Rabbi Howard Morrison

On Thursday April 24 at 7PM, you are invited to our annual brotherhood Yom Hashoah V'Ha'Gevurah candlelighting ceremony on the Elder Street steps of Beth Emeth. For many years now, we have honored and remembered the six million, the destroyed communities, the one and a half million murdered children, the ghetto fighters and partisans, the righteous of the nations, and the State of Israel. A brief but meaningful service, we will have six candles lit with appropriate remarks and prayers. 

It should be noted that the title of the day includes "Ha'Gevurah," meaning "the heroism." We must remember not only the horrors, tragedies, and deaths, but also the many acts of heroism and bravery that took place in the late 1930's and 1940's. It is no accident that the selected date for this observance is just a few days after Pesach, so that it is connected to the heroism of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which took place on the first night of Pesach.

With small numbers  of actual survivors still remaining, it falls upon children and grandchildren to ensure that the lessons of the Shoah will continue to be remembered, learned and taught to Jews and non-Jews for generations to come.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Howard Morrison