Community remembers

PROVIDENCE – On Sunday, May 5, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center (SBHEC) held its 40th annual community Yom HaShoah commemoration service at Temple Emanu-El. The event opened with a candlelight procession of survivors and their families.

Herb Stern, who was instrumental in the construction of the Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial downtown, welcomed everyone to the service. Rabbi Wayne Franklin, senior rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El, began with a moving reflection and opening prayer.

Remarks by former Congressman David Cicilline, RI Foundation president and CEO and a SBHEC honorary board member who was recently appointed to the Holocaust Memorial Council at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, spoke on the importance of Holocaust education as a means of fighting rising antisemitism.

SBHEC Executive director Wendy Joering addressed the crowd, talking about the Center’s tireless work to improve access to Holocaust education for students across the state, including its forthcoming partnership with Hoverlay, an augmented reality program which will preserve the stories of survivors and their families for generations to come.

The audience heard beautiful singing from Cantor Jodi Blankstein and Temple Emanu-El Cantor Brian Mayer, piano by Dr. Judith Stillman of the University of Rhode Island, guitar by Adam Dehner, and clarinet from Ian Greitzer, principal clarinet of the Boston Pops and RI Philharmonic.

Participants in the SBHEC teen leadership program LIFT recited the Elie Wiesel poem, “Never Shall I Forget.” Judith Jamieson, the first non-Jewish president of the board, gave an interfaith prayer for peace. Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser led the group in the recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish. The event closed with a rousing chorus of “Hymn of the Partisans,” a resistance song which encourages hope and perseverance.

Giovanna Wiseman is the Director of Programs and Community Outreach at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center.