do get the reality that there'shatred in the world and they don't
like it, and they're going totry to make it better as we move
forward. And that is what givesme hope, and that's what allows me

(14:05):
to remain optimistic even when terrible thingsare happening. In your experience as an
educator, whether you've heard it thirdparty or you've experienced it yourself from another
teacher, can you give us amoment where, a real teachable moment with
a kid with a student where somethinghappened and it went against everything you teach,

(14:33):
all the principles and the values youhave here at the school, or
maybe in their own life, andthere was a teachable moment that that that
you actually saw a child get itand understand that the hatred is wrong.
Do you ever recall an incident likethat as an educator? You know,
it's hard for like a specific momentin time to come to my mind that

(14:56):
I can think of it. ButI will say, you know, just
a few weeks ago, our sixthgraders went to the Los Angeles Museum of
the Holocaust and and um, Iwas actually doing a State of Browman address
that I do each year, andit happened to be the same day,
and I said to the teachers,can you just ask some of the students

(15:18):
there for their responses? And theyhad all like a whole they like the
teachers were grateful that they had theopportunity to go solicit their reflections on the
day, but numerous students said,I realized that it's hard to be Jewish

(15:39):
at times, but I'm proud tobe Jewish. And I think this is
an important takeaway too, that wehave to fight against when anyone is experiencing
hate, and that they weren't justthinking about themselves, they were thinking about
the greater good. And you know, to me, that's sort of the
power of education, is that wecould take them to places and they and

(16:00):
learning from history. Right, Likeit seems like we always talk about,
you know, learning about history sowe don't repeat, you know, past
mistakes, and yet we still continueto do it. So um, and
we're in an interesting time relative tothe Holocaust. You know, these kids
are are sort of blessed to meetwith living Holocaust survivors. But I have

(16:22):
to tell you, I hope I'mdoing this job in ten years. I'm
not sure that those sixth graders willhave the same opportunity, you know.
And and that's powerful to actually meetpeople who were there and lived it and
experienced it and um. And sowe're like in this weird time where the
history is harder to keep relevant andimpactful. It is still now, but

(16:49):
that's changing, and so we haveto work to make sure that we have
other ways of keeping these kids sortof aware and um, you know,
that's part of our task and we'regon we're going to do that, but
we see how impactful it is.And when we talk to our alumni,
and sometimes it's many years later,they talk about these experiences that they're having

(17:11):
that change the way they see theworld and how they make their decisions,
and you know, how they approachwhat they're doing in school and how they
treat others. When you have aninstant like you mentioned the social media issues
with YA and the banners on thefour h five, is there an effort

(17:33):
the following day here at the schoolto address it. Do you do have
the do the teachers, do youget into an immediate discussion about it,
do you immediately tackle it, ordo you leave that to the parents.
It depends on the situation, Sothere's not like all we all always handle
every situation the same. We havean administrator strator, an administrator huddle in

(17:55):
those moments to kind of figure outthe best course of action. But as
a general rule, you know,what we try to do is equip all
the parents with resources in terms ofhow to talk to their children, depending
on their age, So we usuallyhave an email with like a list of
of you know, resources on thosethings, and generally, speaking to the
lower grades, we're gonna we're gonnaleave it alone and allow the parents to

(18:17):
handle it, and the upper gradeswe have to sometimes it's it's really about
getting a feel for where the kidsare and we have a very robust social
emotional learning program, and we haveways that students know how to communicate with
teachers when there's stuff that's bothering themor that they feel like is bubbling up
that needs conversation. And these aretopics that we will address, you know,

(18:38):
when we start to realize this issomething that's permeating into you know,
their emotions and how they're how they'reyou know, able to go through their
day. And in those cases,we're going to address it directly. The
the issue with what's going on herelocally and nationally. Um, you talk
a lot about social media. Arethe students here and the older students,

(19:02):
are they allowed to have cell phonesor smartphones on campus? No? So
not on campus. It's not partof the they're they're not allowed of any
devices on campus. That being said, we know the minute you know,
they get in their car, theyou know, their devices are coming out.
And um, and and I willtell you you know, when I
started here, it was like sixthgraders like and only some of them that

(19:26):
had devices. And now it's itjust gets to be a lower grade every
single year. Yeah, that's gotto be Do you feel like you're fighting
against social media sometimes. Yeah,I mean, look, the thing I
say that is one of our biggestpriorities now. I want to be able
to say that when a student graduatesfrom Browerman that they have the skills to

(19:48):
discern um real information or real dataor accurate information from disinformation or misinformation that's
so prevalent. So part of whatI want them to have when they leave
here is the ability to kind ofis to figure out what is a trustworthy
source of information versus an untrustworthy sourceof information. And even when we look

(20:12):
at things like research, we don'ttell them just go google it, right.
We have you know, certain searchengines that are designed for educational research
and does some of the vetting forthem so that they don't have to.
And so that's like a one ofthe most important skill sets I think in
this day and age, because wecan't compare. I mean, that's that's

(20:33):
a fight we'll lose if we tryto combats information disinformation. Yeah, but
that's what we have to really addressis their ability to discern um, you
know, valid information versus you know, information that's not from a valid source.
So wrapping things up here, Brandon, I he is it even you
personally growing up as a Jewish kidum and now as an adult and teaching

(20:57):
other Jewish children, do you stillthink it's difficult being Jewish or has it
ever been difficult to be Jewish?I don't think I would frame it that
way. I think that I grewup in a time and in a school

(21:18):
and in places that basically through college, I was never exposed to anti Semitism,
and it was the part that wasalways a you know, fed my
view of the world was the factthat I had grandparents who survived the Holocaust,
both of whom had spouses and childrenthat died in the war, and
they were part of a second marriage. My mom is a product of that

(21:41):
second marriage, and that definitely influencedme. But I still didn't I really
thought we had moved past that,that people changed after that. But I
will say when I became an adultand started working in the world and lived
in different places across the country,I learned that people were using the word

(22:03):
Jew as a verb. That payrolljewed me again. I had someone say
to me that, Hey, lookat the Jews getting on the plane,
and I didn't know what that means. I've been asked many times, oh
you're Jewish, you don't look Jewish. You start to realize that people do

(22:32):
care that I'm Jewish. People docare that these kids and families are Jewish,
and you know, I think thatwe have to be aware of that,
but I think that we can movepast all that with a general approach

(22:52):
of like I think, as aJew, I'm proud of being Jewish.
I feel like I'm doing good workmaking sure other Jews feel strong in their
Jewish identity and are proud of beingJewish, and make sure our voices are
her not just when there's hatred ofJews, but when there's hatred. And

(23:14):
I think as as long as wedo that and others who are experiencing hatred
upstand and speak up when those thingsare happening, I do believe in progress,
and I think, you know,it's hard, it's hard right now
to imagine it, but we haveto keep doing that and we will eventually,
I hope, in my lifetime,get there. But I'm not so
naive as to think that that's it'sgoing to be that fast. Brandon Cohen,

(23:37):
I appreciate your time. Thank youso much for your candid input and
insights. Thank you as a pleasureto be here. I'm glad you came
and got to join us and andhear the sounds of our campus and be
with us. Thank you, thanksagain. Hate Modern Anti Semitism is a
production of the CAFI News Department forI Heart Me Los Angeles and the iHeart

(24:00):
Podcast Network. The program is producedby Steve Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez. To
learn more about anti semitism and howyou can join the conversation, go to
translate hate dot org. Let's translatehate dot org.