Commemoration of the Shoah, Vesper Service

The 43rd annual Christian Commemoration of the Shoah will be held here at A&P this year. The theme of this year is “You shall be holy…”, and this special Vesper service will bring together Jews, Christians and others to commemorate the six million Jews and one million other victims of the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah (“the annihilation” in Hebrew), during World War II.

Co-presided by Rev. Glenn Chestnutt and Rabbi Sherril Gilbert, the commemoration will include a testimony by Holocaust survivor Rachel Gropper. There will be also a candle lighting ceremony in remembrance of all the victims of the Shoah. Songs and music will be performed by a vocal Quartet (cantorial soloist Rona Nadler, Alexandra Asher, Kerry Bursey, and Dave Benson) and by Dr. Jonathan Oldengarm Director of Music and Organist.

All are invited to commemorate the Shoah with us in our sanctuary or online.

Click here for the Order of Service.

The CJDM has prepared materials which can be integrated into both in person or online worship, all of which are available on the website of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (http://www.oikoumene.ca/).

Yom Hashoah (“the Day of the Shoah”) was established in 1951 by the Knesset, the Parliament of Israel. In Montreal, the first Christian Commemoration of the Shoah took place at Christ Church Cathedral in 1979. Since then, different Christian churches have engaged with members of the Jewish community in a shared act of remembrance on the Sunday closest to Yom Hashoah. In 1999, the National Assembly officially recognized the observance of Yom Hashoah and invited Quebec citizens to share in the memories and mourning of the Jewish community and to ponder the lessons learned from the Shoah.