Students, faculty, and staff gathered around the Moseley Center on Wednesday, May 1 to read the names of those who died during the Holocaust in honor of Yom Hashoah. Yom Hashoah is the Holocaust day of remembrance for the Jewish Community. It was started in 1953 and has grown to be an international day of remembrance. Multiple professors and students are in charge of the three events happening on May 1 and 2.
One of the professors leading these events, Dr. Andrea Sinn, says that anti-semitism is still alive in our community today. “This is something that is actually not in the past," Sinn said. "It is actually something we are seeing in our community today around us, in politics, and in many different forms, and I think it is important to question that and to stand up against it.”
Assistant Director of Jewish Life, Hillary Zaken, wants to bring awareness to anti-semitism through these events. “This is why it’s particularly important that we have that rememberance here at the Moseley Center, where students walk by every day. So, as the students go about with their everyday lives they can stop and remember the Holocaust. In Jewish life, we do things like this and collaborate with Jewish studies because it is important for the entire campus community to be aware of this," Zaken said.
On Thursday, May 2, the Elon Community will meet at 9:20 a.m. for a ceremony of remembrance in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. The last event of Yom Hashoah will be held at the Sacred Space in Numen Lumen at 2:30 p.m. Jewish studies minor, Sarah Wasserman, has chosen specific excerpts from the “Book of Ruth” to be read to conclude the events of Yom Hashoah. Sinn says Yom Hashoah is especially important this year because of the recent shootings in the synagogues in Pittsburgh and outside San Diego.