The numbers tell the story. Eleven million lives lost in the Holocaust – six million of them were Jews. Survivors bear the numbers Nazis forever engraved on their forearms. Each year, we gather together in great numbers on Yom HaShoah to honor and remember them and to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
This year’s Yom HaShoah Holocaust Commemoration program, “Number Our Days,” will be held at Congregation Adath Jeshurun on Sunday, April 11, at 7 p.m.
“These occasions provide a tremendous opportunity to educate and engage the entire community,” said event chairperson Keiron O’Connell. “Our varied program will include the showing of the film, Jai, the tale of a young girl who questions the numbers she sees tattooed on her grandparents’ arms, and a musical interlude with the superb Voces Novae choir. Cantor David Lipp will lead Hebrew school students in singing a specially adapted version of Echad Mi Yodeah, the song traditionally sung at the Passover Seder that relates everything in the world to God (One is our God, Two are the tablets of the 10 Commandments and so on).”
A number of the beloved survivors who live in our midst, including Melvin Goldfarb, Leo Goldring, Abe Jakubowicz and Ann Klein, will share their stories during the evening. The names of loved ones of Louisvillians who perished in the Holocaust will be shown on screens during the program. If there are individuals you would like to have remembered that evening, please email the Jewish Community of Louisville at jcl@iglou.com or call 451-8840 with the pertinent information.
Keiron O’Connell chairs the Yom HaShoah Committee. Other members of the committee include Helene Banks, Craig Friedman, Melvin Goldfarb, Tom Keefe, Ann Klein, Jon Klein, Cantor David Lipp, George Parker, Dan Penner, Rabbi Joe Rapport, Mickey Ruby, Dan Streit, Rabbi Joel Wasser and Fred Whitaker.
If you lost family members during the Holocaust and would like their names remembered during this commemoration, please let us know. If the names of your loved ones have been included in the past, they are still on the list and there is no need to submit them again.
There will also be a Holocaust photography exhibit in the Patio Gallery April 11-27.