Yom Hashoa

Yom Hashoa, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the day set aside to remember the approximately six-million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  In Israel, it is a national memorial day.

Yom Hashoa was inaugurated in 1959, anchored in a law signed by then Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Israeli President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.  The original proposal was to hold Yom Hashoa on the 14th of the Jewish month of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was problematic because the 14th of Nisan is the day immediately before the start of Passover.  Thus, the date was moved to the 27th of Nisan, which is eight days before Yom Ha'atzma'ut, or Israeli Independence Day.

The Holocaust Center has been holding a community-wide commemoration since the establishment of the Center in 1981.  For many years, the program was held at local synagogues, rotating among those of the different movements; it then moved to Soldiers and Sailors; and is now held at the Jewish Community Center.  Because the 27th of Nisan changes each year on the secular calendar, the date of the commemoration varies year to year.  It has been the Center's policy for the past few years to hold its program the day of, with one exception: when the day of Yom Hashoa falls on a Friday or Saturday (Shabbat) the program will either be held the day before (erev) or the day after.

The program includes the singing of the American and Israeli anthems (Star Spangled Banner and Hatikva), Ani Ma'amin - - a Hebrew song believed to be sung by the Jews in Warsaw, Lodz, and Bialystock as they were taken to their deaths.  It is based on Maimonides "Thirteen Articles of Faith". K'eyl Maley Rachamim - - the Memorial Prayer for the Departed is sung too.  The Kaddish is also recited in memory of the six million innocent lives that were lost.  The program traditionally closes with the singing of the Partisan Song (Zog Nit Keynmol) - - the song of the Vilna Ghetto Partisans.

A candle-lighting ceremony is also part of the commemorative program.  Six candles are lit in memory of the six million and one candle is lit in honor of the Righteous - - those non-Jews who risked their lives to save the lives of their Jewish friends and neighbors. The candle-lighters are comprised of local survivors, community members, and lay leaders who have a connection to the year's topic.

Often, an outside speaker is brought in to discuss the program's topic in depth.  Past speakers have included Dr. Monto Ho, whose father, Ambassador Feng Shan Ho, helped save the lives of thousands of Viennese Jews during his tenure as Chinese Consul General in the 1930's.  Professor Henry Friedlander was the speaker in 2007, and he discussed Nazi Genocide: The Victims of the Holocaust which took an in-depth look at the other victims targeted for persecution by the Nazis.

2009 program will be held on Tuesday, April 21