Yom HaShoah Commemoration at the Roundhouse

The Rotunda at the NM State Capitol was filled on April 14^th as community gathered to honor the memory of the six million Jews who perished, and all who suffered, during the Holocaust. 

The event, hosted by JCRC-NM, began with lighting of memorial candles by community leaders. Violin interludes performed by Rabbi Hazzan Jonathan Angress, Congregation B’nai Israel, set the tone. Keynote speaker Naomi Yavneh Klos, Ph.D., Dean of the Honors College at UNM, presented “Anne Frank was Jewish: Why Identity Matters in Holocaust Education.” NM House Majority Leader Rep. Reena Szczepanski, NM House Minority Whip Rep. Alan Martinez and JCRC-NM Director Juan Dircie shared remarks. The commemoration concluded with Rabbi Hazzan Angress leading a moving rendition of El Malei Rachamim, the traditional memorial prayer for the souls of the departed, followed by the Kaddish.