Last week’s blog, “Why I No Longer Attend Yom HaShoah Commemorations,” received much reaction. Except for one person, readers understood my feelings and shared similar frustrations about the current state of Yom HaShoah observances.
However, that one person who felt differently was fully justified in his critique. He wrote:
“I was a bit surprised by your reaction of this Day of Remembrance. This year especially it would seem important to show solidarity and strength. Perhaps it was more important for you this year, too.”
I needed this bit of Mussar. I appreciated his feedback
By the time I read his concerning letter, I was already having second thoughts about not attending this year’s Yom HaShoah memorial service. Some things are just not about me. Even though the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Elul is my own private day of remembrance — it is the day that the shtetl where my father grew up and my mother miraculously survived the War was eliminated and all of its Jewish inhabitants liquidated. But Yom HaShoah, the 27th day of Nisan, is a communal happening.
By the time I received the letter, I felt compelled to recite Kaddish (mourner’s prayer). It was already late in the day on Yom HaShoah, and the only synagogue holding Mincha (afternoon) services was the local Chabad. I chose not to go to their shul, as Chabad does not observe Yom HaShoah. They do not even list that day in their calendar.
Instead, I joined an online Kaddish minyan hosted by myjewishlearning.com.
The format of this Kaddish group was simple. The mourners note in the chat for whom they are saying Kaddish. Then the rabbi gives a d’var torah (sermon).
The rabbi was young. I was taken aback that the rabbi was in a car, with their child in the back seat. I tried to overlook that; life is busy.
Until…
The rabbi continued, giving a passing mention that Yom HaShoah coincided with that day. The rabbi quickly moved on, discussing the weekly Torah portion and connecting the Torah portion to climate change. The rest of the time was solely devoted to climate change.
I was horrified.
Yom HaShoah marks one of the most tragic ruptures of Jewish history when we were nearly all erased. It was a seismic event and all this rabbi could talk about was climate change!?!
Did Elie Wiesel’s fear that the Holocaust might be relegated as a footnote of history in the twenty-first century become a reality? Has the younger generation of Jews, including those in today’s rabbinate, become so distant by the Shoah that they feel other causes take precedence?
I left the Zoom group early in disbelief and wrote a letter to myJewishlearning.com. I have yet to receive a response.
I then shared this experience with the same individual who scolded me in the early part of this article. His response:
“I too would have ‘turned off the telly’!”
Saul Chapnick was raised in an Orthodox home with deep familial Hasidic roots. Educated in yeshiva and later earning a Master of Social Work degree from Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Saul has continued throughout his life to embrace Jewish learning in many settings—from studying at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion to maintaining a weekly chavruta for ongoing Torah study. His lifelong journey has given him a deep appreciation for richness of Jewish tradition across the spectrum of Jewish life.
For more than thirty-five years, Saul has devoted himself to the study of Jewish history, with a particular focus on Jewish life in interwar Eastern Europe. Inspired by the mitzvah of Zachor (to remember), he has explored both the extraordinary vibrancy of the Jewish world that was destroyed in the Shoah and the enduring questions of Jewish memory, continuity, and identity. Through extensive travel, archival research, and conversations with survivors, scholars, communal leaders, and public figures, he has sought to understand not only what was lost, but also what those vanished communities continue to teach us today.
His writing explores the intersection of Jewish history, personal memory, Israel, and contemporary Jewish life, seeking to connect the voices of the past with the challenges of the present.
A gifted storyteller and engaging speaker, Saul has lectured throughout the United States and abroad on Jewish history, Yiddish language and culture, modern Poland, Israel, and post-Holocaust Jewish identity. His presentations blend scholarship with personal experience, inviting audiences to explore the enduring relevance of Jewish history to contemporary Jewish life. He has also prepared adult participants of the March of the Living by providing historical and cultural context that deepens their understanding of both Poland's Jewish past and its emerging Jewish present.
Saul is the author of a widely read weekly Substack newsletter and a contributor to The Times of Israel, where he reflects on Jewish life, history, Israel, memory, and current events. His essays weave together personal experience, historical research, and contemporary issues, encouraging readers to reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing the Jewish people today.
For the past thirteen years, Saul has served as the Substitute Chaplain through the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Chaplaincy Program at Miami Jewish Health. During rabbinic transitions, he has served as the community's interim spiritual leader, leading Shabbat and holiday services, reading Torah, delivering Divrei Torah, teaching adult education classes and study groups, and providing pastoral care to residents and their families.
Professionally, Saul brings more than two decades of executive leadership in healthcare and human services. He specialized in turning around distressed assisted living and memory care communities by rebuilding staff morale, restoring occupancy, improving quality of care, ensuring regulatory compliance, and returning organizations to financial stability. Today, he draws upon that experience as an expert witness in legal matters involving senior care, assisted living, and long-term care communities.
Whether teaching Torah, leading prayer, writing, or speaking, Saul believes that Judaism is best experienced through learning, storytelling, meaningful relationships, and a deep respect for every individual's Jewish journey.
At the same time, Chapnick has witnessed a limited reawakening of Jewish life in his family’s ancestral homeland of Poland. He has spoken at numerous venues on the contemporary relevance of Yiddish and Yiddish culture, the significance of the 19th- and 20th-century Jewish world to modern life, and the shaping of post-Holocaust Jewish identity. He also prepares adult participants of the March of the Living to engage meaningfully with modern-day Jewish Poland.
Chapnick shares his insights and reflections in weekly blogs on https://saulchapnick.substack.com, where readers are welcome to subscribe.
