Yom HaShoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day—falls on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, just a few days after the last day of Passover. It was first officially observed in Israel on 27 Nissan (May 3), 1951 and it is now commemorated by Jewish communities around the world.
This year, Yom HaShoah falls on April 24, 2025. As with all Jewish holidays, it begins at sundown the evening before. That means many Yom HaShoah commemorations and memorial events will take place on April 23, as well as throughout the week.
But why was this date chosen?
The 27th of Nissan was chosen because it marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. In 1943, approximately 7,000 of the 50,000 Jews who has thus far survived in the Ghetto—all forced to live in unbearable, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions—rose up.
They resisted.
They fought back.
Even though they knew the uprising was unlikely to lead to their freedom.
I think about this a lot. There wasn’t much hope for them. Yet, they kept hope alive. They raised their voices—for future generations, if not for their own.
If we don’t have hope, what do we have?
Every year on this date, at 10am, Israel comes to a standstill. Imagine being on U.S. Route 95. Or Route 1 or Highway 66. Or Route 90 or Storrow Drive. Or on your local road. Every car, every bus, every truck, stops. Drivers step out and stand at attention. Sirens wail across the country. For two full minutes, the nation pauses.
We remember.
At 10:02 everyone returns to their vehicles and continues with their day. Not as normal. Yet, as normal.
We shall never forget.
Yom HaShoah is a day on which we remember the horrors of the Holocaust.
And, by observing it on 27 Nissan—the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising—Yom HaShoah is also a day of honoring courage.
It is a day of honoring defiance.
It is a day of hope.
There is always hope.
There must always be hope.
