Yom Hashoah

This Sunday, corresponding to the 27th of Nisan, is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. The history of Yom HaShoah is brief but incredibly complex and instructive about the Jewish world today, indeed about the place of the Holocaust in the world as a whole and even the nature of Zionism. From the very beginning, the idea of a Holocaust Remembrance Day was Israeli but meant to be shared with the world Jewish community.

Originally, the idea for a Yom HaShoah was proposed as a day to remember the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising., consistent with Israel’s belief in Jewish self-defense. The Warsaw revolt began on April 19, 1943, which corresponded to the first day of Passover that year. However, mixing Passover and Yom HaShoah clearly was not a good idea, so alternative dates were discussed. Jewish religious traditionalists suggested the 10th of Tevet, the anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in 588 BCE by the Babylonians. The matter was intensely debated and on April 12, 1951, Israel’s Parliament voted to establish Yom HaShoah on 27 Nisan, which is eight days before Israel’s Independence Day.

To a certain extent, the calendrical relationship of Yom HaShoah and Yom HaAtzmaut parallels the proximity of Tisha B’Av, the traditional Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the Romans on the 9th of Av and “Tu B’Av,” the 15th of Av, an ancient Jewish version of Sadie Hawkins Day. Most importantly, remembering the Holocaust on 27 Nisan and celebrating Israel Independence Day on the 5th of Iyar underscores the dramatic role Israel has played in rebuilding the Jewish people since the Shoah.

Fervently Orthodox Jews do not observe Yom HaShoah to this day and only maintain the traditional collective days of mourning in the Jewish community. For German Jews, remembering the first night of Kristallnacht is particularly poignant. Ukrainian Jews mark the anniversary of Babi Yar with special observances as well.

If that is not complicated enough, there are other non-Israeli “Holocaust Days,” most importantly January 27, which marks the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, and was adopted by the United Nations and over 40 countries, including the UK and Germany, as their official day of remembrance. Regretfully but not unexpectedly, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) immediately elected to boycott the official British Holocaust Day and instead called for the establishment of a global Genocide Day.

In Israel, at 10:00 a.m., a siren will sound for two minutes and the entire country will come to a standstill. In Israel and in the Diaspora, including in our own Kehillah, there will be special programs and services. Although there is no standard practice, the public lighting of six candles as well as solitary yellow candles at home, the reading of the names of the perished and the singing of HaTikvah is widely observed. Because Yom HaShoah is not a religious holiday, it is often marked by special services and programs in public space in the United States, including the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Remembering the Holocaust is both a theological and a political challenge as the brief history of Yom HaShoah confirms. More importantly, remembering the Holocaust has become a generational problem. Aside from youth choirs who sing at Yom HaShoah events, most of the participants are older individuals and often survivors or the children of survivors. Remembering the Holocaust is essential in Jewish life. We need to find ways of remembering it in all of its fury. Even more, we need to find ways to maintain Judaism in our daily lives where the real challenges of memory and meaning are played out every day. Let us remember. Let us vow never to forget.