Yom HaShoah is our chance to come together, as one community, a family, to commemorate a shared trauma. We remember and mourn for all those brutally murdered by the Nazis just for being Jewish. We pray for those who were never given a Jewish burial and we light yahrzeit candles for those whose entire families were wiped out. We yearn for the communities that were and the communities that could have been, had antisemitism not been allowed to take hold of Europe.

But this Yom HaShoah, as well as a time of introspection and remembrance, it must also serve an additional purpose, as a warning of what can happen when we allow antisemitism to fester unchallenged.

As we come together, a dark looming shadow will hang over us, a profound pain as we continue to reconcile with the barbaric events of October 7, which saw the largest single number of Jews murdered since the Holocaust. More than 100 hostages remain in captivity.

We come together amidst a continuing explosion of antisemitism in the UK and worldwide. In the US, Jewish students at universities have been assaulted and prevented from attending classes while anti-Israel protesters chant “burn Tel Aviv to the ground” and “go back to Poland”. In the UK, British Jewish students were confronted with swastikas accompanied by “F***k Zios” at the National Conference of the National Union of Students. In our cities, week in and week out, we have to tolerate marches that we are told are calling for peace, yet gleefully chant for violence and share sentiment of anti-Jewish hate.

So, this year, as we attend shul services, light candles, and hear the testimonies of our beloved and brave Holocaust survivors, we will remember the past while also committing ourselves to fighting for a better future.

Zog Nit Keyn Mol, the Yiddish hymn of the Partisans, feels particularly poignant this year of all years: “From lands of green palm trees to lands all white with snow, / We are coming with our pain and with our woe, / And where’er a spurt of our blood did drop, / Our courage will again sprout from that spot.”

The partisans knew that in many cases resistance felt futile, but nonetheless were determined that future Jewish generations would not just live, but thrive. Since October 7, we have rallied as a community, acknowledging our collective trauma and standing together against hate and antisemitism.

This is what we will do on Yom HaShoah and will continue to do. We will stand together to demand the unconditional release of the hostages and pray for peace in the region. Our courage has sprouted again and it will not be silenced.