5 minute read
Yom HaShoah Event Brings Community Together
The Charlotte Jewish News, June/July 2023
By Mary Eshet
Each year the community comes together to observe Yom HaShoah, alternating between Temple Beth El and Temple Israel as hosts. This year, Shira Lissek, cantor at Temple Israel, had a vision to make the event especially meaningful — by including music played by the Charlotte Symphony.
Making this happen meant pulling in multiple sponsors and supporters. It’s not easy to plan and coordinate an event with so many involved, but the spirit of collaboration was strong throughout. “There were 5,000 twists and turns as we worked to balance tradition and relevancy,” said Lissek. “It worked because everyone on the committee cared so much.”
Judy La Pietra, assistant director of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University agrees. “We met over several months,” she said. “Everybody had a job; everyone listened. I felt humbled to be part of this event, and proud to represent the Greenspon Center, as it is core to our mission.”
Cantor Mary Thomas of Temple Beth El has been involved in planning the ceremony for seven years. “The experience of collaborating with the other agencies is always one of the greatest joys and privileges of my year,” she said.
The idea to invite the symphony originated with a desire to use the power of music to express the unexplainable — that which is beyond words. “My hope was that we could use music to help build bridges,” said Lissek.
The program was presented in two parts, which flowed together seamlessly. Cantor Thomas greeted the audience with her beautiful voice in an opening melody. Temple Israel’s Rabbi Wolk welcomed the audience of nearly 500, noting that remembrance is a mitzvah and sharing his hope that remembering evil will lead to increasing the human spirit.
Sheryl Gerard of Jewish Family Services led the candle lighting ceremony. The seven candles — six for the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust and one for all others — were lit by first- and second-generation survivors who shared survivors’ responses to two prompts: “On this Yom HaShoah I remember ...” and “On this Yom HaShoah my hope is...”
The reflections on those lost and those who survived the atrocities of the Holocaust were painful and heartbreaking. Yet, there was a common theme in the words spoken about hope — a striking lack of vengeance and a resounding hope that the world never forgets and “through sharing our stories, others will not let hate divide us from our humanity.” They expressed the hope that everyone will speak out against “any form of racism or bigotry so everyone can live in peace,” and of being “upstanders, not bystanders,” as we cannot remain silent while humans suffer.
The commemoration part of the program also included a memorial prayer sung by Cantor Lissek and Kaddish led by Rabbi Judy Schindler. As the 18 symphony musicians made their way to the bimah for the concert, our community’s Holocaust survivors were honored through slides shown on the screen.
David Fisk, CEO of the Charlotte Symphony welcomed the invitation for the musicians to take part in the event. “We very much appreciated this opportunity to serve the community. We want to be available for significant, meaningful events.” The symphony does not normally take part in religious events, but the way the program was structured allowed an unobtrusive separation between the religious observance and the concert.
The symphony performed nine pieces, including several featuring Cantor Lissek’s and Cantor Thomas’s amazing voices. The thoughtful introductions delivered by conductor Christopher James Lees made the music even more meaningful. He said the symphony was honored to perform pieces that are not heard as often as they should be, and shared the Holocaust-related history of the composers.
Cantor Thomas said she chose pieces that could “evoke emotions or ideas that could connect to the experience of the Shoah.” For example, Ravel takes the familiar High Holiday Kaddish and transforms it into something “haunting and ethereal, as if a whisper of the memory of the Jewish past.”
The vision for the evening was ambitious, and could not have been realized without the support and collaboration of many agencies and individuals. In addition to the two temples, the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, Jewish Family Services, the Leon Levine Foundation, the Butterfly Project, the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University, the N.C. Council on the Holocaust, Richard Osborne, Milton and Arlene Berkman, Stan Greenspon, Leon (OBM) & Sandra Levine, and of course the Charlotte Symphony contributed time and funds to make the event a reality.
David Fisk remembers the moment when Associate Concert Master Joseph Meyer stood to play the theme from Schindler’s List. “A shaft of light came in and shone on him,” said Fisk. “It was a dramatic and powerful moment that seemed a perfect metaphor for this event.”
Cover photo caption: Cantor Mary Thomas of Temple Beth El performs with Charlotte Symphony Orchestra at community Yom HaShoah observance.
