Sunday Celebration commemorating the Holocaust

On Sunday, April 16 the two Christian communities of Lakeshore Trinity United and St Edward The Confessor came together in a joint celebration with a representative from the Montreal Holocaust Museum, and a Holocaust survivor, Fishel Goldig, and his wife Lorna to remember the “Shoah” especially in the Warsaw Ghetto.

l to r: Father Mike, Ann Marie, Fishel and Rev Steve from Lakeshore Trinity United Church

Many people were involved in this wonderful celebration:
The choir of Lakeshore Trinity United, led by Jan - pianist Gohar, and our cantor Rachel - the children involved in our catechism class, lead by Michelle, Valentina and Judith - a group of women from both Christian communities, headed up by Nora Canning, which provided food for over 100 people including kosher food for our guests. And behind the scenes - Craig, who organized the screening during the celebration, and also presented the slides which Fishel brought to describe his experience during the holocaust as a child.

It was a celebration which truly reflected and respected our different faith traditions, and was pulled together so very well by Reverend Steve Gillam‘s reflection.

Opening and closing hymns were from the Hebrew tradition and Psalm 16 was sung in Hebrew by Kenny Bell, a member of the Corpus Christi parish.

A book, created by Valentina, containing the reflections of the Confirmandi on what the holocaust meant to them, was given to Fishel and his wife together with a pot of daffodils in remembrance of the holocaust event.
A total of seven pots of daffodils were in the church to represent the seven million people killed in the Holocaust, six million Jews and one million non-Jews.

It was a celebration of true unity and touched all those who attended.

A sincere thanks to all, mentioned or not, who were involved in helping to create this wonderful celebration on a beautiful day.