Yad Vashem and Religious Kibbutz Movement mark 88 years since Kristallnacht with 'Spread the Light'

Yad Vashem and the Religious Kibbutz Movement are jointly leading the 'Spread the Light' initiative to mark 88 years since Kristallnacht, inviting synagogues, universities, theaters, and military bases to keep lights on through the night of November 9. The initiative began 18 years ago and has expanded with Yad Vashem's partnership.

Yad Vashem and the Religious Kibbutz Movement are jointly leading the 'Spread the Light' initiative to commemorate 88 years since Kristallnacht, inviting synagogues, universities, theaters, and military bases across Israel and the Diaspora to keep their lights burning through the night of November 9. Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, occurred on November 9–10, 1938, when Nazis shattered Jewish homes and businesses, murdered hundreds, and burned nearly all synagogues in Germany and Austria. Dalia Wertheim-Yohanan, director of the initiative and a resident of Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi, told The Jerusalem Post that the project began 18 years ago when Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman proposed turning on synagogue lights. Her late father, a Holocaust survivor who experienced Kristallnacht as a child, was deeply moved by the idea. What began as local efforts expanded with the Religious Kibbutz Movement and later Yad Vashem. Wertheim-Yohanan noted that the initiative carries heightened significance amid rising antisemitism since October 2023, and that some diaspora communities are afraid to participate. Chen Shahar, Head of the Culture Section at Yad Vashem, said the initiative transforms remembrance into a visible act of collective responsibility. The article notes that the commemoration is not meant to be solely a day of sadness but one of life and connection.