Leaders of the State Association of Jewish Federations of New Jersey and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education gathered at the governor's mansion in Princeton on Monday for the first-ever joint meeting of the two statewide organizations.

The impetus for the joint meeting came not from Jewish leaders but from Gov. James E. McGreevey, who convened the gathering under a tent behind Drumthwacket on a bright summer day.

"It's an opportunity to bring the commission and the federation leadership closer together," McGreevey said as he welcomed the delegates. "This is the beginning of reestablishing an important dialogue and complementing an important mission. This is a natural place to connect and to amplify many of the things you're doing separately."

The governor noted that he had just signed a budget that fully restores funding to the Holocaust Education Commission. The commission, which was established in 1991 by former Gov. James Florio, is an outgrowth of the first Council on Holocaust Education in the country, established in 1982 in an executive order by former Gov. Tom Kean. The body serves as a resource to the NJ State Department of Education in carrying out mandated Holocaust education in the public schools of New Jersey. The State Association is the umbrella organization for the 13 NJ Jewish federations, which primarily serve as fund-raising and advocacy institutions for their respective Jewish communities.

The governor used the occasion of the joint meeting to deliver his only public remarks about the Amiri Baraka controversy since he signed the bill on July 2 eliminating the position of state poet laureate. The bill ousted Baraka as poet laureate after he was widely criticized for using his poetry to spread the canard that Israel had prior knowledge of the 9/11 terror attacks.

"Anyone who reputedly speaks on behalf of the citizens of the State of New Jersey must naturally be held accountable to the citizens of the State of New Jersey," said McGreevey. "New Jersey has had a long and proud tradition of tolerance and social justice. Those who speak on behalf of New Jersey must speak for all of us and clearly must never speak in the language of hate and falsehoods."

In that spirit, McGreevey said, he was renewing his strong commitment to Holocaust education. "Today, we all understand it is imperative that we teach the history of the Shoa in every school in the state," he said. "We have all committed ourselves to 'Never again.' It is important that our children understand that commitment as well. There will come a day when no one is alive — who can bear witness. That is why we cannot simply carve these memories into stone. We must write them into the hearts of our children for every single generation to come."

The idea of joining together to do so is a wonderful one, said Trenton attorney Philip Kirschner, who had just been elected to a new term as chair of the commission. "There is so much we and the federations can do together," he told the gathering, "and today is a day when we can get those ideas flowing."

Larry Lerner, president elect of the State Association, agreed. "It is a fitting get-together," said Lerner. "The Jewish federations in New Jersey all are involved in Holocaust education. I welcome the opportunity to spend the afternoon breaking bread with the Holocaust Education Commission and developing working relationships for the future."

The group moved back into the stately conference room at Drumthwacket to do just that, brainstorming ideas and proposing joint projects.

Gracing the wall was a poster reproduction of "Treasures from the Soul," the poignant pencil drawings from the Warsaw Ghetto discovered at a flea market several years ago by Lambertville artist Ed Adams.

In a way, those evocative drawings from the Holocaust were a metaphor for the business at hand, suggested commission executive director Dr. Paul Winkler as he addressed the 40 commission members and leaders of Jewish federations crowded around the conference table. "The commission and federations are working together to display the drawings from the Warsaw Ghetto," Winkler said. "As you can see, there are a number of cooperative endeavors."

"We have a terrific product," said commission member Murray Laulicht of West Orange, a former president of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, referring to the commission's curriculum guides for elementary and high school classes. "It's a terrific product, and we need to get it out into the schools. One of the things we ought to explore is the way federations can help us disseminate these materials."

Jeffrey Maas, a member of the commission and executive director of the State Association, noted that the commission's long history of success has put New Jersey at the center of Holocaust education. "We wrote the map," he said. "Now we have an even more important charge as the numbers of survivors gets less and less and as resources get less and less. We now have to be smarter."

Max Kleinman, executive vice president of the MetroWest federation, suggested that the commission work with federations to disseminate the lessons of the Holocaust as they relate to contemporary issues. Clara Kramer of Elizabeth, chair of the Holocaust Resource Foundation at Kean University in Union, suggested that each federation appoint a liaison to the commission. And Winkler called for the commission and the federations to join together to sponsor the annual statewide Yom HaShoa commemoration.

With the reemergence of anti-Semitism in the world, said Rabbi Norman Patz in an interview, coming together to plan strategies is critical for the future of Jewish life.

"My sense is that with federations so preoccupied with so many current issues that threaten Jewish life in so many ways, it is important for us to be allied with them and to help keep the window open on a very important historic dimension," said Patz, religious leader of Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove, who had just been elected vice-chair of the commission.

Roy Tanzman of South Brunswick, president of the New Jersey region of the American Jewish Congress, also welcomed the cooperative effort. "I think it's great," he said. "I think we should all be working together on common cause. I'm happy the governor is involved in this. He's the catalyst."

Eleanor Rubin of Watchung, former president of the State Association said she had found the meeting very instructive. "I'm very impressed by what's going on in the state," she said. "I knew very little about what's been going on with Holocaust education, so I feel the main thing that came out of this for me is that what's happening already needs to be disseminated to the federations."

In many ways, said David Mallach, the strong ties the MetroWest federation has forged with the Holocaust Education Commission is a model for getting a deeper exchange going. "To have people on the commission connected with the federations makes a good deal of sense," said Mallach, assistant executive vice president of the MetroWest federation and director of its Community Relations Committee. "It's the beginning of a process, and the governor definitely deserves points for having kicked it off."

Marilyn Silverstein can be reached at .