Yom ha-Sho'ah: Holocaust Remembrance Day

"We must always remember and never forget..."

In a resolution passed by the Knesset (April 12, 1951) the 27th day of Nisan was proclaimed as "the Holocaust and Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day—a day of perpetual remembrance for the House of Israel." This date was chosen because it falls between that of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (which began on the first day of Passover) and the Israel War of Independence Remembrance Day (on Iyyar 4), and also because it occurs during the traditional mourning of the Counting of the Omer. The Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Law of Yad Vashem (1953) determined that one of the tasks of the Yad Vashem Authority is to inculcate in Israel and its people awareness of the day set aside by the Knesset as the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. On March 4, 1959, the Knesset passed the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day Law, which determined that tribute to victims of the Holocaust and ghetto uprising be paid in public observances. An amendment to the law (1961) required that places of entertainment be closed on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Outside Israel, however, Holocaust Remembrance Day is usually celebrated on April 19, the day on which the Warsaw Ghetto uprising broke out according to the civil calendar. The rabbinate in Israel has ruled Tevet 10 as the Day of Kaddish on which persons commemorate the Yahrzeit ("memorial anniversary") of relatives, victims of the Holocaust, whose date of death is unknown, with prayer and study.

If you are not Jewish but have Jewish friends or co-workers, you can show respect for them by letting them know you are aware of the day and praying for Jews worldwide to be able to live in peace. You can also praise God, for thwarting the plans to completely destroy His people.