Holocaust commemorations have--and should have--some common elements.
This article incorporates both existing practices and suggestions. In addition to his rabbinic expertise, the author is also a leading Holocaust scholar. Excerpted with permission of the author from The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays.
Ideally, a commemoration should reach out and bring Jews of every background together. In the Holocaust, there are no differences between religious or secular, assimilated or committed Jews. The unity of Jewish destiny should be a given in all remembrances
Any Holocaust liturgy should avoid total affirmation or resolution. This tragedy, too destructive to be overcome lightly or swiftly, poses radical questions to all humanity. Nor should the mood be one of total defeat and despair; that would not do justice either to those who remained faithful even in the moments of greatest agony or to the incredible renewal of life that survivors exhibited after the war.
In light of the inability to express the inexpressible, prayers preferably should be taken from the actual writings and testimony of those who went through the Holocaust. Similarly, most commemorations incorporate music from the camps and ghettoes. The various languages of the Jewish people also should be included. One must fight Hitler by refusing to yield cultural heritage to destruction.
A service should conclude with the traditional mourners' prayer, the Kaddish. Traditionally, when someone dies without leaving immediate family, the nearest relative recites the Kaddish. For millions in the Holocaust, the entire family, with all its branches, was wiped out; now Jews are the nearest living relatives; the entire congregation can appropriately join in saying Kaddish.
For those who have religious or other reservations, however, the alternative is that the entire group stand together while some recite the words. Those who feel they should not recite the Kaddish should stand in silence, which, after all, may be the only authentic liturgical response to the Holocaust.
The single most widespread ritual observance is the lighting of memorial candles for the six million. This practice is well-nigh universal. Candles have a long history as memorial lights and as symbols of life. In a day that started with no inherited form, how powerful is the religious spirit that instantly picked out a symbol so totally rooted in tradition yet so contemporary.
In most ceremonies, six candles are lit, one for each million. Survivors, when present, are asked to do the lighting. In some communities, seven candles are lit, thereby linking up to the ancient menorah symbolism.