J'lem and San Diego hook up for Holocaust Remembrance

Two cities to gold joint event for commemoration of International Holocause Memorial Day; first of its kind between countries.

By BARRY DAVIS
san diego holocaust 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
san diego holocaust 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Beit Avi Chai and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in San Diego will hold a joint event to commemorate International Holocaust Memorial Day on Thursday at 8 p.m.
The event at Beit Avi Chai will be broadcast live to the JCC in San Diego with an interactive computer system enabling the US audience to respond in real time to the activities taking place in Jerusalem. This is one of the first simultaneous events to take place between Israel and the US.
Journalist Haim Etgar will be the MC for the evening, and Prof. Yehuda Bauer will lecture on true and imaginary memories.
The musical entertainment for the evening will feature the Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble and the Halev ve Ha’- maayan quartet. The Kol Rina choir will also perform in tandem with cantor Netanel Baram.
Event organizer Michal Nakar notes that International Holocaust Memorial Day holds major significance for Jews worldwide. Held on the day that the Allies liberated Auschwitz, it represents international recognition of the pivotal role of the Holocaust in shaping the Western world as we know it.
According to Nakar, “At Beit Avi Chai, we have chosen to address the issue of cultural remembrance, which can become a conduit for sustaining the memory of the Holocaust by the Jewish nation and by the entire world. This will ensure that this memory will not fade but will assume international cultural significance.”
Admission to the event is free.