Reuniting The Neshamas: A Journey of Remembrance, Commemoration and Healing

Reuniting The Neshamas is a moving, historical non-fiction memoir of the experiences of Sheri Stern (the author) confronting her family’s old, but present trauma, her own prejudiced thoughts she’d never consciously realized, and still… finding hope – all in relation to the Holocaust. (Neshamas: Hebrew and Yiddish for souls)The seed for this memoir was planted when the author's family received an email from an association in Germany that commemorates the fate of the town’s Jewish inhabitants under Nazi rule when they were deported to concentration camps or had to leave Germany to survive. The association planned to lay Stolpersteine, memorial plaques, for a particular Stern family. The email writer wanted to know if there was a family connection.Yes, the American Stern family was indeed related to the German Stern family this association wanted to commemorate.From America, across the ocean to Germany and back, three times in seven years, this masterful storyteller blends true stories of:her father-in-law and his family during the Holocaust,beautiful German mensches (Yiddish: persons of integrity and honor) who “found” her family through the Internet in 2014, in order to commemorate their loved ones who were victims of the Holocaust, andthe growth of friendships between unexpected peoples - Christian Germans and Jewish Americans, living more than 4000 miles apart, decades after the Holocaust ended. Over time, they have confronted and shared the truth and their feelings, dialogued, made amends that are possible, and become role models along their paths of light and hope - together. Despite a world filled still today with vile rhetoric and actions of hatred, intolerance and genocide, together they continue to light a candle in the darkness, creating an oasis of love, humanity at its best, and peace.As well, the author hopes that readers will be moved to join together in answering her universal “call to action”. In the Appendix, you’ll find practical steps that we can each take - together - to rise up and respond against hatred and intolerance of any people, and to collaborate for acceptance of one another and sustainable Justice and Peace - for ALL.Let's ACT together instead of REACT to hate, intolerance, and genocide. Let's work together to prevent these plagues and stand up and speak out against them ... instead of mourning their victims. To this end, the author practices and encourages each person, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, to: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."Elie Wiesel, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor said, "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." Read more