Friedberg JCC marks Holocaust Remembrance Day

It was an evening of remembrance, of giving thanks for new lives and prayers for lives lost, Yom Hashoah, set aside to remember the Holocaust.

The Friedberg JCC in Oceanside used the evening of May 4 to dedicate a new Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Garden.

After an introduction by Sam Seifman, president of the Jewish Community Council of Oceanside and Jon Center, the executive director of the JCC the Jewish War Veterans led the pledge. Several area rabbis spoke, followed by Ben Meyerson of Temple Avodah who discussed a younger person’s view of the Holocaust. The children’s choir from Avodah the Oceanside Jewish Center and Young Israel of Oceanside sang.

Seven candles were lit, six in memory of the six million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust, and one for the Righteous Gentiles who hid Jews or helped Jews escape.

The sculptor who designed the candelabra in the new memorial garden, Lea Weinberg talked about her ideas for the design.

In his blessing for the State of Israel and those lost Rabbi Mark Greenspan of the Oceanside Jewish Center said “We have a commitment to the dead and a responsibility to the living.”