Dear Friends,  

Today, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), is always one of the most emotional days of the year. It feels especially poignant this year, given the frightening level of Jew hatred and the social and political instability here in our country and across the world.  

The importance of telling the story of the Shoah (the Holocaust) and the vulnerability that so many of us feel at this moment were palpable at the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) annual Boston’s Community Holocaust Commemoration for Yom HaShoah this past Sunday, April 12. As one of the winners of this year’s Israel Arbeiter Essay Contest, Hannah Gil, wrote in her award-winning essay, “History has shown us that we are safe — until we are not — so it is our responsibility to remain aware and to act before it is too late.” 

Yom HaShoah is an opportunity to remember, which is a sacred responsibility and a moral act both for the Jewish community and our broader society. At Sunday’s event, we had the privilege of hearing the personal story one of the heroes of our local Jewish community, Holocaust survivor Magda Bader. Visibly moved by her story, Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu reflected: “The act of remembering and being witness is one of the most important things any community can do…remembering the past isn’t easy work, but it is the only way that we can build a better future.” 

Consul General of Israel to New England, Benjamin (Benny) Sharoni also spoke about the educational imperative of Yom HaShoah and of Holocaust education more broadly: “We must work diligently to preserve the memories of survivors to educate the next generation and build our strength and resilience. We owe this to our children, ensuring our children grow up in a world where their identity is a source of pride, not fear.” 

After the JCRC Commemoration, I was invited to recite the Mourners’ Kaddish during a second ceremony at the New England Holocaust Memorial hosted by the Israeli American Council (IAC). I took the opportunity to remind those present that the Kaddish, the prayer that Jewish mourners recite every day, does not once mention the word death.  

As we remember those we have lost — those whose lives were brutally taken in the Shoah — we also honor how they lived. In doing so, we keep the sparks of their neshamot, their souls, alive. When we recite the Kaddish, we do what the Jewish People have done for thousands of years and what the survivors of the Shoah did with extraordinary courage and spiritual fortitude: we express faith and hope, and we affirm life even in the face of grief and loss. We refuse to despair, even in the face of the worst that our People and humanity have endured. And we commit to keep living and building for the sake of all who’ve come before us and our future generations.  

This Yom HaShoah, our People and our world need the sacred work of remembering, rebuilding, and hope more than ever.  

May the memories of the Six Million be a blessing,  

Rabbi Marc Baker  

President and CEO