Yom HaShoah

When the sun set last evening (Sunday, April 7th), Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, began.  Today all of us studying at Hebrew University attended a memorial service.  We arrived to the auditorium at 9:45, and rose to our feet a couple minutes before 10:00 to stand in silence in memory of the 6 million.  The sirens sounded off at 10:00 sharp and lasted two minutes.  Throughout Israel, when the sirens sounded, everyone stopped what they were doing to observe the two minutes of silence; this included those driving cars--they stopped and stood outside their car on the road.  When the sirens finished, we in the auditorium returned to our seats.  My seat was on the floor between the actual seats in front of me and the staircase behind me--we were packed in kind of tight.  The ceremony at the school consisted of students, teachers, staff, etc. who volunteered to sing songs and read poems, some in English, some in Hebrew, and I think one was in French; one read a journal entry from a Jew who eventually committed suicide, and another talked about his grandfather, the only member of his family of seven to survive the atrocity.  There was a screen in the left corner of the stage that played the image of a single burning candle.  We were asked at the beginning of the service not to clap out of respect, so after each person read, talked, or sang, the room remained silent.  The ceremony was simple yet powerful, and I couldn't help but think of what other ceremonies were or would be like this day throughout this amazing state.
   
I am very drawn to and affected by the events of the Holocaust for reasons I can't explain.  I am not Jewish, I don't know anyone personally who lived through the Holocaust, nor do I know everything about it.  What I do know is that it did happen, and there are many who still carry its mark to this day.  They cannot forget, and we should not forget.  Rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel last night as Yom HaShoah was beginning.  The Holocaust may have ended 70 years ago, but the spirit behind it has not.  There are nations who still want the state of Israel gone and the Jewish people annihilated; they threaten it on a daily basis.  Yet, this tiny state still exists, and will continue to do so no matter how many rockets fall from the sky.  This is still God's land, and the Jews are still His people.  Please continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the people and land of Israel.

Forced out of Warsaw Ghetto

Ash and bone from one day's worth of killing