We mark this occasion not only by lighting traditional Memorial Candles on both campuses, but in several other significant ways.
First, we partner with the Breman Holocaust Museum to bring a Holocaust survivor to share their story with our older students. This year we were honored to welcome Mr. Herschel Greenblatt. Our Jewish Life Leadership students will lead a short memorial service before he shares his remarks.
Next, our 7th graders visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. on their 7th grade trip which takes place during the week of Yom HaShoah. This visit is a culmination of many months spent studying the Holocaust in 7th grade Jewish Studies. Check out Twitter #Davis7 to see the 7th graders on their trip.
While our 7th graders are in D.C. our 6th graders spend a day with their peers at the Queen of Angels Catholic School in Roswell. There they jointly write victims' names on stones for QofA's daffodil garden.
Lastly, our Lower School choir, The Magical Melodies, sings each year during the community wide Yom HaShoah ceremony at Greenwood Cemetery. Their beautiful voices add a dimension of hope and joy to an otherwise very somber celebration. This year's commemoration was rainy and cold but our students didn't complain a bit because they understand the solemnity and significance of the occasion. The back of the memorial is in the picture below.
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| 3rd-5th grade Magical Melodies rehearse for the community wide Yom HaShoah Ceremony |
DEAR RABBI LAPIDUS,
ReplyDeleteI am the grandmother of The Slutzky family. We are visiting in Atlanta, and my husband and I were at the Memorial Service.
Yes it was cold and rainy, but the tears flowed from my eyes during the program, and it was worth every chilly moment.
It has to be noted, that my husband, Murray Korenfield is Second Generation, born in Linz, Austria in a Deplaced Persons Camp. He came to America when he was a baby. Thus, these programs certainly touch our home.
We were moved beyond words, at the ceremony. It was JUST BEAUTIFUL, IF you can use a word like that to remember the Holocaust.
We feel that one of the ways to continue the heritage of our people, lest the world forget, is by sending our grandchildren to Davis Academy.
We are proud and delighted that our three grandchildren, Allison, Rachel and Jonathan, have the privilege to attend your fine school.
We are returning home this evening to the second Jewish Homeland, Florida, the retirement center of so many Jewish grandparents. Tomorrow night, Hadassah in our development will sponsor a similar program as well.
Again, thank you, and your entire staff for the wonderful education, both secular and Jewish that you provide to our grandchildren on a daily basis.
With Appreciation,
Sheila Korenfield
Jennifer Slutzky's mom