Six candles will be lit Thursday night at Bloomington's Moses Montefiore Temple, representing the six million people who perished in Nazi death camps during the Holocaust. Prayers will also be said honoring the dead.
The local event is timed to coincide with the annual Yom HaShoah remembrance service taking place in Israel.
The service will be held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is open to the public.
Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe of Moses Montefiore, said she hopes non-Jewish members of the community will also attend the service to show solidarity not only with Holocaust victims, but with those who continue to face religious and ethnic persecution today.
"It's not only a memorial, but it's a statement saying we should never forget, with the understanding that genocide is still happening today all over the world and we as the people of Bloomington-Normal have a responsibility to speak up for those who don't have a voice," the rabbi said.
Dubowe also said Moses Montefiore Temple will hold an open house for the public on May 22 which will include a tour of its sanctuary and viewing of the scrolls that contain ancient Hebrew Scriptures. That open house follows similar events held in recent months at two Bloomington's mosques and the Hindu Temple to foster inter-faith understanding.