From Yom Hashoah to Yom Ha'atzmaot

This month our Sunday Funday lesson was suppose to look at Israel’s Independence Day also known as Yom Ha’atsmaot, but our lesson was cancelled and I promised to prepare an online summary of what we would have looked at and learnt. But before I continue I need to stop, be silent and reflect on some words I once read, it went something like this... we cannot think of celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut without remembering Yom Hashoah because without Yom Hashoah there would be no Yom Ha’atzmaut…

What is Yom Hashoah and why is it so important that we remember it.

‘Yom’ is a Hebrew word for ‘Day’ and Hashoah means ‘destruction’. So Yom Hashoah is a day when we remember the destruction of many Jewish families and lives. It is a day of remembrance. Over 6 million Jews perished during the holocaust and over 1 million of which were children. . Yesterday, in Paris like all over the world Jews remembered this day. It is a day of mourning, the day we remember and honor those who died.

It is our Jewish duty to remember those who have passed on, but it is also our duty as parents to never forget what happened and even more so to ensure that it never happens again.
How can we as parents help our kids to remember without overwhelming them? Perhaps a visit to the Holocaust museum, reading an age appropriate book or talking of your family history.

At Yom Hashoah commemoration ceremonies we light six candles to remember the six million who died and we say special prayers – the kaddish being one. But what about simply doing as many Dutch families do - in The Netherlands many families have a vase with 6 yellow tulips. 6- to remember the six million who perished, yellow to remember the star they had to sew onto their clothes , and tulips because it is the time of the year when tulips bloom and the same time we remember...
Remember a day that the home of many were taken away, the day they could not return and the day many did not return…
And for so many of those whose home were taken away, today they found a new home in Eretz Israel

Lesson for Yom Ha’atzmaut to follow…