Yom ha-Shoah

Edit

Pronunciations

Yom ha-Shoah (YOHM hah-shoh-AH) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. The 27th day of Nisan, Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel.

Example Sentences

  • "Yom HaShoah doesn't have any halachic/rabbinic rules or restrictions associated with it because it wasn't established as a holiday until the 1950s." (source)

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • MH יום השואה yom hashoa

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      Yom haShoah

Notes

  • "The date corresponds to the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, when on April 19, 1943, the Jews fought back, attempting to prevent the German soldiers from deporting them to concentration camps.

    Because this is a relatively new holiday, there are no ancient traditions or formal rituals associated with it. In the United States, most synagogues and Jewish organizations hold special memorial services and programs open to the community. Often, Kaddish is recited or a yahrzeit candle lit to remember the victims of the Holocaust. Other ways of marking Yom ha-Shoah include holding public ceremonies at Holocaust monuments in various cities; often concentration camp survivors are invited to speak. In Israel on Yom ha-Shoah, a siren is sounded at 11 A.M.; for two minutes everything literally comes to a halt. Drivers pull their cars, buses, and trucks to the side of the road and get out of their vehicles to stand quietly. There are also ceremonies and remembrances at Yad Vashem and throughout the country." (JPS)

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.