“Hope without memory is like memory without hope.” -Elie Wiesel
Like many of you, I am still processing the powerful program that we hosted at HEA on Tuesday night to commemorate Yom HaShoah. The combination of music, stories, and symbols is still swirling in my mind as if I have just returned from a transformative journey across time and space.
Imagine for a moment that you are walking into the workshop of the Weinstein family in Tel Aviv. It smells like wood shavings. A violin concerto plays on a cassette in the back of the shop. Dozens of violins hang around the room at various stages of reconstruction. But this isn’t an ordinary violin repair shop. Each violin not only has a body, but a “soul,” as violinist Samuel Nebyu so powerfully described the Bielski Violin that he played on the HEA bima on Tuesday. Each violin has its own story about the person whose hands once held and played it, and about how it was lost, hidden, or saved. Each violin has its own marks and memories, inside and out; some are stained with the smoke of the gas chambers, while others bear brilliant inlays of Jewish stars as emblems of Jewish pride and continuity.
On Tuesday we were transported into this world of mourning, memory, and hope through the music and stories of survivors. We held at the same time the enormity of the loss of the 6 million killed in the Holocaust and the resilience of the Jewish people. As 97-year-old survivor Marion Kreith said on Tuesday, “When I finally immigrated to Cuba, I realized I had lost everything…and [at the same time] I feel so blessed.”
If you missed Tuesday evening’s Yom HaShoah program, you can watch a recording of it HERE. And if you would like to learn more about the Violins of Hope, I encourage you to watch the 57-minute PBS Documentary Violins of Hope: Strings of the Holocaust. If you are interested in reading more stories like the one Cherie presented on Tuesday, you can check out the book Hassidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach.
I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone who made Tuesday’s performance come to fruition and to all who bore witness together to the memories and music of our survivors. A special thank you to Osi and Selma Sladek for enabling us all to bear witness to the Bielski and Sladek violins through the Sladek Yom HaShoah Fund and your remarkable spirit. As Elie Weisel once said, “whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness.” May we all be a witness to the journey and legacy of hope of our people, an instrument of Jewish survival.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Coming Up!
Growing Season Prep Volunteer Day in the HEA Community Donation Garden Sunday, Apr 27th 11:30a to 1:30p Did you know that HEA's Community Donation Garden is planting to fight hunger -- for our third season! HEA partners with IFCS (an Englewood food pantry), Spirit of the Sun (Native American elder food shares) and Fresh Food Connect (a national fresh food rescue organization) and donates more than 500 pounds of produce each year. The garden is also a learning lab for our Religious School where students receive hands-on education about Jewish holidays and tzedakah. This year, with the USDA cutting over 1 billion dollars to food pantries, HEA's compassionate garden work and our produce is more important than ever. And YOU can be a part of it! Kavod on the Road Tuesday, Apr 29th 1:00p to 2:30p Monthly programs for adults hosted by Kavod On the Road at HEA. This month's event is Jan Karski "The Man Who Tried to Stop the Holocaust" Israeli Wine Tasting for Yom Hatzmaut designed for women age 30-50 Thursday, May 1st 7:00p to 8:30p Israel boasts a vibrant wine industry with over 300 wineries, including both commercial and boutique wineries, spanning various regions from the Galilee to the Negev Desert. Come and taste a variety of these wines in a blind taste test and rate your favorites. Israeli snacks will be served. $20 per-person HEA member / $30 per-person non-member
Silver Shabbat Friday, May 2nd 5:00p to 7:00p In celebration of our seniors 75+ and Israel. $18 per individual.
Torah for Today Class in the Library Shabbat, May 3rd 10:30a to 11:15a With Rabbi Mordecai Magencey, Ph.D. - Art Appreciation and Rabbinic Exegesis
Shalom Ambassadors Sunday, May 4th 6:45p to 8:00p If you are interested in getting involved as a Shalom Ambassador, please come to our next meeting on Sunday, May 4th at 6:45 p.m. at the GYC.
Men’s Night Out: Pastrami and Poker Tuesday, May 6th 7:00p to 9:00p Bragging rights to the winner, but all proceeds will be donated to Leket Israel, The National Food Bank of Israel. Entrance fee with dinner included (veg option available): $36 HEA member / $50 non-member.
Magic Minyan Shabbat, May 10th 11:00a to 12:00p A "magical" Shabbat experience for kids and their adults!
Monthly Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Shulman Wednesday, May 14th 12:00p to 1:00p A curriculum on Judaism and Jewish identity based on traditional sources and the teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. Topics include Identity, Prayer, Study, Mitzvot, Tzedakah, Chesed, Faith, Israel, Kiddush Hashem, and the Jewish future.
Cooking and Connection. What We Share: a Fellowship of the Greek and Jewish Communities Tuesday, May 20th 10:00a to 11:30a Come be a part of this lively exchange of cultures, cuisines, and faiths. Converse about our two similar Mediterranean traditions, prepare and share delicious foods from both cultures, and then take an interactive tour of HEA’s sanctuary and its storied artistic and ritualistic legacy. This program is sponsored by the HEA Sisterhood and the Women of the Philoptochos. This is a women's only event.
