At the end of the week, on November 9th, Jews across the globe will commemorate the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht. In commemoration of that tragic night, hundreds of Shuls in Israel and around the globe will leave their lights on throughout the evening. Some will also hold special commemoration ceremonies.
Kristallnacht is one of the more traumatic events in the history of the Jewish people. During the three days between November 7th and 10th in 1938, almost all Jewish symbols that were publicly displayed in Germany were destroyed.
Among those who lived through the incident was Naftali Vertheim, father of Dalia Yochana Vertheim who has spearheaded the project “Lights On In Shul” as part of the Kibbutz HaDati movement. Dalia explained the project: “The goal of the project is to shed light where there was darkness, resurrection in the place of loss, learning in the place of devastation.”
Dalia enlisted the help of the Kibbutz HaDati movement who joined the initiative immediately. This year, hundreds of Rabbonim from the national religious movement of Tzohar also joined together with their congregations. Foro the past three years, Dalia has been receiving images from Shuls outside of Israel who have also taken part. Some came from Zurich, Rome, Rotterdam, Leeds, Antwerp and more.
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(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
During the three days between November 7th and 10th in 1938 The European 9/11, the Jewish 9/11 being Tisha b’Ov, not to mention the American 9/11 of-course being WTC.
But being Shuls, why aren’t they going by the Hebrew date of marCheshvon 16th.