Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated on this day, January 27, in 1945. Today, the world remembers that 17 million souls, including one-third of the global population of Jews, were murdered in the genocide of the Nazi regime. How is it possible that such atrocities were committed? First, the Nazis began by portraying Jews and other Continue Reading
Israel’s “Secular High Holy Days”
Tonight, May 9, 2016 is Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s memorial day. It is a national holiday that commemorates “fallen soldiers” – those that have given their lives for the county. And then within 48 hours, we will celebrate Yom Ha’Atzma’ut, Israel Independence Day. During my year living in Israel for the first year of rabbinic school, we experienced what has Continue Reading
In Memory of Those Who Dreamed of Kugel: Yom HaShoah
In 2005, as a first year rabbinic student in Jerusalem, I was given the honor of lighting one of the six candles for the Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration at Hebrew Union College. Each candle represents 1 million lives cut down by evil hatred. I decided to dedicate my candle to the women of Terezin: Kugel, plum strudel, chocolate Continue Reading