I have nothing with yom hashoa

Chickensoupprof

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 1:03 pm

I have a confession to make and I feel always a bit weird and ashamed about it. I don't have a feeling when it comes to yom hashoa (also not on yom hatsmaot and yom yerushalayim for that matter). I feel so numb.
Israel or shoa remembrance was not a chinuch I had. I knew my grandma was hidden in the war and that her parents got killed and for me that was because they were Jewish. In the Netherlands, u have a remembrance day on the 4th of May and u are silent for 2 minutes to be honest for the latest years I don't do these 2 minutes of silence. Still, I feel ashamed to even say this because I feel as a Jew I have to feel something on those days or to be occupied with this, and tbh I don't have it.
I feel those days are for the non-Jews... I've seen the war trauma first hand, my grandma who was acting weird around DH when she was still mentally well. On thisa b'av I'm more concious about more things the restrictions during the 3 weeks and then the 9 days are helping but yom hashoa no...

Happy247

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 1:36 pm

Chickensoupprof wrote:

I have the same (non) feelings.

Chickensoupprof

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 1:52 pm

WitchKitty wrote:

I don't care for Yom Hashoah either. I'm Chareidi and for us 'Yom Hashoah'= the day we mourn the holocaust and its victims- is Tisha B'av, not today.

I feel a bit the same but in lots of things im not chareidi. As in having abudance of secular mediaand the whole cultuaral thing. I also feel it's more for the non-Jews.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:23 pm

Chickensoupprof wrote:

I feel a bit the same but in lots of things im not chareidi. As in having abudance of secular mediaand the whole cultuaral thing. I also feel it's more for the non-Jews.

Why? We had an extremely moving yom hashoa ceremony in my yishiv last night. The 11th graders put the whole program together. It really was all about JEWISH life and how the survivors went from destruction to rebuilding their lives.
Even growing up in ametica, there was a ceremony/program every year. Its so important to have such programs so the next, next, next generations dont just not forget, but thst they will learn about what happened. My daughter met her great granmother, survivor of aushwitz, but so many will never meet another survivor. Its extremely important. Also fir the jews.

seven-up

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:32 pm

There's no mitzvah that says you need to keep yom hashoa or yom ha'atzmaut. Most rabbanim hold that the day to mourn all that has happened to klal yisroel including the holocaust is on Tisha B'av. If you are not feeling sad on Tisha B'av that would be a problem. But these are secular holidays according to most poskim. Of course if your posek holds differently then you should speak with him about how you can have stronger feelings on these days. You can pick any day out of a hat to feel sad about the Holocaust. I don't know of any mekor for these particular days so don't worry too much....

BatyaEsther

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:34 pm

Exactly what Shabbatiscoming said.

Furthermore, if we don’t stress it’s importance, why would others bother or care.

I will IYH go to the event tonight at the public school, because it is important that they have a good showing and support from the community. I share / trade books, but the Holocaust Historical Fiction/non-Fiction I buy myself at Costco - to help them see stock move so that they continue to carry such books. (I was very happy to suggest one to a non-Jewish woman last time I was perusing the selections and she took it home).

Not to impose on or impact people’s mental health, but if you don’t have something local to go to, their are many testimonials, podcasts, videos, recordings, and movies one can watch tonight to help connect.

etky

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:46 pm

Yom Hashoah is a very Israeli institution, created as an official way for the State to commemorate the Holocaust, honor those citizens who are survivors and ensure that future generations of Israelis are educated about what happened.
I wouldn't expect non-Zionist Jews living outside of Israel to connect with Yom Hashoah.

Reality

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:46 pm

Were any Rabbonim involved with setting the date of Yom Hashoah?

I recently learned that the reason many Ashkenazi communities have more stringent minhagim during sefirah is because they were also grieving for the Jewish communities decimated during the crusades. The Jews of Worms, Spyers and Mainz were slaughtered in the months of Iyar and Sivan. So many ashkenazim mourn those deaths, not only the deaths of Rabbi Akiva's students.

Isn't today the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising? It makes sense to commemorate a day when so many Jews were murdered.

Reality

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:48 pm

mommy9 wrote:

It's not the Jewish way. We aren't supposed to have mourning in nisan. And then they do yom hatzmaut during sfira.

Sefirah is during Nissan. Aren't we all mourning?

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:49 pm

mommy9 wrote:

It's not the Jewish way. We aren't supposed to have mourning in nisan. And then they do yom hatzmaut during sfira.

They "do" yom hatzmaut when it happened, 5 iyar.

etky

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 2:52 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

They "do" yom hatzmaut when it happened, 5 iyar.

And Yom Yerushalayim on כ"ח אייר. The day east Jerusalem was liberated from Arab rule.

Rebesq

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 4:06 pm

etky wrote:

And Yom Yerushalayim on כ"ח אייר. The day east Jerusalem was liberated from Arab rule.

I would add that when we recaptured yerushayim im 1967 - everyone rejoiced. Frum, not frum, Charedi, datinleumi… we have an older friend who learned in Torah vadas who remembers the joyful singing and cheering by the hanhala. Rav Dessler discussed it in Michtav meeliyahu and only recently had it become politicized

Wolfsbane

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 4:13 pm

Chickensoupprof wrote:

I feel a bit the same but in lots of things im not chareidi. As in having abudance of secular mediaand the whole cultuaral thing. I also feel it's more for the non-Jews.

If we're talking about Yom Hashoah specifically, I really don't think it is generally observed by non-Jews. AFAIK, it was established by the state of Israel, and is based on the Hebrew date. There's another Holocaust remembrance day (whose date I always forget) that the secular world acknowledges. If Yom Hashoah isn't acknowledged in your community, or you didn't grow up with it, it makes sense that it wouldn't emotionally resonate with you, but it has nothing to do with it being a thing for non-Jewish people.

ora_43

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 5:14 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Its so important to have such programs so the next, next, next generations dont just not forget, but thst they will learn about what happened. My daughter met her great granmother, survivor of aushwitz, but so many will never meet another survivor. Its extremely important. Also fir the jews.

This.

You can't force sadness. But it's important to have official days of remembrance, and official rituals, because vanishingly few kids growing up today are going to have a strong personal connection to someone who lived through it and was old enough to remember. The question isn't just what we need for our own personal awareness of the Holocaust's significance, it's about our communities, and people being born another 80 years from now.

zaq

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 5:47 pm

etky wrote:

I wouldn't expect non-Zionist Jews living outside of Israel to connect with Yom Hashoah.

Why not? The Holocaust didn't affect only Zionists. I would expect this demographic, assuming they are not observant but strongly affiliated Jewishly, to connect with it MORE, precisely because they connect to fewer observances such as Tish'a B'Av and do not identify with Yom Haatzmaut.

Is there a demographic that is non-Orthodox, strongly affiliated Jewishly, and apathetic or inimical to the State of Israel? I think there is. Leftists, mostly. (Hmmm. How much do they care about the Holocaust? IDK. I don't think I know, personally, anyone in this group. The nonOrthodox leftists I know are very much pro-Israel.)

Last edited by zaq on Tue, Apr 18 2023, 5:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

zaq

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 5:53 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

This, this, this.
The youngest survivors--those who were babies-- are in their eighties. Most are in their high nineties. Soon there will be no eyewitnesses left. We must not forget for their sake and for the sake of those who were murdered, and we DARE not forget for our own sake.

PinkFridge

Tue, Apr 18 2023, 6:24 pm

etky wrote:

Yom Hashoah is most definitely not seen as exclusively Israeli. It's commemorated all over the world.
I think that non-Zionist Jews, and maybe some Zionists too, have philosophical issues with it.