I attended the Yom HaShoah v’ Ha’Gvurah; The Day of Remembrance of Destruction and Heroism. This event was held at Congregation Beth Israel and was open for the whole community. When I entered through the doors, I was given the opportunity to take a rose and lay it at the front of the church, on the steps leading to the alter. I took the rose and later found out that the roses symbolized the many deaths from the Holocaust as well as the hope that is reborn from the stories of the survivors. The church itself looked more like an auditorium or theater. There was a stage up the front with a pulpit on the right side. The rest of the church was filled with seats that picked up when we stood. I noticed that the space was created at an angle. The …show more content…
A Rabbi went up and gave a brief welcome speech and after that, six different people were escorted by different Rabbis to the stage. The individuals who came on stage were either Holocaust survivors or children of Holocaust survivors. They each said a few brief words and then lit a candle. I’ve read articles about the Holocaust and have had history lessons on it, but hearing words spoken about it from people who have lived through it, it was a completely different experience. It made it so real. Plus, it was my first time hearing about the Holocaust from someone who has had first-hand experience with it. That changed everything. After the second person sharing, I had tears rolling down my face. The pain of having their families killed and taken away, I couldn’t imagine the agony of what they went …show more content…
It makes it a challenge to fit in and do every day activities. For this woman though, it’s a little easier because she teaches at a Jewish school and is surrounded by a Jewish community on a daily basis. What makes it a challenge is all the doors and windows at the church (the place she works at) are bullet proof. When someone comes knocking, they always ask who it is before opening the door. Just always being aware and cautious is something the woman said she lives with. It’s something she got used to and does her best to not let this affect her. Other than that, she loves being a Jew and believes it’s easy. For her, this religion is all about love and good intentions. She has no right to judge or point fingers and that makes her life really
...t also with acceptance as one of their own, although I never wore a Tallit or Kippah. This was a very peculiar position since I have never been so accustomed to this sort of kindness. By the end of the Jewish service, not only did I respect and appreciate their faith much more, but, in a way, I began to grow a love for it as well. While I felt no negative feelings towards the service, the most positive aspect would, most definitely, be the warmth I felt from everyone inside the Synagogue and from the presentation of the building itself. At first glance, I was not able to fully appreciate the decorations in the room, but the longer I observed I began to realize each decoration represented something significant. Overall, if I learned anything important this day it is that one thing holds true: I can still appreciate ideas and concepts even if I do not agree with them.
I decided to watch the testimony of Sally Roisman, a holocaust survivor. Sally had a strictly orthodox family, with a mother, father, and 10 siblings. Their family owned a textile mill which made dresses and suits. Sally attended a Jewish girls school but didn’t get the chance to finish her education before her school was closed down. Her teachers said very good things about her and that made her and her mother happy. Sally later returned and studied to finish school after the war. She still studies to make up for her loss today. Her family lived in an apartment complex were 15 families lived. 50% of the families were Jews in the complex.
I really learned how hard it was for all the Jews in the holocaust. They will never be forgotten.
He moves the audience like a pendulum. He talks about the evil, compassion, indifference and hope. His pathos moved deep into the audience by questioning the history which returns made the audience question also. The argument of indifference, making people felt abandoned and forgotten didn’t really hit home until he added the phrase “All of us did.” He reminded the audience of the raw emotion of how all the Jewish people felt being in those camps for so long and nobody, not one person jumping to their aid. The speech would have less meaning coming from anyone who wasn’t a survivor of the Holocaust. Just a little sentence like that can feel sharper than a knife and leave a great reminder on why we should be
The holocaust was truly a dark time in recent human history. Families were torn apart. Those who had at least family member had someone to look to for strength when they didn’t feel like they could carry on. As much as family can be a burden, the positives outweigh the negatives.
She closed her eyes slowly, tuning the harpies out. When she opened them, she gazed up at the ceiling, tracing the high, arcing beams that came together in a beautiful golden rosette. The church her mother-in-law had chosen for her departed son’s service was an old one, with timber walls, huge, multi-paneled stained-glass windows and enough golden gild that put together, could probably rival the weight of the Charging Bull on Wall Street.
Those who survived are here to tell the tragic and devastating history of their lives. The survivors have shared brutal but yet realistic stories from each of their experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust. History shall never repeat itself in the manner of racism, murder, and fear of our leaders. The burning hope of those who were involved still generates an enormous sadness upon the many who have heard the horror of the Holocaust.
That is quickly addressed in the first scene of the play with Lala. The set shows the viewers how the family lives, with so many people under one roof. Right off the bat, it is evident to the viewer that the family is not strict in their religion. Social status is important but the actual religion is not. It ultimately confused the audience because the family talks about caring about religion, but it ends up being very artificial. The characters in the scene also talk about Christians that live by them in the beginning of the play, so that creates a picture of the street in the reader’s mind and this establishes the fact that Jews are not treated as equals compared to Christians. In the 1930’s, German Jews were known for adapting to non-Jewish cultures. This is why there is a Christmas tree in the living room that Lala is so excited to put the star on.
in which it branched. Over the past few decades, the survivors of the Holocaust retold their stories time and time again, stories which would forever be marked into history; However, there is so much more to this disastrous event than what appears upon its surface. There are so many untold—often times completely ignored—stories, documents, and truths that are hardly brought into light. This is why I want to partake in this in this rare event. I want to be able to hear the stories untold, read the documents unread, and so much more. Additionally, I want to be able to educate others on the Holocaust—much more than what their teachers can read out of the small, unforgiving section in their textbooks.
The morning Shabbat service began around 9 am. Upon entering the building, my friend Brandon reached out and touched the Mezuzah which was placed on the right side of the door. He explained that every door in a Jewish home or building has a Mezuzah. The lobby area displayed many intricate plaques on the wall commemorating past relatives. Before we entered the large room where the congregation was sitting, there were certain items we were required to take with us. The first was the yarmulke, which is a traditional head covering for the men. The second was a garment, which is a religious styled covering placed around the top of the members’ bodies. The garment had Hebrew letters on the rim of one side, which was the side where it laid around our shoulders and neck. Most importantly, we brought with us a leather bound book, which was a copy of the Torah in English.
Remember Me? Holocaust Children Talk of Survival. Dir. United States Holocaust Museum. Perf. Nathan Kranowski. Xfinity Video. Comcast. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. http://xfinity.comcast.net/video/remember-me-holocaust-children-talk-of-survival/2085065960
The aftermath of the Holocaust left over six million Jews perished and the survivors in pain and anguish, each of their lives impacted forever by reliving the horrid events of this unspeakable tragedy every day. They needed to pick up the pieces to continue living by fleeing to different countries, assimilating into new cultures, and beginning new families to create happy memories. This being challenging for many of them, forced some of the survivors to suppress their emotions about the past in order to accomplish these newer lives while others to talk about it frequently. Each of them had their own methods to cope with the affects and thoughts they had after the Holocaust; their methods having its own advantages and disadvantages. This goes to show that the Holocaust survivors were affected more than ones mind
I feel that I gained a lot of perspective while watching this film. To be honest, I had never really thought of people denying the Holocaust, in my mind it seemed so silly. I didn’t know that people legitimately argued that the Holocaust never happened, because I just accepted it as a fact. Much like Lipstadt says, “The Earth is not flat”. The climate is changing.
I have to admit; I was a little hesitant to go into the synagogue at first. But when I entered the doors, I was immediately met by smiling faces. None of the families in the front area greeted me, but after smiling at me, they walked down a hallway. After following them, I was met by three guys who handed me two pieces of paper – which turned out to be a program and a weekly calendar, a Kippah, and two books, one red, one blue. One is the Siddur,
I arrived at the destination of where the ritual observation was to take place at 9:45 a.m. on February 23, 2014. The ritual takes place in Brockville, Ontario in a building called the New Hope Brockville Tabernacle. The tabernacle is a large building that has a tower, also known as a steeple, erected on the roof. On the steeple is the symbol of the cross. The front doors opened up to a large foyer where the majority of the people inside were gathered in various small groups. These groups were composed of members similar in age. Everyone who entered through the doors was greeted with lots of hugs and welcomes.