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JFS is a non-profit, non-sectarian social service agency whose mission is to preserve and strengthen the quality of individual, family and community life based on Jewish values. We provide our services to a diverse socio-economic client population that includes individuals, children, young adults, families and the elderly.

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"The March of the Living" is a 3-kilometer walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau, a silent tribute to all victims of the Holocaust. The March is designed to contrast with the death marches, which began towards the end of World War II, and continued virtually up until the Third Reich's last days. The Nazis forced approximately 750,000 prisoners, almost half of whom were Jewish, on to the death marches. The March of the Living serves as a hopeful counterpoint to the experience of hundreds of thousands of Jews and others forced by the Nazis to cross vast expanses of European terrain under the harshest of conditions where many of them perished. The March of the Living is joined each year by thousands of Jewish teens, adults and survivors from around the world along with many other people from diverse faiths and background, including the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish traditions. Students whose communities have experienced historic persecutions also participate, such as survivors of the Rwandan genocide, First Nation students and African Americans" (for more information, please refer to www.motl.org).

This year marks a particularly painful anniversary, for it has been 70 years since the deportation and destruction of Hungarian Jewry during the Holocaust. As I watched thousands of people enter the courtyard of Birkenau and gather to hear speakers and singers from all walks of Jewish life, I was particularly impressed by all of the younger people present. I know that the march has always supported many student educational programs as a part of their efforts, but it wasn't until I watched the event that I could sense the connection that these young folks felt to their past. By participating, the Holocaust became for them an undeniable part of their Jewish heritage and identity. Uncomfortable as it was , confronting this painful part of our past is one way of solidifying our future. By not denying our past we are hopefully destined not to repeat it. 

We who are more advanced in life experience will come to depend on these same young ones to continue in our footsteps and ensure the future of the Jewish people. Here at Or Chadash we will be acknowledging several of our own as they formalize their decision to be a part of that future. On May 9th we will be celebrating the Confirmation Class of 2014. Please join us as we support them in their decision to become that link between our past and our future. This is, in its truest sense, l'dor vador, from generation to generation.