As grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, we know that Dr. Meir Wikler is correct when he posits that Yom HaShoah observance is not the only criterion used to remember the Holocaust. Especially for haredi Jews (“The Haredim And Yom HaShoah,” April 29).
The matriarch of our extended family, our 90-year-old grandmother, has captivated us with deeply personal stories of loss, faith and renewal out of the ashes of Polish Jewry.
The tragedy and triumph of her life story has been the subject of many yeshiva school interviews and continues to motivate and inspire the next generation.
At the Pesach seder it is the heroism of our bubbie and her generation that we connect to most. And it is on Tisha b’Av, when we sit in mourning, on the cold synagogue floor as our ancestors did, that we specifically memorialize the Shoah, (among the other collective tragedies and losses that have befallen the Jewish people) and recite the emotionally heartrending Kinos (Lamentations) authored by Rav Shimon Schwab and the Bobover Rebbe of blessed memory.
Seeing my grandmother’s lifelong commitment to authentic Torah Judaism, after losing everyone and everything, is a testimony to her unshakable spirit and iron-willed determination to rebuild. With three generations witnessing her weekly teary-eyed Shabbos candle-lighting and constant recitation of Tehillim (Psalms), she has created real life lessons so powerful that no “day” of remembrance could ever hope to match the life she has led and the legacy she continues to create for all of us.
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