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Through a unique confluence in the calendar, three significant dates impacted the tone and worship experience this past Shabbat. Saturday evening, as Shabbat concluded, we began the seventh yahrtzeit (the 18^th of Cheshvan). This was also the Shabbat immediately preceding Veterans’ Day. This was also the Shabbat immediately preceding the observance of Kristallnacht. Knowing that there would be no easy answer, nevertheless I pondered how best to respond to this trifecta of remembrance. 

Since we are blessed with the presence of the Pittsburgh Holocaust Center and knowing that they would be having a Kristallnacht commemoration on November 10, I thought it best to leave it in their skilled hands. The 10.27 Commemoration Committee worked on both the solar date as well as the lunar date, and had crafted both an evening program combining prayer, remembrance and study as well as the same for that Sunday morning. Since I would be reading their names when I read the yahrtzeit list for the week and anticipated that most in attendance over Shabbat would rise to recited Kaddish, I felt that the best choice was to leave it for the conclusion of Shabbat. 

Shabbat is supposed to be about joy and gratitude, which is why, for example, when a mourner sitting shiva arrives for Friday evening services, they remain outside the sanctuary until Kabbalat Shabbat concludes, since it is supposed to be a joyous welcome to Shabbat. While it is inevitable that sadness can creep into Shabbat morning services, and sometimes that is beyond our control, the overarching theme is joy. Imposing a pall over the service, especially when it might not be necessary, was the guidance I needed to make the decision to utilize Shabbat morning as a day of gratitude for those who have served in our armed forces. Thus, we recognized those who have served, took a moment out of our time together to say thank you, and appreciate the sacrifice and dedication each veteran. 

The theme of remembering united all three of these dates, each with their own unique set of observances. Remember is an active verb and demands of us not merely our presence at a commemoration, but action as well. Whether it might be attending a service, lighting a yahrtzeit candle, reciting Kaddish, studying Torah, saying “thank you” to a veteran, or continuing to educate the world about the risk of H unchecked, we need to be present. We do not remember out of fear that we might forget. Rather, we remember to demonstrate that these matter, that they are important, so that others will heed the call as well and be encouraged to remember. It cannot be a suggestion; it must be an imperative.