Topic: Remembering Yom Hashoah V’HaGevurah

Written by: Barry Kislowitz Topic: Remembering Yom Hashoah V’HaGevurah Important note to the madrich/a: The subject of the Shoah is clearly very upsetting for adults, and even more so for children. If you have younger chanichim, they probably have heard about the Shoah in school, but not have not had a huge amount of education about the Shoah; this is also probably the first time that they have been asked to speak about their own thoughts and feelings, which is quite difficult for many people of all ages. For all chanichim, it is incredibly important to be very sensitive to what the chanichim are feeling; the point of the Peula is not to make them feel badly, but to get them to “remember” the Shoah by talking about some of their own feelings. To this end, it is crucial that you listen to the chanichim and what they are saying and watch their expressions to see how they are feeling so that you can steer the conversation in an appropriate direction. Peula: Grade 4-6 Ask the chanichim and chanichot if their school recently had a program for Yom Hashoah, and what their school did. Ask them why they thought that their school did that particular type of program. Then ask them what some symbols that are used to represent the Shoah. (some answers: yellow stars, candles, barbed wires…) Ask them why they think that these symbols were used? Do symbols help us remember the Shoah, and if so how? Conclusion: At the end of the discussion, tell the chanichim that we remember the Shoah not to make ourselves feel badly, but because we have an obligation to remember in order to make sure that something like the Shoah, could God forbid, ever happen again. By thinking and talking about the Shoah, especially when it is done together as a group, we are actively remembering it. Grades 7-8 Ask the chanichim what the official name of Yom Hashoah is in Israel (Yom Hashoah V’Hagevurah) and why the date that is used throughout the world to commemorate Yom Hashoah was picked ? (beginning(?) of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising) What were the people who picked this date and name trying to remember? (They were trying to remember both the people who died Al Kidush Hashem and the resistance of these people, both spiritually and physically, through events such as the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and many other uprisings in concentration camps (e.g. Auschwitz), partisan fighters and righteous gentiles. Discuss if it is more important to remember any one aspect than another is. (Personally, I think that all parts should be remembered equally, but this is an interesting discussion to have and I wouldn’t force one conclusion on anyone) Conclusion: conclude similar to the previous conclusion.