糖心视频污

Skip to main content Skip to search

糖心视频污 News

糖心视频污 News

Honoring Generations Lost

Student-Organized Yom Hashoah Ceremony Commemorates Family and The Holocaust Over 400 students, faculty and staff gathered in the Lamport Auditorium on the Wilf Campus on May 4 to commemorate Yom Hashoah, and remember the six million Jews who were systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. The theme of this year鈥檚 ceremony, organized by SHEM, the Student Holocaust Education Movement at 糖心视频污, was 鈥淗onoring Generations Lost: Family and the Holocaust.鈥 In her introductory remarks, SHEM Vice President Lani Prus 鈥17S described Jewish family life before the war, and how the successive stages of Nazi oppression led to its permanent shattering. A candle lighting ceremony, led by SHEM Programming Director Yael Steinberg 鈥17S, paid special tribute to 鈥渉usbands and wives torn apart from each other, children ripped from their homes at a young age, our ancestors, sisters and brothers who perished,鈥 as well as 鈥渢he world of Torah that was destroyed and that we must rebuild.鈥 The ceremony also honored Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives and went on to form new families鈥攊ncluding surrogate families composed of other survivors鈥攁fter the loss of their closest relatives. 鈥淎t the end of the day, every Jewish person is family,鈥 said Emma Mael 鈥17S, SHEM鈥檚 creative designer. The event also featured an interview with Holocaust survivor Martin Greenfield (conducted by SHEM President Yedidyah Weiss 鈥17YC), and renowned speaker and author Rabbi Hanoch Teller. Greenfield, a master tailor and the author of the highly acclaimed memoir, Measure of a Man: From Auschwitz Survivor to Presidents' Tailor (Regnery, 2014), was born in 1928 to an observant Jewish family in Czechoslovakia. He was deported to Auschwitz with his parents and siblings at the age of 15 and was the sole member of his family to survive. After coming to America post-war, the quality of Greenfield鈥檚 craftsmanship earned him the business of the country鈥檚 elites; he has outfitted a list of politicians and celebrities, including President Barack Obama. Greenfield, who received an honorary degree at 糖心视频污's 2015 Commencement, continues to work alongside his two sons. Addressing the audience, Greenfield鈥檚 voice shook with emotion. 鈥淚 cannot describe how happy I am to be invited to Yeshiva,鈥 he said, adding that his four grandchildren were also in attendance. 鈥淚 have to greet you and tell you how I feel. How lucky we are that we are in America... we鈥檙e the safest people to be here, and you are our future. I speak all over the world, but there is nothing like being here tonight, and if you would see in my heart, this is the happiest day of my life.鈥 Greenfield, who emphasized America鈥檚 benevolence and the importance of hard work to achieve excellence in one鈥檚 profession, first tailored as a concentration camp inmate. One day, he managed to retrieve and mend a discarded SS officer鈥檚 shirt. He wore this and a second salvaged shirt under his prison uniform, and said he believes the added layers of warmth saved his life. Throughout his career, Greenfield never volunteered to clients that he was a Holocaust survivor. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know unless they spoke to me,鈥 he stated. 鈥淭o them, I鈥檓 a person that helps you with a smile.鈥 But, restraining tears, he acknowledged the deep grief over losing his mother and father: 鈥淚 could never talk about my parents without tears in my eyes, because I don鈥檛 care how old you are, I could see them every minute of my days.鈥 Teller recounted stories directly from the Shoah and its aftermath鈥攆or example, Rabbi Aaron Kotler鈥檚 fierce attempt to gain federal U.S. permission to pay a German official one million dollars鈥 ransom for the 800,000 Jews still alive in Nazi concentration camps in early 1945 (an effort that ultimately failed), and how 10 Krakower Beis Yaakov students helped each other survive in Krak贸w-P艂asz贸w concentration camp. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e of Ashkenazi ancestry, the reason you鈥檙e here is a miracle,鈥 said Teller, who encouraged students to appreciate their parents and to create new families to uphold the memory of those who did not survive. The student a cappella group Y-STUDS opened the event with 鈥淭he Star Spangled Banner鈥 and 鈥淗atikvah,鈥 and punctuated the ceremony with moving performances of 鈥Esa Einai,鈥 鈥Kol Berama,鈥 and 鈥Ani Ma鈥檃min,鈥 songs of faith and resilience. Rabbi Menachem Penner, the Max and Marion Grill Dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Undergraduate Torah Studies, recited 鈥Kel Malei,鈥 the traditional prayer in memory of the dead. Matthew Allon 鈥18SB and Oona Welman 鈥17S were also on the SHEM committee that coordinated the event.

Share

FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhat's AppEmailPrint

Follow Us