Rabbi Howard Morrison

Many people refer to today as Yom Ha'Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. However, the fullness of the day is called Yom Ha'Shoah V'Ha'Gevurah. The last word means strength, might, and heroism. The established date is linked to the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, an occassion of "Gevurah." For roughly a month, with a minimum of weaponry, the Jewish people imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto held off the Nazis (yimach sh'mam) in a proverbial David versus Goliath epic. 

There were many acts of heroism demonstrated by the Jewish people while living and dying in indescribable ways. The legacy and fame associated with the diary of Anne Frank is such an example. Right now, at Beth Emeth, we are hosting an Anne Frank exhibit in the Arback Hall, sponsored by the Goldfinger family fund. Viewing is open during the day time. Diaries were kept and preserved by others as well. As a child, I also read the diary of Moshe Flinker, less famous than that of Anne Frank but also very touching.

Acts of heroism included the lengths gone to by many Jews to preserve traditional forms of observance, whether it be Shabbat, Kashrut, daily prayer, regular study, holy days, and the like. The performance of shows, the playing of music, the creation of art, the writing of many forms of literature, and more are also acts of "Gevurah." 

The sheer will to survive is an example of "Gevurah." I would even suggest that survivors who found ways to establish families, move to different parts of the world with almost nothing to their name, succeed in business, create synagogues, become leaders in Jewish communities, and perpetuate their Jewishness have continued to exemplify "Gevurah" to this very day.

Thus, let us remember to call this day by its full term, "Yom Hashoah V'Ha'Gevurah." Let us recall not only the perpetrators of evil and the destruction of six million Jewish lives, but to recall the acts of heroism, courage, and bravery by so many Jews and in so many different ways.

This evening at 6:15PM, I invite you to the Samuel Edelstein Children's Garden at Beth Emeth for our annual brotherhood candle lighting ceremony. We will light candles in memory of our six million brothers and sisters, in memory of destroyed communities, in memory of one and a half million murdered Jewish children, in memory of the ghetto fighters and partisans, in memory of the righteous of the nations, and in honor of the State of Israel.

It is appropriate that the ceremony will take place around a garden dedicated to honor the lives of children who died under the age of Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

I wish us all a meaningful Yom Ha'Shoah V'Ha'Gevurah.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Howard Morrison