Day of Liberation and Rescue Marked at Central Gathering at the Kosel

By Hamodia Staff

The Day of Liberation and Rescue of the Jews of Europe from the hands of the Nazis was observed on Monday, 26 Iyar, and commemorates the martyrs of the Holocaust and the rescue of the survivors. This year marked 79 years since the rescue and a decade since its establishment on the Hebrew date of the surrender of the Third Reich in France, at the initiative of Jewish businessman Gabriel German Zakharyayev, and endorsed by the Chief Rabbis of Israel and Europe. The day was observed in Israel and around the world with Chief Rabbis, representatives from the Allied countries, and Holocaust survivors in attendance. In light of an appeal from leading Rabbis, tefillos were held with a special emphasis on the participation of the Talmud Torah students.

Thousands of people, including hundreds of children, attended dozens of prayer services at shuls, memorial sites, and schools throughout the world. Participating cities include Buenos Aires, Argentina; Beijing, China; Budapest, Hungary; Moscow; Vienna, Austria; Warsaw, Poland; Paris, Strasbourg, and Marseilles, France; Frankfurt and Leipzig, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Georgetown; New York; Pinsk and Minsk, Belarus; and Sydney, Australia. The events were led by Chief Rabbis, community leaders, and had defense ministers and other government representatives, military attachés, ambassadors of Allied countries, and survivors in attendance.

This year, an especially emotional prayer gathering was also held in Djerba, Tunisia, and in Bucharest, Warsaw, and Chisinau (Kishinev), Moldova, where hundreds of Ukrainian refugees attended similar prayer gatherings. In Israel, the central prayer gathering took place at the Kosel, as well as at dozens of shuls in cities countrywide, among them Be’er Sheva, Ganei Tikva, Modi’in, Ashdod, and Migdal HaEmek.

As always, the opening event for the Day of Liberation and Rescue took place at the Kosel plaza in a gathering of prayer and thanksgiving. Rabbi Moshe Lebel, the Rosh Yeshivah of Torat Chaim Yeshiva in Moscow, Rabbi Yosef Kaminetzky, and Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur, all delivered blessings and words of chizuk.

Among the participants at the gathering were hundreds of students from the Yizkor Mishnah study project in memory of the Holocaust martyrs, of the Our Descendants and Us organization, which operates 50 branches in Israel under the tutelage of businessman Mr. Gabriel German Zakharyayev, the initiator of the Day of Liberation and Rescue. Children from the world’s largest Mishnah study project gave a touching performance for family members and participants as they recited Tehillim for the release of the hostages and recovery of the wounded. The participants certainly accepted ol Malchus Shamayim through prayer and thanksgiving to Hashem.

The event concluded with the Yizkor prayer delivered by Cantor David Weinbach.

At the Great Synagogue in Moscow, hundreds of people gathered for a prayer service and thanksgiving led by the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Avraham Shayevich. The guest of honor from Israel, Rabbi Gedalya Hoffnung, moved all the participants and set their hearts on fire. He delivered warm words in honor of the Day of Liberation and Rescue and praised the work of Mr Gabriel German Zakharyayev who initiated the idea, and who also delivered an emotional speech. A student of the Reishit Chochma Talmud Torah recited a perek of mishnayos. The Israeli ambassador read messages delivered from President Yitzchak Herzog and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in honor of the Day of Liberation and Rescue.

A particularly moving prayer service took place in the hall of Yeshivat Or Torah, located in the synagogue of Rabbi Shalom Zatskal in Djerba, Tunisia, with the participation of hundreds of residents and students. Rabbi Haim Bitan, the Chief Rabbi of Tunisia, spoke from the podium.

At the Great Synagogue in Vienna, Rabbi Jaron Engelmayer addressed the participants in the prayer service and led them in the recitation of chapters of Psalms. The gathering concluded with the singing of Ani Ma’amin, sung to the melody composed by Reb Azriel David Fastag while on the death train.  

President Herzog delivered a special letter to Israel’s minister of religious affairs, Minister Michael Malchieli in honor of the Day of Liberation and Rescue. In his message, the president wrote that “There is no dispute that our fight against evil is not over. Even these days, we continue fighting a war to annihilate absolute evil in yet another embodiment of Satan, of cruelty, and of blind hatred. But the important position you hold fills me not only with pride, but also with hope, because we will wisely stand with resolve against those who seek to harm us… specifically on this day, which marks the triumph over an empire of odious hate, I draw strength and encouragement.”

The Day of Liberation and Rescue is an initiative of Mr Gabriel German Zakharyayev, vice-president of the Russian Jewish Congress and president of the International Charity Foundation of Mountain Jews, STMEGI: “The Jewish nation has the longest and most powerful memory, and the degree of gratitude is one of the most fundamental importance to them. Thank G-d, each year more and more communities of Israel incorporate this important idea into their activities and I will continue doing all that I can to assimilate our obligation to thank and praise G-d and to remember His messengers, through acts of charity, the purchase of sifrei Torah, and the study of Mishnayos in the way it has been passed down to us from generation to generation.”