Community Corner
SOMA Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Service
SOUTH ORANGE/MAPLEWOOD
INTERFAITH HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE SERVICE TO BE HELD APRIL 27 AT TEMPLE
SHAREY TEFILO-ISRAEL
ORIGINAL DRAMATIC NARRATIVE PRESENTED FOR 37th ANNUAL
PROGRAM
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The annual South Orange/Maplewood Interfaith Holocaust
Remembrance Service, the first of its kind in New Jersey, honors the memories
of 11 million Jews, Roma, handicapped people, Slavs, political prisoners and
homosexuals killed in the Shoah; and the lives of survivors, Army liberators and righteous
gentiles.
This year, the Remembrance Service features original dramatic narrative, based on the testimony of 20 local men and women who survived the Holocaust. The program recalls experiences in Nazi work camps and death camps, hiding under the protection of Gentile neighbors and friends, escapes to neutral or Allied countries, and United States military service with the Monuments Men.
The creative expression of the collective survivor stories is
the result of a collaborative effort by Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel (TSTI)
Cantors Rebecca Moses and Joan Finn, and congregant Russell Kaplan. Community
residents, among them professional and non-professional actors from South Orange and Maplewood houses of worship, as well as Seton Hall University
theatre students, will participate. Musical
selections will accompany the readings, and will encompass a wide variety of
genres and melodies. Voices in Harmony, an interfaith chorus directed by
long-time South
Orange resident Cantor Perry
Fine, will also perform during the service.
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This year, the Remembrance Service committee will honor South Orange Middle School art
teacher Ellen Hark with the Sister Rose Thering Holocaust Education Award, recognizing Ms. Hark’s commitment to Sister Rose’s belief that education will
make the world a more tolerant place. For
several years, Ms. Hark has coordinated an exhibit of original interpretive
artwork by students, inspired by their conversations with Holocaust
survivors. On April 27, the artwork will be displayed in TSTI’s Green
Social Hall, which is where Ms. Hark’s Award will be presented following the
service.
Clergy from nearly 20 Jewish, Catholic and Protestant houses of
worship in South Orange and Maplewood, as well as officials from both
communities and long-time associates of the SOMA Interfaith Holocaust
Remembrance service will be present.
The Remembrance Service is free of charge and open to the public. The
community is encouraged to bring cans and boxes of non-perishable food
donations to the event for later distribution by the Food Bank of New
Jersey. For more details and background, contact the organizers at rememberandtell@gmail.com or
visit www.rememberandtell.org.