Federation marks Yom Hashoah May 5
Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey will hold its annual Yom Hashoah commemoration on Thursday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m., at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel. The governor’s office and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education have designated the program, which started in Paterson in the late 1940s and is believed to be the oldest in the country, as the official commemoration for northern New Jersey.
Guest speakers include the associate director of the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education, Dr. Joan Rivitz, and the federation’s president, Jayne Petak. Zalmen Mlotek, the artistic director of the National Jewish Theater Folksbiene, and his daughter Sarah will perform “Songs of Spiritual Resistance.” Survivors will light a candle and a young person will narrate their stories.
A children’s candle procession will be followed by a procession of Torah scrolls rescued from the Holocaust and now housed in local synagogues, including the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/CBI, Congregation Shomrei Torah of Wayne, Congregation Gesher Shalom in Fort Lee, Temple Avodat Shalom in River Edge, Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, Temple Emeth in Teaneck, and Temple Beth Sholom in Fair Lawn. Sima Alper will give a second-generation response, and Dr. David Braun will offer a Yiddish reading. Zalmen and Sarah Mlotek will join the second and third generations in leading the Partisan Hymn, survivor Herman Weinstein will chant El Maleh Rachamim, and survivor Hy Miklacki will lead the recitation of Kaddish. The shul is at 10-10 Norma Road. For information, call (201) 797-2164.
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