May 2, 2019 - Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is the internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and I feel it is important to mark this occasion this year.

In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. When the actual date of Yom Hashoah falls on a Friday, the state of Israel observes Yom Hashoah on the preceding Thursday. When it falls on a Sunday, Yom Hashoah is observed on the following Monday.

In the United States, Days of Remembrance runs from the Sunday before Yom Hashoah through the following Sunday.

For El Male Rachamim

Listen to the liturgy. El Male Rachamim (God full of compassion) is a prayer for the departed that is recited at funeral services which asks for comfort and everlasting care of the deceased.  Different versions exist for different moments, and the one for the Shoah, is chanted.



Fully Compassionate God on high:
To our six million brothers and sisters
murdered because they were Jews,
grant clear and certain rest with You
in the lofty heights of the sacred and pure
whose brightness shines like the very glow of heaven.

Source of mercy:
Forever enfold them in the embrace of Your wings;
secure their souls in eternity.

Adonai: they are Yours. 
They will rest in peace.
Amen.