Yom HaShoah

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Yom haShoah Ve'Hagvura or Yom HaShoah (יום השואה yom ha-sho’āh, יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה-Yom ha-zikaron la-Shoah v'la-Gvura), "Holocaust Martyrs' Remembrance Day", "Holocaust Awareness Day" or, literally, "Remembrance day for The Holocaust and Heroism", takes place on the 27th day of the month Nisan, in the Hebrew calendar, which falls in the early spring. It is held every year in remembrance of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. It is a national memorial day in Israel.

1 Origins
2 Commemoration
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Origins

Yom HaShoah was established by Israeli law in 1959, and was signed by David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, then Prime Minister of Israel and President of Israel, respectively. It was originally proposed to be commemorated on the 15th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was deemed problematic, it being the first day of Pesach - Passover. Instead, the 27th was chosen, being eight days before Yom Ha'atzma'ut, or Israeli Independence Day.

Most of the Jewish community consider the day a Jewish religious holiday. Anti-Zionist religious Jews do not, instead remembering the victims on days that were already days of mourning before the Holocaust, such as Tisha b'Av in the summer, and the Tenth of Tevet, in the winter.

Most Jewish communities hold a solemn ceremony on this day. Orthodox Rabbi Avraham (Avi) Weiss has created a ritual for the holiday. The Masorti (Conservative Judaism) movement in Israel has created Megillat HaShoah, a scroll and liturgical reading for Yom HaShoah, a joint project of Jewish leaders in Israel, the United States and Canada. It was written by Hebrew University professor Avigdor Shinan. In 1984, Conservative rabbi David Golinkin wrote an article in Conservative Judaism journal suggesting a program of observance for the holiday, including fasting. Ismar Schorsch, former Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary suggested, however, that Holocaust commemoration take place on the Jewish holiday of Tisha b'Av. In 1988, the Reform Judaism movement published a book called Six Days of Destruction, co-authored by Elie Wiesel and Rabbi Albert Friedlander.

[edit] Commemoration

Jews in the Diaspora observe Yom HaShoah within the synagogue, as well as in the broader Jewish community. Commemorations range from synagogue services to communal vigils and educational programs. Many Yom HaShoah programs feature a talk by a Holocaust survivor, recitation of appropriate psalms, songs and readings, or viewing of a Holocaust-themed film. Some communities choose to emphasize the depth of loss that Jews experienced in the Holocaust by reading the names of Holocaust victims one after another — dramatizing the unfathomable notion of six million deaths. Many Jewish schools also hold Holocaust-related educational programs on, or towards Yom HaShoah.

On the eve of Yom HaShoah in Israel, there is a state ceremony at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Authority. At 10:00am on Yom HaShoah, throughout Israel, air-raid sirens are sounded for two minutes. Public transport (including virtually all highway vehicles) comes to a standstill for this period, and people stop and stand silent. During Yom HaShoah, public entertainment and many public establishments in Israel are closed by law. Israeli television and radio channels broadcast mourning songs and documentaries about the Holocaust, without commercials. All flags on public buildings are flown at half mast.

Also during this day, tens of thousands of Israeli high-school students, and thousands of Jews from around the world, hold a memorial service in Auschwitz, in what became known as "The March of the Living", in defiance of the Holocaust Death Marches. This event is endorsed and subsidized by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Holocaust Claims Conference, and is considered an important part of the academic studies--a culmination of several months of studies on World War II and the Holocaust.