By Ryan Genova, Glenside Local
Organizers said about 85 survivors attended the event, which included a kosher lunch and discussions of survivors’ achievements, their legacies and the future of the local Jewish community.
“It’s a holiday that was recognized last year by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia as an official holiday,” Jason Holtzman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia told CBS. “It’s not a holiday that I grew up with, but now that we’re doing it, I really appreciate it.”
Leaders of the event also discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
“I think that what’s going on in Israel and the rise of antisemitism is retraumatizing for our Holocaust survivors and that’s what we pay most attention to,” Paula Goldstein of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia told CBS. “We want to help them feel support.”
Their video coverage is below:
In early May, Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park hosted its first Shoah Seder in honor of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day).