South Florida’s Jewish community gathered this past Sunday morning for a powerful and deeply moving program honoring Holocaust memory, Jewish resilience, and the ongoing responsibility to confront rising antisemitism. The event featured Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. His visit underscored the importance of precise language, historical truth, and moral responsibility in confronting hatred directed at Jews.
The program was attended by civic and communal leaders, including Seth Salver, Mayor of Bal Harbour, reflecting the broad community commitment to Holocaust remembrance, education, and Jewish continuity. A central focus of the morning was Yad Vashem’s historic achievement of recovering and documenting the names of more than five million of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. This initiative reflects Yad Vashem’s mission to restore identity, dignity, and humanity to each victim, ensuring they are remembered as individuals rather than statistics.
“Recovering five million names is not a statistic, it is five million individual lives reclaimed from oblivion. Each name represents a world, a family, a story that matters forever,” said Dayan. The program emphasized that Holocaust remembrance is not solely about the past, but about strengthening Jewish identity and responsibility in the present and future. “This visit is about honoring survivors and victims, but it’s also about strengthening the bond between Yad Vashem and American Jews who feel a deep responsibility to remember, educate, and stand proudly as Jews,” said Tamar Major, national director of Philanthropy for the Yad Vashem USA Foundation. “At a time of rising antisemitism, Holocaust memory is not optional it is essential.”
The program was graciously hosted by Rabbi Yechiel Koskas, whose leadership and hospitality helped create a meaningful and dignified setting for the community gathering. The event was generously sponsored by Sam Shamie and Nancy Shamie. During the program, Sam Shamie announced a $100,000 pledge to Yad Vashem, made in memory of his sister, in support of Holocaust remembrance, education, and historical preservation.
Two Holocaust survivors were present and addressed the audience, offering personal reflections that reinforced the urgency of remembrance and the importance of ensuring that the lessons of history are never forgotten. The program also featured remarks from Robert Garson and Tila Falic Levi, members of a U.S. presidentially appointed Holocaust remembrance advisory committee, who spoke about the global responsibility to preserve historical truth and confront rising hatred against Jews worldwide. The morning concluded with a message of unity and resolve, reaffirming that Jewish memory is sustained most powerfully through community, education, leadership, and action.
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