Tonight, at sundown, marks the beginning of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Holy Land is preparing to observe this solemn day and remember the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir wrote in his order of the day that the Jewish people and the State of Israel will remember not only the millions of lives lost, but also the ongoing fight for Jewish safety and independence.
“We will remember the acts of bravery, the resistance, and the uprisings, the preservation of Jewish identity in the face of attempts to erase it; the final embraces and parting words -etched into memory and transformed into a living testament,” he added.
Moreover, Zamir described the creation of the State of Israel as an act of defiance against the oppression of the past, and praised the IDF for “[acting] with determination and strength against Iran and its proxies, striking back and acting against those who for decades have called for the destruction of our state and its erasure from the Middle East.”
“Today, out of the harshest inferno, the Jewish people stand alive, free, and sovereign in their land,” he wrote. “This is our clear answer to the world: no longer a people dependent on the mercy of others, no longer a defenseless people, but a free nation in its land that fights for its freedom and its future.”
During this time, we also reflect on the ongoing fight against anti-Semitism. The message of Yom HaShoah calls us to be watchmen on the walls, bearing a responsibility to speak out and stand against anti-Semitism. The Jerusalem Post reports that about 1,000 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the past year, with 20 Jews killed as a result—continuing a troubling upward trend over the past three years.
While no formal peace agreement was reached with Iran over the weekend, The Fellowship and its supporters continue to pray for shalom, peace, as we remember the six million Jewish lives lost.
