‘We’ cultivated at interfaith Days of Remembrance ceremony in Burbank
The audience reacts during the Days of Remembrance ceremony at St. Jude’s Angelican Church in Burbank on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. It was the 32nd year that faith groups in Burbank have come together to light candles to commemorate those who were killed in the Holocaust and genocides worldwide.
Members of 17 Burbank churches, mosques and synagogues gathered at St. Jude’s Anglican Church Tuesday night to remember those who lost their lives during the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide and any other atrocity that has occurred around the world.
During the gathering, candles were lit during a Days of Remembrance commemoration — six candles for the six million Jews who were killed during World War II and one candle for the 1.5 million Armenians who died during the Armenian Genocide and other tragic events in history.
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“It’s extremely important for everyone to come together,” said Mike Chapman, president of the Burbank Human Relations Council, which was one of the sponsors of the event. “It’s always been an ecumenical presentation.”
Lawrence Bush, editor of Jewish Currents magazine in New York, spoke during the commemoration, and talked about the armed Jewish resistance to Nazism and how those efforts should not be lost in history.
Bush also explained that many of those who fought against Nazism were young individuals who were more concerned about the masses than themselves. He said he would like to see that kind of mentality brought back.
“We live in a highly individualistic society,” he said. “It’s really important to cultivate the ‘we’ and not just the ‘I.’”
Hilda Fogelson lights a candle to commorate those killed in the Holocaust at the Days of Remembrance ceremony at St. Jude’s Angelican Church in Burbank on Tuesday, May 10, 2016.
Various churches and synagogues have participated in the past in the annual commemoration, which is in its 32nd year. However, it was the first year that members from a local mosque took part.
Khabab Salama, a volunteer at the Burbank Islamic Center, said he and other mosque members were moved by the sentiment of the event and were excited to attend.
“This is a very important social issue that we, as a community, take very heavily,” he said. “It’s not something that should be neglected.”
Like Chapman, Salama said he hopes the ceremonies start a dialogue with all faiths to work on understanding one another rather than being in conflict.
“I hope that we can start talking to each other in a very civil and peaceful manner to try and understand our differences instead of focusing [on] and fighting about our differences,” Salama said.
Before holding the ceremony at St. Jude’s, Chapman was joined by Holocaust survivors and the children of survivors at a Burbank City Council meeting, where they also lit the candles.
“This interfaith unity is quite unique and yet is so important to people everywhere in this country and around the world,” said David Meyerhof, coordinator of the Days of Remembrance event and a second-generation Holocaust survivor, during the meeting.
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
