We honor the memories of those lost by how we live our lives: A Yom HaShoah Reflection on Never Again

Never Again—for Us or for Anyone?

Yom HaShoah 5786 | Kol Ami: A Center for Jewish Life

In memory of the six million Jews and all those who were killed during the Shoah (catastrophe), and in honor of those who stood up for us when we could not stand up for ourselves.

“Never again”—just for us?

Or “never again”—for anyone?

Where are we this year?

Where are you?

We, as human beings, move constantly between the particular and the universal. Between caring for our own and caring for the whole. Between survival and responsibility.

If you claim to live only as a universalist—if you erase yourself completely in the name of humanity—you risk a kind of martyrdom. No one has asked you to disappear. There can be violence in that, too.

And yet, there is no grace, no protection, no real survival in focusing only on yourself, your people, your own tribe—whether as an individual or as a people. That denies the deep interconnectedness of reality. There is no God in that space. There is no truth in that space. That, too, is a form of violence.

I strive for a world without Holocaust.

No more burning of homes, schools, gardens, and markets.

No more infernos of human bodies.

No more sacrifice of God’s creation in the name of those who seek power and grandeur, who use might to control reality.

Some days I am for myself only. My people. My tribe.

Some days I am for everyone else. The other. Not me. Not mine.

Most days, I strive for balance—for dignity, for equality, for nonviolence.

Today, on Yom HaShoah 5786, I ask:

Where are you today?

Can you notice where you are tomorrow?

May we strive for the balance that makes us human—

earthlings, conscious, powerful, connected,

made in the image of the Divine.

Kaddish Invitation

Wherever you are, we invite you now to pause, to rise if you are able, and to join in Kaddish—for the six million Jews lost in the Shoah (catastrophe), and for all those whose lives were taken. In this prayer, we affirm life even in the face of unimaginable loss.

Mourner’s Kaddish in Aramaic

(courtesy of Sefaria)

אבל: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא. [קהל: אמן]בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ בְּחַיֵּיכון וּבְיומֵיכון וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל בֵּית יִשרָאֵל בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]קהל ואבל: יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא:אבל: יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרומַם וְיִתְנַשּא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל שְׁמֵהּ דְּקֻדְשָׁא. בְּרִיךְ הוּא. [קהל: בריך הוא:]לְעֵלָּא מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא בעשי”ת: לְעֵלָּא לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל וְשִׁירָתָא תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]יְהֵא שְׁלָמָא רַבָּא מִן שְׁמַיָּא וְחַיִּים עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל:אמן]עושה שָׁלום בעשי”ת: הַשָּׁלום בִּמְרומָיו הוּא יַעֲשה שָׁלום עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]

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Mourner’s Kaddish in Aramaic Transliteration

Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba b’alma di-v’ra

chirutei, v’yamlich malchutei b’chayeichon

uvyomeichon uvchayei d’chol beit yisrael, ba’agala

uvizman kariv, v’im’ru: “amen.”

Y’hei sh’mei raba m’varach l’alam ul’almei almaya.

Yitbarach v’yishtabach, v’yitpa’ar v’yitromam

v’yitnaseh, v’yithadar v’yit’aleh v’yit’halal sh’mei

d’kud’sha, b’rich hu,

l’eila min-kol-birchata v’shirata, tushb’chata

v’nechemata da’amiran b’alma, v’im’ru: “amen.”

Y’hei shlama raba min-sh’maya v’chayim aleinu

v’al-kol-yisrael, v’im’ru: “amen.”

Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu

v’al kol-yisrael, v’imru: “amen.”

Mourner’s Kaddish — English Translation

Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world, which God has created according to the divine will.

May God establish the kingdom during your lifetime and in your days,and within the life of the entire House of Israel,speedily and soon;and say: Amen.

May God’s great name be blessedforever and for all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted,extolled and honored, adored and laudedbe the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,beyond all the blessings and hymns,praises and consolationsthat are ever spoken in the world;and say: Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life,for us and for all Israel;and say: Amen.

May the One who creates peace in the high heavensbring peace to us and to all Israel;and say: Amen.