Kansas City native Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg has published the “Rosenberg Holocaust Siddur.” It is currently only available online and can be downloaded for free at http://www.jewishfreeware.org/downloads/YOM%20HASHOAH/.The 143-page book can be downloaded from any computer and copies can be printed anywhere. Prayers are included in Hebrew, Hebrew transliteration and English translation.
Rabbi Rosenberg is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, New Jersey, and an associate professor at Yeshiva University. He has just been named chaplain of the Edison, N.J., township. The child of Holocaust survivors, he has wanted to do this project for a long time.
“A world without Holocaust survivors is not far away. Yet, very little has been done to create a liturgy to commemorate that most catastrophic event in Jewish history,” Rabbi Rosenberg explained. “I am deeply concerned the Holocaust will be forgotten.”
He believes that without a framework for commemoration, remembrance will not long endure.
“For more than 3,000 years, Jews have been reminded every spring of the Exodus from Egypt, at a date firmly implanted on the Jewish calendar that is observed with seder rituals. Will the Holocaust, like the Exodus, be remembered beyond the generations of our grandchildren’s grandchildren? Very likely not — if no halachic agreement is reached on a specific day for remembrance, with prayers, readings and rituals adapted for the occasion.”
Rabbi Rosenberg, hopes the siddur he has compiled will fill that void. It includes poems, essays, songs and Ma’ariv services.
“Only by linking the Holocaust to ritual will the memory of the Holocaust survive other than just being a mere date in history,” Rabbi Rosenberg believes. “I am doing this now because time is running out as the last of the Holocaust survivors pass away.”
He explains that one may choose any of the numerous readings, poems or essays to incorporate into a seder or Holocaust remembrance service.
“There are so many that it is easy to create numerous different Holocaust programs from the vast amount of literature presented,” he said.
While the book is currently only available online, he is hoping he can publish it in a traditional book format.
“There are pictures of my parents and myself in the Internet version, but no art work. I would love to see art work in a hard-bound edition,” he explained.
The siddur is dedicated to Rosenberg’s parents, who were married in a displaced persons camp and eventually settled in Kansas City to be near other family members in the area.
“My father first opened a fruit store, then worked for Wilson Meat Company. Eventually he went into real estate. My mother worked in the garment industry. I attended public schools and Kehilath Israel Synagogue religious school. Early on, I decided to become a rabbi because of what had happened to my family during the Holocaust. ‘Never Again’ became my mantra. I would do my best to fight prejudice and hatred and prevent another genocide from ever happening again,” he explained.
