Mary Johnson threw a welcome-home party for Oshea Israel two weeks ago. It was a typical affair, with lots of food, family members and friends, except for one thing: The place Israel was coming home from was prison, and he was there for killing Johnson's son 17 years ago.
Johnson, a Minneapolis resident who will be telling her incredible story of forgiveness Sunday evening at the Basilica of St. Mary, turned the death of her only child into a ministry. She founded From Death to Life, an organization that focuses on forging reconciliations between the families of victims and perpetrators.
She hosts biweekly meetings at St. Jane House, 1403 Emerson Av. N., Minneapolis. She calls the group "Two Mothers & Two Fathers" as a reminder that the parents of both parties often suffer a loss: One child is taken away through death, the other is taken away to prison.
The program, "From Death to Life: One Mother's Story," starts at 6 p.m. in the lower level of the basilica, on the western edge of downtown Minneapolis. Admission is free.
A lesson for life Starting in 1978, every president has declared an annual Education and Sharing Day in honor of the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, an ardent proponent of education in general and, specifically, the need to include lessons about morality.
"He believed that education wasn't just about knowledge but also about values and the building of character," said Rabbi Yossi Bendet.
The seventh leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Schneerson, who died in 1994, was so beloved that his admirers still refer to him as "the Rebbe," a term of respect that would equate to calling Abraham Lincoln "the president."
Bendet, a native of St. Paul who recently returned from helping plant a Chabad house in India, was among a group of local rabbis that persuaded Gov. Tim Pawlenty that Schneerson's accomplishments deserved notice on a local level, too. As a result, Friday has been designated Education and Sharing Day in Minnesota.
