The first Yom Hashoa

Wikipedia: Yom HaShoah was inaugurated in 1951. The original proposal was to hold Yom Hashoah on the 14th of Nisan the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was problematic because the 14th of Nisan is the day immediately before Pesach (Passover). The date was moved to the 27th of Nisan...

The editorial that appears below was published by The New York Times on the Uprising's first anniversary.

RELATED
- An account of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto. (no idea if this was a first mention)

- First mention of the Uprising. Note the following quote: "Polish circles here believe 1,300,000 Polish Jews have perished already..."

- An account of a commemoration held in NYC in 1943, followed by a protest march. Those convinced that American Jews were irriligious in 1943 are encouraged to take a gander at the photo that accompanies the article. (HT: Krum for this article)

Search for more information about Yom Hashoa at 4torah.com.

Absence of Self-Awareness Alert

Seven Israeli Bes Yaakov girls were punished this week for daring to stand up during the Yom Hashoa moment of silence. The reason? A moment of silence is "goyish" not Jewish, and those who observe it are embracing a foreign custom.

Sigh.

And, I suppose that once upon a time bes yaakov girls were expelled from school for wearing masks on Purim.

Harry's Howler

In an otherwise okay post arguing that Yom Hashoah protests are rude and worse Harry says: "Whether this day should forever remain the day of observance is a question for posterity. I should not be debated now. Perhaps someday it can be folded into Tisha B’Av along with all other tragedies that befell us"

Uh Harry? All the other tragedies are folded into Tisha Ba'av? You mean like the...

- Loss of Jewish sovreingnty (Tzom Gedalya)
- Loss of Rabbi Akiva's school (Sfira)
- Crusades (Sfira)
- The murder of 34 Jewish men and 17 Jewish women in Blois France, 1171, as a result of the first ritual-murder trial in Europe. Rabbeinu Tam declared a fast day to mark the event. (Kaf Sivan)
- Chelmniki (Kaf Sivan)
- The Monsey chicken disaster (a day of fasting was declared)

And this is just the short list. Jews in every generation have declared the days of fasting, repentance and remeberance. The idea that all tragedies are folded into Tisha B'av is belied by the actual behavior of real Jews.

My annual point about Yom Hashoa

It’s simply not true to say that Tisha B’av is the only appropriate day for mourning the 6 million. We have the long established right to establish, as a community, days for mourning, for repentance, and for remembrance. The proof is on your calendar: During Sefira we remember Rabbi Akiba's school and, per Samsom Repahael Hirsch in Chorev, the Crusades.There's a day for Gedalya's tragedy, and to remember Esther's fast. And for generations Jews remembered the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648(!) on 20 Sivan. Many siddurim even included selichos for that day.

Can you help me understand why these tragedies got days of their own rather than being subsumed into T'bav? If the 6000 Jews killed by Chelminiki merit a day, and the 24 thousand students of Rabbi Akiva merit a month, surely the 6,000,000 can be remembered independant of Tisha B'Av.

In short: Yom Hashoa isn’t rejected by the Haredim “because we have Tisha Bav.” It’s rejected by the Haredim because it wasn’t their idea, with the business about Tisha B’av being a convenient dodge.

Putting it less respectfully.

Kooky comment

Regular readers know I like to share noteworthy comments. Here's one I'm planing to have framed for over my bed:

Yaakov learned in yeshivas shem v'ever for 14 years. No secular subjects. No college. Im sure he would relate to the yeshivas in the chareidi community. He might even join the Mir.

Makes perfect sense. Of course, a bronze age goatherd would feel right at home in a Polish yeshiva. Why not?

Avraham kept the derabans - so he clearly understood the the actual practice of following the Torah is going to be developed and takanos added by the sages of each generation in order to safegaurd the halacha.

How about old Abe! Not only did he he smash idols he also knew what people would say and decide thousands of years after his death. That's a neat trick.

Im not such a follower of DB...

Rats.

...but this looks like another one of his hashkafic issues with chareidim, that he feels the need to try to push them down. What is it that people say - if youre looking to bring someone down, its probably out of jealousy?

Probably. Of course, anyone using your logic must conclude that the whole of the Haredi Universe is "jealous" of gays, reformers, Young Israel Jews, women, secularists, the college educated, computer users, Sefardim, people who don't wear black hats, etc. etc. etc.