Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה; "Remembrance Day for he Holocaust and Heroism"), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as "Holocaust Remembrance Day," is observed as a day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. In Israel, it is a national memorial day.

Origins

Yom HaShoah was inaugurated in 1959, anchored in a law signed by the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion and the President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.The original proposal was to hold Yom Hashoah on the 14th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was problematic because the 14th of Nisan is the day immediately before Pesach (Passover). The date was moved to the 27th of Nisan, which is eight days before Yom Ha'atzma'ut, or Israeli Independence Day.

While many Orthodox Jews commemorate the Holocaust on Yom Hashoah, some in the Orthodox community remember the victims of the Holocaust on days of mourning declared by the rabbis before the Holocaust, such as Tisha b'Av in the summer, and the Tenth of Tevet, in the winter. It is interesting to note that Ismar Schorsch, former Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary (of the Conservativemovement) held that Holocaust commemoration should take place on Tisha b'Av.

Most Jewish communities hold a solemn ceremony on this day, but there is no institutionalized ritual. Lighting memorial candles and reciting the Kaddish - the prayer for the departed - are common. The Masorti (Conservative Judaism) movement in Israel has created Megillat HaShoah, a scroll and liturgicalreading for Yom HaShoah, a joint project of Jewish leaders in Israel, the United States and Canada. In 1984, Conservative Rabbi David Golinkin wrote an article in Conservative Judaism journal suggesting a program of observance for the holiday, including fasting.

Commemoration

Flags at half mast at sundown on Yom HaShoah"

Flags at half mast at sundown on Yom HaShoah On the eve of Yom HaShoah in Israel, there is a state ceremony at YadVashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Authority. At 10:00am on Yom HaShoah, throughout Israel, air-raid sirens are sounded for two minutes. During this time, people stop what they are doing and stand at attention; cars stop, even on the highways; and the whole country comes to a standstill as people pay silent tribute to the dead. On the eve of Yom HaShoah and the day itself, places of public entertainment are closed by law. Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries andHolocaust-related talk shows, and low-key Hebrew and Yiddish songs are played on the radio. Flags on public buildings are flown at half mast.

Those Jews in the Diaspora who observe Yom HaShoah may observe it 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 around, Yom HaShoah.

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 has become known as "The March of the Living," in defiance of the Holocaust Death Marches before proceeding onto Israel for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut the following week.

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 school curriculum – a culmination of several months of studies on World War II and the Holocaust.In Israel, observance is moved back a day if 27 Nisan falls on a Friday (as in 2008) or forward a day if 27 Nisan falls on a Sunday (to avoid adjacency with the Jewish Sabbath). In the Diaspora, Yom HaShoah is generally observed on 27 Nisan regardless.[1]

Hello again, Peter,

Thank you so very much for this information.  I think it is very informative.  This is all part of our history.  Closer to some of us than those who are younger.  We must find a way of making it live on in the hearts and minds of those who follow.

Thank you,

Judy

Thank you Peter.

A very important commemoration.

If only mankind can learn the most important of lessons. 

This should be among compulsary lessons for all children on the planet.

A day to remember and lives to honour.

Roger

Hi Judy,

I'm sure that when the decision was made to have an official memorial day for the Holocaust one of the reasons was that the younger generation and future generations will have all the information at hand and not forget.

Thanks for coming by my friend.

Shalom,

Peter

Hello Peter,

Thanks for a very informative post and it goes great with your "Article of Virtue" too.

There are many reasons to Remember the true facts.  In this post you have provided tons of info and will take me a bit to read and absorb all you have provided.  Thanks my friend.