Commemorate Yom HaShoah
Light Your Family's Yellow Candle
Sunday, May 5, after 8:00 PM
See below for more information about this program, a prayer you can say while lighting the candle, and a form if you would like to support ongoing Holocaust education programs at Beth Emeth. This annual program is sponsored by the Beth Emeth Men's Club. Yellow Candles for member families who do not have children in Religious School or BEECC are being mailed. If you don't have yours by late April, please contact the office.
Greater DC Yom HaShoah Commemoration
Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 2:00 PM (Zoom only)
More information about this community-wide commemoration and other Yom HaShoah programs supported by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC), as well as registration to receive the Zoom link, are on the JCRC's website.
Light your Yellow Candle
on Erev Yom Hashoah
Sunday, May 5, Erev Yom HaShoah
T
his year, Yom HaShoah will be observed beginning at sundown on Sunday, May 5, at approximately 8:00 PM. The Beth Emeth Men’s Club is mailing a special Yellow Candle to all CBE congregants who did not pick yours up when picking up children at Religious School or BEECC.
The Yellow Candles should be lit the evening of Sunday, May 5, after 8:00 PM, to commemorate the Holocaust. The act of kindling this flame, and reading the meditation shown below, is a moving ritual to remind us of what happened to the Jewish people not so long ago.
Yellow Candle Program
The Yellow Candle program, sponsored by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs (FJMC), was designed to keep alive the memory of the Six Million Jews who perished in the Shoah. The Candle was modeled after a traditional Jewish memorial Yahrzeit candle that burns for 24 hours during periods of mourning and on the Yahrzeit anniversary of a family member.
We would like to thank Marty Zelman for providing funding for the purchase of the candles. Marty’s parents are both Holocaust survivors. His mom is 94 years old and lives in Los Angeles. He is pleased to see the CBE Men’s Club participate in this very important program. We also want to thank the Men’s Club members and seventh grade students who volunteered to package the candles for mailing.
Marty speaks annually to the Beth Emeth seventh grade class about his parents’ experiences surviving the Holocaust.
Monies raised from your yellow candle donation (see below) will be used to fund Holocaust programming in our religious school and other related programming at CBE.
Yom HaShoah Meditation
The Blessing of the Yellow Candle
As I light this Yellow Candle, I vow never to forget the lives of the Jewish men, women and children who are symbolized by this flame. They were tortured and brutalized by human beings who acted like beasts; their lives taken in cruelty. May we be inspired to learn more about our six million brothers and sisters as individuals and as communities and to recall their memories throughout the year. May we recall not only the terror of their deaths, but also the splendor of their lives. May the memory of their lives inspire us to hallow our own lives and to live meaningful Jewish lives so that we may help to insure that part of who they were shall endure always. -- Rabbi Jules Harlow
Help Support Yom HaShoah Programs at CBE
In the spirit of remembrance, we encourage you to give tzedakah in memory to those who did not survive the Holocaust. Through your generosity, we can continue to fund Holocaust education and other related programming at CBE. Please donate online below or print out this form and return it to the synagogue with a check made payable to CBE Men’s Club.