04/25/2022
Yom Hashoah to be Commemorated April 27 In Person, Hybrid
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COURTNEY BYRNES | STAFF REPORTER
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
Rosenthal
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland and Kol Israel Foundation will commemorate Yom Hashoah April 27 as the event returns in person with a hybrid model.
The Holocaust Remembrance Day event will include a candlelighting ceremony, the March of Generations, creative arts awards and a procession of Holocaust-era Torah scrolls at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, with an option to join via Zoom.
“We must never forget so history doesn’t repeat itself,” Marcy Rosenthal, co-chair of the event, told the Cleveland Jewish News April 19. “We must honor the memory of the 6 million Jewish people who perished during the Holocaust because any living survivors are senior citizens today, and soon they will not be here to tell their story. That makes it our responsibility to educate, commemorate and memorialize the Shoah and the people horrifically affected.”
The past two years, Yom Hashoah has been commemorated with a Zoom program that included most of the elements that an in-person event would typically have. The event typically brings together over 300 attendees. Robert Rosen is also a co-chair for this year’s event.
Six candles will be lit by Holocaust survivors and their families in memory of the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust, with a seventh candle lit by the daughter of a liberator and an eighth candle lit by the daughter of a rescuer. Lighting the first six candles are: The Zelwin Family for Ida and Sam Zelwin, Tibor Szabo, Nat Lypsic, Eric Kisch, Inga Berkey and the Okun Family for Milya Solyar and Semen Okun. Louise Abrams, daughter of Julius Abrams, will light the seventh, and Manli Ho, daughter of Chinese diplomat Feng-Shan Ho, will light the eighth.
Ho will also be the featured speaker, sharing the story of her father who issued visas to thousands of Jews in Vienna who escaped to Shanghai during the Holocaust and was given the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 2000 for his humanitarian efforts.
“Our theme is resistance, and how one can resist spiritually and intellectually through everyday actions, as well as by making your voice heard,” said Rosenthal, a Solon resident and member of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike. “Manli Ho, our featured speaker, will talk about her father and how his efforts relate to this theme and create awareness about the Shanghai refugees”
Northeast Ohio middle schools and high schools entered the Yom Hashoah V’Hagvurah Creative Arts Contest to create visual art pieces incorporating this year’s theme. The 2022 winners will be honored at the event. There were 71 pieces of artwork submitted, which will be on display from May 1 through May 20 at the 78th Street Studios, 1300 W. 78th St. in Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. The gallery is open to the public.
“We’re very excited about this new initiative to bring Holocaust awareness through the middle school and high school artwork to the Greater Cleveland community,” Rosenthal said. “The artwork is very meaningful and compelling.”
If You Go
WHAT: Yom Hashoah commemoration
WHERE: Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood, or join on Zoom
WHEN: 7-8:30 p.m. April 27
TICKET: Registration for in-person and virtual attendees required at bit.ly/3jS4yYK. Masks required for all in-person attendees.
