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The Struggle Over a Date for Yom Hashoah Denied

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The Struggle Over a Date for Yom Hashoah Denied a memorial day could no longer be The Struggle Over a Date for Yom haShoah denied. On April 12,1951, the Knesset declared the 27th of Nisan as Yom IRVINGGREENBERG not incorporate the remembrance of the haShoah u'Mered haGetaot (Holocaust Holocaust into the ninth of Av, the day of and Ghetto Revolt Remembrance Day). The great question was: What date would the Temple's destruction, as most medie­ Then the emphasis began to shift from be chosen? From the beginning, this val Jewish tragedies had been? Appar­ memorializing the heroism of physical involved one of the most difficult issues in ently, the choice of the tenth of Tevet was resistance to memorializing another kind dealing with the Holocaust—that of conti­ designed to shore up the dwindling for­ of heroism—the heroism of mother love in nuity or discontinuity. Was this event uni­ tunes of an all-but-forgotten day of the camps, the courage it takes to of edu­ que or only another tragedy in the long mourning. This proposal of the rabbinate, cate children in the shadow of death, the list of tribulations, expulsions and disas­ however, failed to come to grips with the humaneness of thousands of self-help ters that mark Jewish history? awesome emotional, historical, and theo­ tenant committees, and the quiet dignify Classically, Jewish tradition commemo­ logical weight of the Holocaust Far from of people even when standing naked rates events by choosing a date con­ confronting the Holocaust as a category- before the gas chambers. The day was - nected to the event, preferably an anni­ shattering event, the Israeli rabbis sought soon referred to as Yom haShoah vTiaGe- versary date such as Passover (the to incorporate this churban, this disaster, vurah (Holocaust and Heroism Day). Exodus from Egypt), Chanukah (the defeat within an existing (minor) halachic pattern As for the date, it can be said that no of the Seleucids and rededicatjon of the in order to strengthen that pattern. one really accepted it for Yom haShoah. Temple), or Tisha b'Av (the destruction of The rabbinate's ruling fell flat The v'haGevurah, except the Jewish people. the First and Second Temples). But what proposal never caught on. When they decided, it was decisive. With­ could be the anniversary of the Holo­ Another critical push for commemora­ out asking permission from the halachists, caust? This was not a one-time incident; it tion came from a group of ex-ghetto figh­ halacha was being shaped and was grow­ went on year-round for years. Perhaps a ters, partisans, members of the under­ ing within the bosom of the Jewish people period of the year should be set aside, but ground resistance to the Nazis. Under Analysts have speculated that the tri­ when? their leadership, the campaign for a umphant resolution of the Six-Day War in So massive was the scale of the Holo­ memorial soon incorporated armed resist­ 1967 overcame, in a way, the barrier caust killing (nearly wiping out two major ance as a central theme. This effort erected by the tragic conclusion of the Jewish communities of the world: Poland, sought to memorialize haShoah \/haGe- Holocaust People had not been able to and western Russia and the Baltic states) vurah, the Holocaust and the Heroism. For confront the story of the Holocaust and so reckless its speed that for most of the ghetto fighters, there was only one day because the ending was always so devas­ the dead there was no firm knowledge of worthy of being a memorial anniversary tating. Now there was a "reenactment" the yahrtzeii the actual date of death. for the Holocaust—April 19, the first day that ended with miraculous deliverance. Indeed, for many of the dead there were of the Warsaw ghetto revolt the greatest This psychological breakthrough cleared no survivors of the immediate family to revolt of all, the uprising that held the the way for a new rise in consciousness say kaddish. Nazis at bay for 28 days, longer than the and an enormous expansion of obser­ In 1948, the Israeli rabbinate proposed resistance of the great French army. vance of Yom haShoah in Israel and a Yom Kaddish Klali, a general Day of Zionists in Israel insisted that the day America. Increasingly, the day was Kaddish to be said for all those who had be marked on the Hebrew, or lunar, referred to as Yom haShoah—leaving off relatives to say the prayer but no known calendar. April 19,1943 was the fifteenth vhaGevurah; the need for apologetics had date of death, and for those who had no of Nisan, the first night of Passover. That declined sharply. relative to say kaddish, in which case oth­ date, however, was unacceptable to the Interestingly enough, the struggle over ers would say it for them. Given the Orthodox because to impose Yom Holocaust commemoration was fought not number of Holocaust victims in these haShoah on Passover would have buried in theological terms, but over what day categories, the rabbinate also proposed the joy of Passover under the ashes of should be marked. Nevertheless, a striking that this communal day for kaddish Auschwitz and crippled the joyous holiday theological truth emerges from the result should also be the day of general Holo­ that was at the very heart of Judaism. of the struggle. The day chosen reflects—I caust commemoration. Finally, after prolonged negotiations, a would even say proves—the emergence of The day chosen by the rabbinate was deal was struck: The compromise day a new cycle of Jewish history, one in Asarah bTevet, the tenth day of the tenth closest to the Warsaw ghetto uprising which the human role in the covenant month of the Hebrew calendar. This is the (the partisan's goal) and the furthest from between God and the Jewish people fast day that marks the beginning of the Passover (the Orthodox request) turned becomes ever more responsible. Babylonian siege of Jerusalem that ended out to be the 27th day of Nisan, four A new holy day has been added to the with the destruction of the Solomonic days after the end of Passover. Jewish calendar. Most of the rabbis—the Temple on Tisha b'Av (the ninth day of No one was satisfied with the outcome. established "sacred" authority—had failed Av) in 586 B.C.E. The Orthodox were unhappy because they to grasp the idea of a sacred mourning Clearly, the selection of the tenth of had been forced to accept an official day day that would articulate this epoch- Tevet reflects the idea of incorporating that violated a halachic tradition that pro­ making event The additional holy day was the newest tragedy into the existing chain hibits disrupting the joy of the month of legislated by the Knesset a ''secular" insti­ of tradition. This decision affirmed that Nisan with public mourning. The fighters tution acting under the cross purposes of the destruction of the Temple remains the were unhappy because the commemora­ different groups, many of them secular paradigm and acme of Jewish tragedy. tion was not on the day the uprising and subject to political argument and But if that was the understanding why began. But the overall pressures to create even manipulatioa The day thus came 34 MOMENT•J U N E 1989 mud, Shabbat 21b). There were oth­ into being with few classic religious asso­ setts, distributed 1,200 yellowyahrtzeit ciations; it emerges as a totally "hidden" ers—the school of Shammai—who lit lamps (memorial candles) to com­ holy day, perceived as secular. eight candles on the first night, seven memorate the Holocaust. Winokur's The flaws in the reasoning behind the candles on the second night and ended father died in the Holocaust and the choice of the 27th of Nisan and the all- up with one candle on the eighth project was in his memory. In 1988, too-human admixtures in the motives of night. Our current observance was the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs the contenders provide the necessary "cover" to enable the day to make a credi­ propounded by the school of Hillel, sponsored Winokur's idea as a ble, persuasive statement about history, and was ultimately accepted by national project and sold nearly God, covenant, and meaning A more everyone. 50,000 yellow yahrtzeit lamps. obviously "sacred" day would have sharply But all of the views and customs In 1978, Rabbi Robert Saks, direc­ limited the credibility and unique signifi­ cance of the day in the present cultural started from one assumption: The tor, and Paul Ruffer, assistant direc­ context A formal holy day would not be Chanukah victory must be remem­ tor, University of Maryland Hillel, accepted by many Jews; the non- bered by the lighting of candles. initiated an observance that is being observant would feel excluded by the Unlike Chanukah, Passover is a copied on many college campuses. It halachic-sacred dimension. The Orthodox, holy day prescribed in the Bible. But is a 24-hour vigil—in the open—in on the other hand, would be misled by the choice of a previously sacred day into not all its customs and observances the middle of the campus. The assimilating this tragedy into the earlier are detailed there. In fact, the seder program of the vigil consists of reading ones as if nothing has been changed by as we know it was not finalized, as aloud the names of victims of the the Holocaust we learn from the Mishnah, until Holocaust from a specially compiled As the commemoration day now 1,400 years after the Exodus that it book, A Memorial of jVames.* Twenty stands, Passover joy is shadowed by Yom celebrates.
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