From the Head of Jewish Life
We remember them
Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life
This first week of Term 2, we concluded our School’s Anzac Memorial Day service with the words: “We will remember them”. In the last week of Term 1 we, likewise, joined as a school community in uttering the single word זכור/Zakhor.
Together, we commemorated יום הזכרון/Yom HaZikaron, a memorial day for fallen Israeli soldiers, which derives its name from the word זכור/Zakhor. In our Sydney Yom HaShoah commemoration service, in which our students participated, and in our School’s Holocaust program which followed, we reminded ourselves, and each other, זכור/Zakhor. Throughout that week many Jews in Sydney and throughout the world could be seen to be wearing a זכור/Zakhor pin.
The Jewish Board of Deputies launched the זכור/Zakhor Project in which they distributed זכור/Zakhor kits to all Jewish and public High Schools throughout NSW. Each of our High School students received a kit to bring home so the flame of זכור/Zakhor could burn for all Jewish families.
Explaining the זכור/Zakhor Project, Donny Hochberg, the committee chairman said: “The Shoah, one of the most significant and tragic events of Jewish history, needs to be remembered”. זכור/Zakhor means re-member. In Judaism זכור/Zakhor, re-member, means to make the past present.
If you look at our memorial garden here at Emanuel you will see plaques with the words:
יהי זכרו לברכה
יהי זכרה לברכה
Similarly זכרו ברוך or זכרה ברוך
We are saying: May his/her re-membrance (Zikhro/Zikhrah) be for a blessing.
Their re-membrance, however, can only be a blessing by making their lives present through us.
When we hear זכור/Zakhor, יזכור/Yizkor, יום הזכרון/Yom HaZikaron, זכרו לברכה/Zikhro livrakhah, זכרה ברוך/Zikhrah barukh, each of us is challenged to think how our life may make a loved one who has past a presence in our world.
זכור/Zakhor is a time for us to reflect, as well, on how we will be re-membered.
For, no one can live in the past.
!זכור/Zakhor!
We Remember Them
At the rising sun and at its going down; We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring; We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn; We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends; We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as We remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength; We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart; We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make; We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share; We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs; We remember them.
For as long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as, We remember them.
By Sylvan Kamens and Rabbi Jack Reimer