On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, people from around the world, thanks to Zoom, joined together to commemorate Yom HaShoah. The event was hosted by SHEM (Student Holocaust Education Movement), with the assistance of the Office of Student Life. The commemoration consisted of remarks by SHEM board members Isaac Goor, Olivia Schwartz, Sarah Berman and Tania Bohbot as they guided the participants through the evening’s program:

• The singing of The Star Spangled Banner and Hatikva by Zak Benarroch.
• A video interview, through the auspices of Names, Not Numbers™, with Emil A. Fish, the founder of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
• A brief Q&A with Fish on why he established the Fish Center, in which he said that his goal is to prevent “the erosion of memory of the Holocaust” through education and that Yeshiva University was the best place to train the educators to do just that.
• A video produced by SHEM titled “Third-Generation Speakers,” where the grandchildren of survivors spoke about the importance of keeping their ancestors’ memories pertinent and powerful.
• A blessing from Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University, who acknowledged while “we mourn those we lost, we also dedicate ourselves to furthering their collective purpose, the Jewish mission of spreading G-d’s values throughout the world.”
• The lighting of the six candles: in memory of the six million Jews who were murdered; of the one-and-a-half children who were slaughtered; of the righteous gentiles and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust; of the world of Torah that was lost and to represent the world that we must rebuild; to represent our role as the link between the survivors and future generations; and in honor of the survivors whose incredible strength and perseverance inspire us to this day.

Watch the Ceremony