SOUTH RIVER — Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a day that holds great meaning for the Jewish people as well as people of all faiths, and the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey has worked with partners to support commemoration programs in Monmouth and Middlesex counties.
The educational programs support Holocaust awareness and offer opportunities for people of all ages to honor those who perished, those who survived and their families, and those who protected them. The following programs are free and open to all.
The Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association and the Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County will host the annual Interfaith Yom HaShoah Holocaust Memorial Program at 7:30 p.m. May 4 at the Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County, 1775 Oak Tree Road, Edison. The memorial will feature readings, musical selections and a candle lighting to memorialize the lives of those touched by the Holocaust.
The Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education (Chhange) will present its annual remembrance program, “Maintaining the Human Spirit During the Holocaust,” at 9:30 a.m. May 6 at the Lincroft-Brookdale Recreation and Events Center at Brookdale Community College, 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. Historian, author and professor Dr. Samuel Kassow will present “Time Capsules from Hell: The Secret Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto.” The program will include a candle-lighting ceremony and processional with service members from Naval Weapons Station Earle and performances by the Marlboro High School Chorus and Instrumental Quartet.
The Henry Ricklis Holocaust Memorial Committee will present “Surviving the SS St. Louis — Voyage of the Damned” at 12:30 p.m. May 15 at Monroe Township Middle School, 1629 Perrineville Road. The presentation will feature passenger and survivor Eva Weiner. The commemoration will feature an original film and processional, the reading of “Six Million Tears” and a candle-lighting ceremony.
“The entire community is invited to commemorate the lives of those of every faith who perished and to honor those who have lived to share Holocaust teachings so the world never forgets,” said Peter Schild, Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey’s past Yom HaShoah committee chair.
For more information, contact Amy Keller at 732-588-1800 or [email protected].