Yom HaShoah – Wikipedia
Posted By admin on October 2, 2022
Israel's day of commemoration for the Jews murdered in the Holocaust
"March of the Living" at Auschwitz, 2014
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah (Hebrew: , lit.'Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day'), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah ( ) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (which falls in April or May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.[2]
The first Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel took place on December 28, 1949, following a decision of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel that an annual memorial should take place on the Tenth of Tevet, a traditional day of mourning and fasting in the Hebrew calendar. The day was marked by the burial in a Jerusalem cemetery of ashes and bones of thousands of Jews brought from the Flossenbrg concentration camp and religious ceremonies held in honor of the victims. A radio program on the Holocaust was broadcast that evening. The following year, in December 1950, the Rabbinate, organizations of former European Jewish communities and the Israel Defense Forces held memorial ceremonies around the country; they mostly involved funerals, in which objects such as desecrated Torah scrolls and the bones and ashes of the dead brought from Europe were interred.[3]
In 1951, the Knesset began deliberations to choose a date for Holocaust Remembrance Day. On April 12, 1951, after also considering as possibilities the Tenth of Tevet, the 14th of Nisan, which is the day before Passover and the day on which the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943) began, and September 1, the date on which the Second World War began, the Knesset passed a resolution establishing the 27 Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, a week after Passover, and eight days before Israel Independence Day as the annual Holocaust and Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day.[3][4][5]
On May 3, 1951, the first officially organized Holocaust Remembrance Day event was held at the Chamber of the Holocaust on Mount Zion; the Israel Postal Service issued a special commemorative envelope; and a bronze statue of Mordechai Anielewicz, the leader of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt, was unveiled at Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz named for him. From the following year, the lighting of six beacons in memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis became a standard feature of the official commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day.[3]
On April 8, 1959, the Knesset officially established the day when it passed the Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day Law with the purpose of instituting an annual "commemoration of the disaster which the Nazis and their collaborators brought upon the Jewish people and the acts of heroism and revolt performed." The law was signed by the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, and the President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. It established that the day would be observed by a two-minute silence when all work would come to a halt throughout the country, memorial gatherings and commemorative events in public and educational institutions would be held, flags would be flown at half mast, and programs relevant to the day would be presented on the radio and in places of entertainment. An amendment to the law in 1961 mandated that cafes, restaurants and clubs be closed on the day.[3][6]
The date is set in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, on 27 Nisan, so that it varies in regard to the Gregorian calendar. Observance of the day is moved back to the Thursday before, if 27 Nisan falls on a Friday (as in 2021), or forward a day, if 27 Nisan falls on a Sunday (to avoid adjacency with the Jewish Sabbath, as in 2024). The fixed Jewish calendar ensures 27 Nisan does not fall on Saturday.[2]
Yom HaShoah opens in Israel at sundown[7] in a state ceremony held in Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Authority, in Jerusalem. During the ceremony the national flag is lowered to half mast, the President and the Prime Minister both deliver speeches, Holocaust survivors light six torches symbolizing the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and the Chief Rabbis recite prayers.[8]
On Yom HaShoah, ceremonies and services are held at schools, military bases and by other public and community organizations.[9]
On the eve of Yom HaShoah and the day itself, places of public entertainment are closed by law. Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries and Holocaust-related talk shows, and low-key songs are played on the radio. Flags on public buildings are flown at half mast. At 10:00, an air raid siren sounds throughout the country and Israelis are expected to observe two minutes[10] of solemn reflection. Almost everyone stops what they are doing, including motorists who stop their cars in the middle of the road, standing beside their vehicles in silence as the siren is sounded.[11]
Sirens blare at 10:00 as motorists exit their cars and stand in silence in front of the Prime Minister's House in Jerusalem and throughout Israel on Yom HaShoah.
Video: Two minutes in silence in Tel Aviv
Jewish communities and individuals throughout the world commemorate Yom HaShoah in synagogues as well as in the broader Jewish community. Many hold their commemorative ceremonies on the closest Sunday to Yom HaShoah as a more practical day for people to attend, while some mark the day on April 19, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Jewish schools also hold Holocaust-related educational programs on or near Yom HaShoah.[12][13]
Commemorations typically include memorial services and communal vigils and educational programs. These programs often include talks by Holocaust survivors (although this is becoming less common as time passes and there are fewer survivors who remain alive), candle-lighting ceremonies, the recitation of memorial prayers, the Mourner's Kaddish and appropriate songs and readings. Some communities read the names of Holocaust victims or show Holocaust-themed films.[13]
Since 1988 in Poland, a memorial service has been held after a three-kilometer walk by thousands of participants from Auschwitz to Birkenau in what has become known as "The March of the Living".[14][15]
In the last few decades all the prayerbooks of Conservative[16] and Reform Judaism[17] have developed similar liturgies to be used on Yom HaShoah. The siddurim of these groups add passages that are meant to be added to standard weekday service, as well as stand-alone sections. These liturgies generally include:
In response to the lack of liturgy dedicated to Yom HaShoah, Daniel Gross composed, in 2009, I Believe: A Shoah Requiem, a complete musical liturgy dedicated to the observance of Yom HaShoah. An a cappella oratorio scored for cantor, soprano solo, adult chorus and children's chorus, I Believe features several traditional prayer texts such as the Mourner's Kaddish (Kaddish Yatom) and the El Malei memorial prayer, and also includes the poetry of Paul Celan and Primo Levi. On April 7, 2013, I Believe had its world premiere[18] presentation at Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit, Michigan.
While there are Orthodox Jews who commemorate the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, others in the Orthodox community, especially Haredim, including Hasidim, remember the victims of the Holocaust in their daily prayers and on traditional days of mourning that were already in place before the Holocaust, such as Tisha B'Av in the summer, and the Tenth of Tevet in the winter, because in the Jewish tradition the month of Nisan is considered a joyous month associated with Passover and messianic redemption. The moment of silence is by some purposely ignored because of the non-Jewish origins of this sort of memorial.[19] Some ultra-Orthodox rabbis recommend adding piyyutim (religious poems) about the Holocaust to the liturgy of Tisha BAv; some adherents follow this advice.[20][21]
In 1981, members of the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs FJMC, a branch of the mainstream Conservative/Masorti movement, created a special memorial project specifically for Yom HaShoah. A dedicated yahrzeit candle was conceived, with yellow wax and a barbed-wire Star of David logo reminiscent of the armbands Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. This object has come to be known as the Yellow Candle (TM). Approximately 200,000 candles are distributed around the world each year, along with relevant prayers and meditations.[citation needed]
In 1984, Conservative Rabbi David Golinkin wrote an article in Conservative Judaism journal suggesting a program of observance for the holiday, including fasting. In his article he noted that while private fasts are indeed prohibited during the month of Nisan (a major Orthodox objection to the placement of the day), communal fasts for tragedies befalling Jewish communities had indeed been declared throughout the pre-Modern period.[citation needed]
Another prominent Conservative Jewish figure shared the Orthodox sentiment about not adopting Yom HaShoah. Ismar Schorsch, former Chancellor of Conservative Judaism's Jewish Theological Seminary of America held that Holocaust commemoration should take place on Tisha b'Av.[22]
The Masorti (Conservative) movement in Israel has created Megillat HaShoah, a scroll and liturgical reading for Yom HaShoah. This publication was a joint project of Jewish leaders in Israel, the United States and Canada.[citation needed]
In 2011, the FJMC introduced a related Yellow Candle concept for use on Kristallnacht (The Night of Shattered Glass), November 910, commemorating the first organised Nazi pogrom of Jews in 1938, and other important Shoah commemoration dates. Called the Ner Katan, FJMC's new version consists of six Yellow Candles provided for communal observances and ceremonies.[citation needed]
More recently Conservative rabbis and lay leaders in the US, Israel and Canada collaborated to write Megillat Hashoah (The Holocaust Scroll). It contains personal recollections of Holocaust survivors. A responsum was written by Rabbi David Golinkin expressing the view that not only is it legitimate for the modern Jewish community to write a new scroll of mourning, it was also incumbent to do so.[23]
Reform Jewish congregations have tended to commemorate the memory of the Holocaust either on International Holocaust Remembrance Day or on Yom HaShoah. These commemorations of the Holocaust have used a ceremony that is loosely modeled after a Passover Seder. The focus of the seder has changed with time. The earlier Holocaust seders commemorated the losses of the Holocaust through a reenactment events from the Holocaust[24] and through the lighting of sixyahrzeit candles to reflect the approximately 6million Jews murdered.[25] More modern Haggadot for Yom HaShoah, such as Gathering from the Whirlwind,[26][27] have concentrated on renewal,[28] remembrance, and the continuity of Jewish life.
In 1988 the American Reform movement published Six Days of Destruction (Elie Wiesel and Rabbi Albert Friedlander). Narratives from Holocaust survivors are juxtaposed with the six days of creation found in Genesis.[29]
Upcoming dates of observance:[30]
See the rest here:
- Lithuania must acknowledge its role in the Holocaust - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - September 26th, 2023
- The White Factory review: An important addition to the Shoah canon - The Jewish Chronicle - September 22nd, 2023
- In an unsettling account of French collaboration with Nazis, disturbing parallels with todays politics - Forward - September 22nd, 2023
- Mom Shocked By 8th Grade Teacher Reading Anne Frank's Diary ... - Bored Panda - September 22nd, 2023
- On the History of Antisemitism | USC Shoah Foundation - USC Shoah Foundation | - September 18th, 2023
- Renaissance of Italian synagogues and cemeteries showcased at Ferrara Jewish museum - The Times of Israel - September 18th, 2023
- The lesson of history & hate: Is Holocaust 1.0 the new Holocaust ... - New York Daily News - September 18th, 2023
- Catholic institutions offered shelter to Jews during the Second World ... - Jesuits Global - September 18th, 2023
- How I learned to fill in the gaps in my family's Shoah story - The Jewish Chronicle - September 12th, 2023
- The Zoryan Institute Issues an Open Letter to the Rabbinical Centre of Europe - Armenian News by MassisPost - September 12th, 2023
- Village View: USC Shoah Foundation to celebrate 30th anniversary - Main Line - August 22nd, 2023
- 78 years after the Shoah, Israels air defense system to protect ... - JNS.org - August 22nd, 2023
- Sidney Itzkowitz fought with Jewish partisans behind Nazi lines ... - The Globe and Mail - August 22nd, 2023
- Oprah Winfrey Net Worth 2023: What Is The TV Host Worth? - HotNewHipHop - August 22nd, 2023
- Holocaust survivor whose family were ripped apart during the Shoah ... - The Jewish Chronicle - August 14th, 2023
- Deny and Distort | USC Shoah Foundation - USC Shoah Foundation | - August 14th, 2023
- The ultimate Jewish guide to Milan: What to see, eat and do ... - Jewish Unpacked - August 14th, 2023
- Antisemitism and Radical Anti-Israel Bias on the Political Left in ... - ADL - August 14th, 2023
- Remembering the Treblinka rebellion - JNS.org - August 14th, 2023
- From Nazi Camp to Memorial Centre: In Serbia, the Transition Isn't ... - Balkan Insight - August 14th, 2023
- Controversy swirls around Bollywood romcom and use of Shoah ... - JNS.org - August 3rd, 2023
- A Film About the Holocaust Survivor Who Helped Make Abortion ... - Kveller.com - August 3rd, 2023
- Our doors are open: York gets its first resident rabbi in more than 800 years - The Guardian - August 3rd, 2023
- Making a difference in the community - Australian Jewish News - August 3rd, 2023
- Seven weeks of consolation! | 7 - Arutz Sheva - August 3rd, 2023
- Letters to the editor, 4 August 2023 - The Jewish Chronicle - August 3rd, 2023
- Rabbi Uziel and the Holocaust: New Readings for Tisha b'Av - Jewish Journal - July 20th, 2023
- Why Germany Struggled to Reckon With the Nazi Past - Jacobin magazine - July 20th, 2023
- The fight against British extremism is never over - The Jewish Chronicle - July 20th, 2023
- David Shulick Promoted to Vice President of Corporate Affairs for ... - PR Web - July 20th, 2023
- Keep the Postal Service Out of the Booze Delivery Business - gvwire.com - July 20th, 2023
- In-N-Out Burger Employees Forbidden to Wear Masks Unless They Have a Doctors Note - gvwire.com - July 20th, 2023
- In Sweden, they burn Torahs - Religion News Service - July 20th, 2023
- Nazis in the cellar: is antisemitism coming out of hiding? - Prospect Magazine - July 20th, 2023
- Why this vegan activist's Holocaust analogy has angered the Jewish ... - SBS News - July 20th, 2023
- CA High-Speed Rail Gets Busy in 2023 With Five New Overcrossings - gvwire.com - July 20th, 2023
- The 25 Highest-Rated Movies of All Time on Letterboxd - MovieWeb - July 20th, 2023
- Diary shows hardships of post-Shoah refugees - The Jewish Star - July 14th, 2023
- Virtual Reality Brings New Look at the Holocaust - The Media Line - July 14th, 2023
- Peter Moffat to adapt The Escape Artist - Televisual - July 14th, 2023
- Preserving histories: Teaching the Holocaust to future generations - Worcester Mag - July 14th, 2023
- Roundup: Bears In The Woods, Hiro On The Mound - 06880 - July 14th, 2023
- I dreamed of joining the IDF growing up and finally donned the ... - The Jewish Chronicle - July 14th, 2023
- As Tree of Life trial enters final phase, 6 Jewish scholars on what text and tradition say about the death penalty - Forward - July 14th, 2023
- USC Shoah Foundation Testimonies - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - July 9th, 2023
- The riots in France have become antisemitic - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - July 9th, 2023
- Obituary: Sidney Cyngiser, 99, shared his story about the Shoah ... - The Canadian Jewish News - July 7th, 2023
- Parisian Holocaust Memorial Trashed The European Conservative - The European Conservative - July 7th, 2023
- Reunion of Torah Scrolls | Community | thejewishnews.com - The Jewish News - July 7th, 2023
- How Donald Trump convinced the son of Jewish refugees to ... - The Jerusalem Post - July 7th, 2023
- How a master of understatement conjured up the horrors of the Shoah - Forward - June 29th, 2023
- How Jewish is Stacey Solomon? Star's hebrew heritage revealed - The Jewish Chronicle - June 29th, 2023
- What Is The Longest Movie Ever Made? - The Script Lab - June 29th, 2023
- A Strong Man and a Warrior - Jewish Journal - June 29th, 2023
- Megan Fox Claimed Misogynistic Hollywood Only Wants Her to Play ... - FandomWire - June 29th, 2023
- J'lem Film Festival to feature films on Libyan Holocaust and Kiryat ... - Haaretz - June 23rd, 2023
- A Change Is Needed in How We Remember the Holocaust - Jewish Link of New Jersey - June 23rd, 2023
- Column: The Flower Communion | News, Sports, Jobs - Daily Mining Gazette - June 23rd, 2023
- He used to be a Christian Holocaust scholar. Now hes a Jew - Forward - June 23rd, 2023
- We cannot abandon them in their old age - The Jewish Standard - June 23rd, 2023
- Why a gripping new movie about the aftermath of a terrorist attack is personal for its director - Forward - June 23rd, 2023
- LETTERS: Weaponizing the Holocaust; Carlebach and the perils of ... - The Jewish News of Northern California - June 23rd, 2023
- What Is a Political Film, Anyway? - The New Republic - June 23rd, 2023
- Dimensions in Testimony The Most Interactive Holocaust Exhibit to ... - The Link - June 23rd, 2023
- Berlusconi and the Jews: Pro-Israel, but soft on antisemites and ... - Haaretz - June 12th, 2023
- Spiritual Resistance in the Holocaust Mosaic - Mosaic - June 12th, 2023
- The Tonys honored plays about antisemitism the winners were eager to talk about anything else - Forward - June 12th, 2023
- Shows about antisemitism win big at Tonys + ADL chief wants Tucker Carlson off Twitter - Forward - June 12th, 2023
- 92-year old Shoah survivor Eve Kugler honoured with live sculpture - Jewish News - June 10th, 2023
- Shoah education first as extended reality (XR) experience offers ... - Jewish News - June 10th, 2023
- Special Screening of Remember This | USC Shoah Foundation - USC Shoah Foundation | - June 6th, 2023
- US weighs in on Roger Waters controversy, says artist has long track record of using antisemitic tropes - EL PAS USA - June 6th, 2023
- Holocaust remembrance and the indomitable spirit of Holocaust ... - The Jerusalem Post - June 6th, 2023
- You Should Know...Andrea Heymann - Jewish Exponent - June 6th, 2023
- The 'unwinnable' video game that lights a path for Shoah education - The Jewish Chronicle - June 4th, 2023
- The rebbes beard: An original short story - The Jerusalem Post - June 4th, 2023
- Head of Yad Vashem decries a new low in efforts to gloss over Polands complicity in the Holocaust - Forward - June 4th, 2023
- New Rabbinical recruits at top college span science and art - The Jewish Chronicle - June 4th, 2023
- 'My mum was rounded up by Hitler's henchmen whilst games were ... - The Jewish Chronicle - June 4th, 2023
- Testimony of the Multitude | USC Shoah Foundation - USC Shoah Foundation | - May 29th, 2023
Comments