The program will be held at St. Albans Episcopal Church in Davidson on Sunday, April 18th
The doors will open at 2:45 PM with music and an original art display of Holocaust images by Aron
Lebedinsky
The program begins at 3:00 with a candle lighting ceremony and brief opening comments from Rabbi
Corey Helfand.
This is the 3rd annual Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance program. It is presented by Beth
Shalom of Lake Norman and interfaith partner, St. Albans Episcopal Church
The guest speaker will be Dr. Susan Spatz. Dr. Spatz is a Professor Emerita at UNCC, Charlotte and
lectures on Holocaust literature and history. She has lectured overseas and has authored books and
articles on the Holocaust. Dr. Spatz spent three years fighting for her life as a Jewish prisoner in
Concentration Camps during the Holocaust Despite the pain and suffering that Dr. Spatz experienced
during the Holocaust, she has vowed to never forget. She said she thinks it is important to share her
story to all ages, but she focuses on today’s youth because they are the ones who will keep the
Holocaust from becoming a forgotten memory.
There will be time for questions after her presentation
On Sunday April 18th at 2:45pm at St. Albans Episcopal Church in Davidson, the Jewish community at Lake Norman is gathering to mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day with our neighbors.
The doors will open at 2:45 PM with music and an original art display of Holocaust images by Aron Lebedinsky. The program begins at 3:00 with a candle lighting ceremony and brief opening comments from rabbinical intern, Corey Helfand of Beth Shalom, and Rabbi Michael Shields of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation.
The guest speaker will be Dr. Susan Spatz. Dr. Spatz is a Professor Emerita at UNCC, Charlotte and lectures on Holocaust literature and history. She has lectured overseas and has authored books and articles on the Holocaust. Dr. Spatz spent three years fighting for her life as a Jewish prisoner in Concentration Camps during the Holocaust Despite the pain and suffering that Dr. Spatz experienced during the Holocaust, she has vowed to never forget. She said she thinks it is important to share her story to all ages, but she focuses on today’s youth because they are the ones who will keep the Holocaust from becoming a forgotten memory.
Commemorating those lost in the Holocaust is a sacred obligation of our Jewish community. As the full-time Rabbinical presence in the Lake Norman region, I would like to thank our Conservative brothers and sisters at Beth Shalom for taking the lead in organizing this event.
As I have said in the past, it is a blessing to have the diversity in the Jewish community at the Lake; the conservative/more traditional presence of Beth Shalom and the Progressive/Reform presence of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation. I look forward to welcoming the future student rabbis from Jewish Theological Seminary who journey down to Davidson one weekend every month to further their education and serve the Conservative Movement.
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From http://urj.org/holidays/hashoah/
Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, occurs on the 27th of Nissan. Shoah, which means catastrophe or utter destruction in Hebrew, refers to the atrocities that were committed against the Jewish people during World War II. This is a memorial day for those who died in the Shoah.
The Shoah (also known as the Holocaust, from a Greek word meaning “sacrifice by fire,”) was initiated by the members of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party, which seized power in Germany in 1933. The Nazis believed in a doctrine of racial superiority, centering around the idea that that people of Northern European descent were somehow better than members of all other races – especially the Jews, who were “unworthy of life.”
After taking power, the Nazis gradually restricted the rights of German Jewish citizens and encouraged their followers to commit acts of violence and destruction against Jews and their property. During World War II (1939-1945), the Nazis implemented their “final solution,” a plan to concentrate and annihilate all European Jews. Jews were first crammed together in ghettoes and slave-labor camps, where disease, brutality, and malnutrition ran rampant. Eventually, they were sent to death camps, where millions were murdered in special facilities designed to kill a tremendous number of people over a brief period of time. In addition to the six million Jews who died – two-thirds of the European Jewish population – the Nazis also killed millions of others, including Roma (Gypsies) and Slavs, political and religious dissidents, the handicapped, and gays and lesbians.
Today, many commemorate Yom HaShoah by lighting yellow candles in order to keep the memories of the victims alive. The National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods co-sponsors such a program; you can find out more on their website. Most synagogues and Jewish communities gather together to commemorate the day through worship, music and the stories from survivors.
Other Holocaust Websites:
Yad Vashem: The Jewish People’s Living Memorial to the Holocaust - http://www.yadvashem.org/
United States Holocaust Museum - http://www.ushmm.org/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36337443/ns/health-picture_stories/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/09/holocaust.memorial.day/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9705/04/briefs/yom.hashoah.index.html?iref=allsearch
