Thursday marked Yom HaShoah, a day when we remember the unparalleled horrors of the Holocaust, honor the six million Jewish lives lost, and affirm that such tragedies should never be repeated. This somber day typically includes statements from U.S. government officials reflecting on the Shoah and pledging “never again.” In his speech during the U.S….
How will we remember the Holocaust when all the survivors are gone? This question has driven Jewish educators and historians as survivors have aged. Many educators treat it as a crisis; without testimony from those who actually experienced the atrocities, they will become easier to forget and deny. Holocaust denial is on the rise. There’s…
In the public eye, the last two months have been something of a high point for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. His clear, forceful daily briefings on the coronavirus crisis — accompanied by blunt, unintentionally hilarious homemade PowerPoints — have won him legions of new fans. New Yorkers, accustomed to viewing their elected officials with…
It was a post I read on Facebook, meant to comfort those of us struggling with being stuck at home for so many weeks: “Anne Frank was forced to stay in a space that measured about 450 square feet. With seven other people. For over two years. You can get through this.” On the one…
Today, another Holocaust survivor passed away. I do not know their name – perhaps you do. Unlike their families who were torn from them before their time, some of these people are dying of natural causes, and others, sadly, of COVID-19. We should not be surprised by this. The Holocaust ended 75 years ago. The…
A few years ago, a congregant told me of a conversation she overheard after my sermon on Yom Kippur. On their way out of synagogue, a young man turned to his girlfriend and said: “the Holocaust! Why do they always have to talk about the Holocaust?”. Since then, I have thought about this question frequently….
New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance, which commemorates Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, typically draws over 20,000 people to Manhattan’s Temple Emanu-El. This year the venue is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but attendance is expected to grow substantially by taking the ceremony online. “I think this year we’ll see a broader audience…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial has amended the memorial prayer for the dead recited on Yom Hashoah to include Jews in Arab countries. The Yizkor prayer had asked God to remember “all the souls of all the communities of Beit Israel in the European Diaspora” who died in the Holocaust. In the…
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