The 2025 Ziffer and Rosenthal Holocaust Remembrance Guest Speaker Rabbi Joseph Polak is a rare Holocaust survivor – a child who survived two concentration camps – a witness to history.
He is the former director and Rabbi Emeritus at the Boston University Hillel and now teaches medical ethics at the BU Schools of Public Health. In addition to works on ethics, he wrote, “After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring” (Jewish Book Award, 2015). He also contributed a chapter to “The Jewish Catalog”.
This year’s community Holocaust Remembrance program will take place at Congregation Beth HaTephila, 43 N. Liberty St. Asheville 28801