Members and friends of Kehillat Kernow attended and participated in this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day service at Truro Cathedral, on Tuesday 27th January. The event was organised by Devon and Cornwall Police and our grateful thanks to them.
For the first time we had a Kehillat Kernow stand, put together by Jo Richler with a Kehillat Kernow roll-up banner designed by Paul Kleiman. On the stand’s table we had a number of items reflecting Judaism and the Jewish way of life including Shabbat candles and kiddush cup, havdala candles, a spice box, a chanukiah with 9 coloured candles in it, a selection of kippot, a siddur and a chumash. We also had a lit Yahrzeit candle. We set up about an hour before the service began down one of the naves, alongside a number of other stands from local groups and also a stand from the Association of Jewish Refugees. Having the stand provided an opportunity to meet and chat about Kehillat Kernow, and we had many interesting conversations including with the Mayor and Mayoress of Truro, and students from Truro School and Truro College.
We were among the last to arrive to set up our stand, and the only place left was between two pillars and over a large grill set in the floor. Someone said it was the entrance to the crypt, which might have been why people avoided it. The cathedral was quite cold and as luck would have it, rather than the entrance to the crypt the grill was part of the cathedral’s heating system…which was on!
Also on the table were some books about Jewish life that Jo had brought from her home, one of which was photographs of the old Jewish East End of London. A woman picked it up and started looking through it in earnest. Finally she gasped. She was looking at one of those typical school photographs of a primary school class. She took out her phone and scrolled through the many photographs she had until she found the one she was looking for. It was a photo of her father’s primary school school class…..at the very same East End School! It turned out that her father was a market stall trader on the famous Petticoat Lane but eventually moved to Newquay, where she was born.
The well-attended service, whose theme was ‘Bridging Generations’, was led by Simon Robinson, the Dean of Truro Cathedral, and included a video introduction by Rob Rinder, poignant personal testimonies from Cynthia Hollinsworth and Susan Soyinka, poetry from Ben Barkow, and readings by students from Truro School. Six memorial candles were lit in memory of the 6 million inncluding one by Renate Collins, a Holocaust survivor, and then Jeremy Jacobson, the Kehillat Kernow Chair spoke. He was followed by Paul Kleiman singing ‘El Molei Rachamim’ the Jewish prayer recited at funerals and which has been specially adapted for HMD (see video at end of photos). The service ended with Adam Feldman reading out the traditional priestly blessing. Those attending then lined up to light memorial candles and to write pledges for action.
All photos and video courtesy of Sarah Treeby from Devon and Cornwall Police.
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