By Irina Manelis

What do we call on in this time of growing urgency, marked by the steep rise in antisemitism, violent extremism, and the coarsening of public life?

A time when the darker chapters of our history feel far less remote, and when we keep catching glimpses of them in our rearview mirrors? To meet these times, we need to return to ourselves and to remember our story; to stand against hatred together and with our friends; and to find the renewal of clarity, courage, and community.

And Richmond offers a truly meaningful opportunity to do this, at Emek Sholom’s annual Kristallnacht Commemoration on Sunday, November 9, at 2 pm.

The Jewish people are the inheritors of both remarkably resilient beauty and unspeakable trauma, and we rob ourselves, our past, and our future of something so essential if we do not take the time and care to tend to both.

Emek Sholom Holocaust Memorial Cemetery, the earliest of its kind in North America, stands as a valley of peace (“Emek Sholom”) where the names of those who perished, often gathered by survivors, descendants, and the larger Richmond Jewish community, live on. It is a place where our history and traditions are honored. Where we come together to integrate the pain and the healing. And where we reckon unflinchingly with hard realities, while carrying forward unified, unyielding hope.

Showing up matters. And remembering is a crucial part of resolving and rebuilding. In a world that often wants to forget or distort, our presence proclaims that memory is sacred, that truth matters, that our peoplehood is paramount, and that in times of deep turmoil, our commitments and our friends make a tremendous difference.

The wonderful Tal Bahar, our Community Shlicha (emissary), will be our keynote speaker this year. And whether you attend every year, or if you have not yet experienced this powerful commemoration, we warmly invite you.

Please join us and bring a friend on Sunday, November 9, at 2 p.m. for the Kristallnacht Commemoration at Emek Sholom, Holocaust Memorial Cemetery (inside Forest Lawn Cemetery) off Laburnum Ave., near the Richmond Raceway complex.