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Prominent Holocaust Scholar from USC Shoah Foundation, Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D., will discuss a major new initiative that takes Bay Area survivors’ testimonies to a global audience.
For Immediate Release: Mon., Apr. 17, 2017 (San Francisco, CA) – Community members are invited to observe Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Sunday, April 23 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. This community memorial service bears witness to those who have perished in the Holocaust and educates young people about the meaning of their legacy.
This year’s observance, titled The Future of Our Past, A Conversation about Memory and Testimony, will include a talk from inspiring and internationally sought-after scholar, Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D., Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation. Smith is an expert in the causes and consequences of human conflict, and he will discuss how the USC Shoah Foundation will incorporate 1,400 Bay Area survivors’ testimonies into state-of-the-art educational programming for a global audience. Because of this incredible effort, the testimonies of local survivors will live on for future generations.
The event also includes a continuous reading of names of victims of the Holocaust from 4:00 pm onward. If community members would like to have the names of their loved ones included during this reading, they should fill out this online form or call 419-449-1213.
WHAT: The San Francisco Observance of Yom HaShoah is a community-wide event and is free and open to the public. The event is presented by Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ Holocaust Center, in partnership with Lehrhaus Judaica, JCCSF, Jewish Community Relations Council, and USC Shoah Foundation; and in cooperation with San Francisco synagogues and schools.
WHERE: JCCSF, 3200 California Street
WHEN: Sunday, April 23, 2016, 4:00 – 6:15 pm
SCHEDULE:
4:00 pm:
- Reading of the Names – Read by students & community members on a continuous cycle
- Testimony Film Screening – Screened on a continuous cycle
- Community Art Project
5:00 pm: Yom HaShoah Commemoration and Memorial Ceremony – Presentation by Stephen D., Smith; Mira Shelub will be honored during the Partisan Song, and Cantor Henry Drejer will lead El Maleh Rachamim, the Mourner’s Kaddish, and more.
VISUALS: In addition to the presentation by Stephen D. Smith, the presence of many Holocaust survivors, and participation from clergy from 10 San Francisco synagogues and community organizations, more than 500 community members are expected to participate in San Francisco’s Observance of Yom HaShoah.
Register online and find out more information about the event at
www.yom-hashoah-sf.eventbrite.com.
Contact Leah Sheldon at [email protected], 415-449-1284.