April 24 is Yom HaShoah, the commemoration of the Holocaust, where six million of the Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis in WWII. Nearly a century after the Second World War, there are fewer and fewer survivors who are still alive today.

In the years to come, the memory of those souls who were deeply and personally affected by the Holocaust will be but a memory, carried on by all of us who knew and loved those who did survive. Their scars are carried by us all, and it is our responsibility to help the world remember what happened to us, and keep the flame against the kind of tyranny, oppression, and racist rhetoric that plagued Germany in the middle of the 20th century.

If we are not vigilant, if we keep silent, hatred against the Jewish people and other marginal populations will only grow. Rabbi Tarfon wrote that it is “not up to us to finish the work, but neither are we free to neglect it.” When the voices of the witnesses of the Holocaust go silent over time, we must keep the voices of their souls inside of us, calling out to the world, “never again.” 

Join us Friday, April 25, at 6:15 p.m. for a special Shabbat, as our remarkable 7th grade Religious School students share reflections from a recent interview with Holocaust survivor Helen Chalef about her life before the war.