Sigma Delta Tau

Special guest blogger: Susan Stern Ringel, Upsilon-Indiana University (1986)

Whenever I meet up with SDT sisters, every conversation includes “Do you remember?” Do you remember…the songs we sang for Rush?…the walk on Initiation Night?…that Oreo ice cream dessert?

Another thing worth remembering, on an entirely different note, is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. To do my part in remembering, I have created an App where you light a virtual candle in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, this year on April 23-24.

Are you thinking, we’ve got Holocaust movies, novels, textbooks, foundations, museums, and more, does the world need an App too? Yes, today it is still a critical task to remember the intolerance of the past, and to foster acceptance in the present and future. For me, creating and promoting this app has been a rewarding challenge.

Why would you download this app?

• In addition to lighting a physical candle, you wish to observe Yom HaShoah in another way.
• You live in a place where you cannot light candles, such as an apartment, nursing home, or college dorm room.
• You will be out of town and can’t light the candle at home.
• You don’t have a candle and you want to light one.
• You find it meaningful to download apps like this on your phone.

The steps to using the App are easy:

1. Go to the Apple App Store*, and search for “Yom HaShoah candle.”
2. The app, the only one of its kind, will come up.
3. Download the free app.
4. Tap through the tutorial, and then choose a time to be reminded to light your candle April 23-24.
5. When that time arrives, you will be able to light your candle with the tap of a button, and recite a paragraph of text. Your candle will burn for 24 hours, as you join the worldwide commemoration.

The “Yom HaShoah Candle App,” now in its second year, is supported by my temple, Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, Ohio. Our mobile app developer this year is a 15-year-old high school freshman. He did a terrific job of guiding us through the technology and bringing the concept to fruition. The inspiration for the app is our brotherhood group, called Men of Fairmount Temple, which has been delivering physical Yom HaShoah candles to members’ homes for decades. Two years ago, while helping to deliver candles, I had the idea for the App.

SDT Sisters, please remember the Holocaust with me. Download this app, and share it with your family and friends under Options > Send Candle to Others. You can re-open the app anytime and see your candle’s flickering flame. After 24 hours, you will receive a notification that the flame has gone out.

*Note: we hope that next year, with more funding, we will be able to build the app for Android users too.