Temple Sholom Remembers the Holocaust
On Friday, April 20, 2012 and Sunday, April 22, 2012 Temple Sholom of Fanwood/Scotch Plains will commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) with a free two-part program open to the public, funded by the congregation’s Nathanson Adult Education Fund. Both events will feature a presentation from people who, as teenagers, experienced Nazi oppression first hand; one escaped with her family from Germany, the other survived the horrors of Auschwitz.
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As witnesses to the Holocaust age, fewer are left to tell their stories. “Our children are the last generation to get to hear live testimony,” says Marjorie B. Leffler, a member of Temple Sholom’s board of trustees and a member of the Yom HaShoah committee. “I truly hope that parents will encourage children who are old enough to come and hear this live testimony.”
Dr. Ann L. Saltzman, chair of Temple Sholom’s Yom HaShoah committee and director of the Drew University Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study, adds, “Remembrance/memory is an integral part of Jewish tradition. We remember the fall of the Temple on Tisha B’Av and we commemorate the millions who lost their lives in the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah. ”
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On Friday, April 20, 7 pm, in Fanwood Presbyterian’s Westminster Hall, Holocaust survivor Hedy Brasch will tell her story of survival. Born in Miskolc, Hungary, Brasch was 14 years old when she, her sister and mother were deported to Auschwitz. Subsequently sent to a work camp in Bremen, Germany, Hedy and her sister were eventually liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and sent by the International Red Cross to Sweden for recovery. Brasch will augment her story with photographs of herself as a child model along with excerpts from the Oprah Winfrey show she appeared on in May 2006, which focused on Elie Wiesel’s book Night. Her presentation will be followed by Temple Sholom’s evening Shabbat service at 8 pm in the chapel.
On Sunday, April 22, at 7pm, Temple Sholom member Marianne Kriman will serve as witness to the terror of National Socialism. At age 13, Marianne’s family experienced a desperate struggle to escape Nazi Germany and occupied Europe before the full fury of the Shoah was released.
Following Kriman’s talk, Student Cantor Vicky Glikin will perform a special liturgy she has compiled, accompanied by a quartet of cantorial students and various instrumentalists. This liturgy, presented in its public premier last year, was previewed to great acclaim at Hebrew Union College on October 20, 2010. Included will be a candle lighting ceremony in memory of those who perished during the Shoah, those who survived against all odds and those who risked their lives for the sake of others.
“Temple Sholom has always had a strong commitment to remembering the Shoah,” says Rabbi Joel N. Abraham. “Members of Temple Sholom were instrumental in creating the state-wide mandate for Holocaust education. Now, dedicated members of our congregation have come together to make sure that we commemorate Yom HaShoah in a series of events that include memory, education and prayer.”
Temple Sholom is located in the Fanwood Presbyterian Church at the corner of Martine and LaGrande Avenues in Fanwood, NJ. The congregation’s chapel is around the corner off Marian Avenue. Please enter through the door on Marian marked Temple Sholom. For more information, please call 908-889-4900, e-mail sholom@sholomnj.org or visit www.sholomnj.org. All are welcome.
About Temple Sholom
Founded in 1913, Temple Sholom is a Reform Jewish Congregation led by Rabbi Joel N. Abraham. The Temple and its religious school is home to about 250 families from the greater Scotch Plains-Fanwood area. Currently residing within the Fanwood Presbyterian Church, the Temple has purchased five acres of land in Scotch Plains for its future home. Temple Sholom is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism. For more information about the Temple or joining the congregation, please call 908-889-4900, e-mail sholom@sholomnj.org, or visit www.sholomnj.org.
