CHERRY HILL, NJ (SBN) — Hundreds of members of the South Jersey community gathered last night in Cherry Hill for Yom Hashoah, the Holocaust commemoration ceremony that honors survivors of the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jews of Europe during World War II.
As a cello played, dozens of Holocaust survivors and their descendants entered the sanctuary at Congregation Kol Ami. The survivors, and second, third, and even fourth generation descendants were honored as participants pledged to keep the memory alive as a way to combat hatred and bigotry.
Hear from descendants of Holocaust survivors and other community leaders in this audio news report from SBN news director Steve Lubetkin.
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Survivors and their families lit ceremonial candles to commemorate the dead and honor survivors who have recently passed away. Pastor Jonathan Leath of Converge Church in Moorestown, Burlington County, lit a candle for the five to ten million other persecuted minorities, such as homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma, and disabled people who were also killed during the Nazi era.
The service ended with a video showing 600 holocaust survivors joining students in Jerusalem in singing the inspiring song, “Chai” – I am alive.
Steve Lubetkin is the news director for StateBroadcastNews.com. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. He refocused on multimedia journalism and podcast production after a long career in corporate branded journalism and public relations.
He has won numerous awards for his audio and video news reporting from the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced a wide range of audio and video podcasts in his other role as managing partner of State Broadcast News’s parent, The Lubetkin Media Companies.
Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional.
In March 2021, he was elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and in July 2021 he was named secretary of the chapter. In August 2021, he was honored by SPJ with one of the organization’s 2021 Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Awards, given to regular members of an SPJ chapter who go above and beyond in serving their chapter.
Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996.
Steve also has reported on-camera and produces virtual conferences for NJSpotlightNews.org, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC.
From May-November 2019, he produced and reported a weekly podcast, The CRE News Hour, a news and features program focusing on the commercial real estate industry.
From 2014 to 2019 he was New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com and filled in covering Chicago/Midwest and Atlanta.
Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies.
Earlier in his career, Steve reported on rock music at the Jersey Shore for the Asbury Park Press, and was a broadcast news anchor and production engineer for WJLK-AM & FM, then owned by the Press. He also worked as a general assignment reporter for the Red Bank Register, Shrewsbury, NJ.
You can email Steve at steve@statebroadcastnews.com.
