Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event 2012 Video

PICTURES AND VIDEOS OF INTERFAITH HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE EVENT ATTENDED BY 750 PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS, CHURCH ON THE SQUARE AT THE VILLAGES FLORIDA, APRIL 19, 2012

On April 19, 2012, 750 person’s of all faiths came together for the Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event at The Villages Florida Church on the Square April 19, 2012, to remember and help keep the memory of the Holocaust and all of it's Jewish and non-Jewish victims alive. The audience was approximately 1/3 Jewish and 2/3 of all other faiths.

Click here for an article from The Village Sun published the day after the event.

Click here for an article about the event from the May issue of The Chronicle, publication of the Jewish Council of North Central Florida

Our special guest speaker from Israel, Dr. Raanan Gissin, was Senior Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The subject of his presentation was “Genocidal Anti-Semitism: New Threats In Western Democracies”.

Clergy from 4 major local Churches and Temple Shalom by The Villages spoke including:
Minister Judith Maisonneuve – Open Circle at The Villages Metropolitan Community Church;
Pastor Zachariah Harris - Rock of Ages Lutheran Church;
Sheldon Skurow – Spiritual Leader -Temple Shalom;
Father Edward Waters – St. Timothy Catholic Church;
Reverend Drew Willard – United Church of Christ

After completing their presentation, each speaker lit a candle. The candles were just behind an actual Dutch Yellow "Jood" Star from the Nazi occupation of Holland.


Cantor Emil Levy, President of the Flame Society	Eitan Zur, President of Temple Shalom	Dr. Raanan Gissin, Former Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon


Rev. Drew Willard, United Church of Christ	Father Ed Waters, St. Timothy Catholic Church	Judith Maisonneuve, Open Circle at The Villages Metropolitan Community Church


Pastor Zacharia Harris Rock of Ages Lutheran Church	Temple Shalom member and Holocaust survivor Miriam Apfel with Sheldon Skurow Spiritual Leader of Temple Shalom	Remembrance memorial candles were lit by each speaker surrounding a Dutch "Jood" Star from the Holocaust

Phil Glazier, a member of Temple Shalom By The Villages in Oxford, opened the event by blowing the Shofar starting in response to the call “T'qiah” by Sheldon Skurow Spiritual Leader of Temple Shalom. His holding the last note on the Shofar for such an incredibly long time drew a large round of applause from the audience.

Miriam Apfel, a member of Temple Shalom and a Holocaust survivor, was honored with flowers and walked down the aisle by Temple Shalom members to the front of the Church.

Cantor Emil Levy, CEO of the Flame Society, then sang in somber tones Pslam 30.

Dr. Raanan Gissin, former senior advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was sponsored by The Flame Society which is dedicated to educating the world about the Holocaust.

Dr. Gissin in his presentation said that “the warning signs are loud and clear that the Holocaust could happen again and the time to prevent it is now”. He said that “Iran today with a nuclear arm is an improved model of Nazi Germany”. He ended his presentation by saying “raise your voice, ensure high school kids in the State of Florida will know about the Holocaust with the click of a button.” “It is up to to each generation to continue to remember and honor the memories of the millions who died.”

One of the Church clergy who spoke was Reverend Edward Waters of St. Timothy Catholic Community Church in The Villages. He mentioned that he found out just before the event that a relative named Varian Frye who had died in 1967 was honored in 1994 by Yad Vashem as a "Righteous Among the Nations”. Varian Frye played a key role in saving 2,000 Jews, including such distinguished artists and intellectuals as Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Franz Werfel, Lion Feuchtwanger, and Heinrich Mann. His covert activities angered officials of both the U.S. State Department and Vichy France and in September 1941, he was expelled from France. [A book published in 2008 about Varian Frye's exploits saving Jews from the Holocaust is on our Holocaust Remembrance webpage {click here to go that page} in it's "Books" section.]

To view each video, just place your mouse over the video image and right click your mouse

Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event Part 1

Included in the beginning of this segment is the incredible and awe inspiring blowing of the Shofar by Phil Glazier, Temple Shalom member.

Similar to a trumpet, the ram's horn is a unique musical instrument. It is described in the Old Testament as the horn to blow for alarm and for celebration. The ram's horn has not changed in over 5,000 years. The sounds of the Shofar is the call to life. The calls are three-fold; each one echoing a different human condition. The Shofar calls are defined below.

TEKIAH: Gather for celebration......Come together to make holy your days......Join hands in gratitude and joy.

SHEVARIM: Respond to the pain of the world.......A cry for healing and justice.......We are our brother's and sister's keepers.

TERUAH: Wake up...... Move forward with purpose and knowledge....Know where you are going.

TEKIAH GEDOLAH: The ultimate call…The summons to hope in the ultimate triumph of goodness and joy......Our faith in the future and mankind.

Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event Part 2

Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event Part 3

Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event Part 4

Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event Part 5

Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event Part 6

In addition to the 6 million European and Russian Jews murdered by the Nazi’s during the Holocaust of whom 1.3 million were children, 6 million others were killed including Priests, Pastors, Nuns , academics, students and other civilians, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, Gays, Lesbians, Blacks living in Germany, the handicapped and mentally ill, captured US and allied soldiers. Those that survived and the other eyewitnesses such as the soldiers who liberated the camps are now at an age where they are rapidly diminishing in number.

Remembrance and education keeps the memory of both the Holocaust and all of its victims alive, with the hope that the past never again becomes the future for anyone based on their religion, race, sexual orientation, political belief or medical condition.

Temple Shalom has established a permanent Holocaust Remembrance Resource and Education page on its website. The extensive list of resources and detailed footnotes are intended to serve as an educational reference for the public and local schools. The page can be found by going to Temple Shalom’s website and clicking on the “Holocaust Remembrance Resource and Education” box on the right side of the page, or, by clicking here.

The mission of The Flame Society is to teach the lessons learned from Holocaust by creating television programs and classroom educational materials and to provide funding for relevant Holocaust-related projects to ensure that mankind will never forget.
We would like to thank the Flame Society for sponsoring Dr. Gissin's travel to our Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Event. To learn more about The Flame Society click here and you will be taken to their website.

Videotaping and video editing by T. Dessert, Temple Shalom

Still pictures by D. Dessert, Temple Shalom

Webmaster R Fishman
The planning, development, management and promotion of this event was the result of the work of volunteers from the Temple Shalom Holocaust Remembrance Event Committee