Please don’t let them find out I’m Jewish. Please don’t let them find out I’m Jewish. It is November 10, 1938, and Margot Gunther (Jeremias) is riding the train to school. It’s an hour ride from her home in Hoffenheim, Germany to Heidelberg where her school is. [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
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How do we even begin to understand the experience of the Holocaust? How do we give our students insight into something we can barely comprehend? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
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Seventy-five years ago, death camps and labor camps were liberated one by one as the Allies marched across Europe. On May 8, 1945, the armed forces of Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. The Jews of Europe as a people were liberated, freed from their slavery and oppression. Free to emerge from hiding; free from the threat of arrest and murder; free to be Jews again. What does it mean to be liberated? [Redirects to the Times of Israel]
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Today, another Holocaust survivor passed away. I do not know their name – perhaps you do. Unlike their families who were torn from them before their time, some of these people are dying of natural causes, and others, sadly, of COVID-19. We should not be surprised by this. The Holocaust ended 75 years ago. The youngest survivors are in their 80s.
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Can we still commemorate the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah in a time of social distancing? Yes! Our new service, Light from the Darkness, allows us to honor the survivors’ memories and to learn from their experiences with a ritual of remembrance that can be performed in our homes. [redirects to the Times of Israel]
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If the only stories we learn are Anne Frank’s and Elie Wiesel’s, then we will have a very shallow understanding of the Holocaust. There is a richness and a visceral connection to the stories of Frank and Wiesel, but these are but two among a galaxy of stories that comprise the individuals who experienced the Holocaust. [redirects to the Times of Israel]
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“Why do we need to teach this at all?” The Holocaust, she meant. Why do we need to teach the Holocaust in our religious school? [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
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What was God’s role in the Holocaust? Was God a perpetrator, a bystander, or a savior? Many of us have grappled with these questions: Where was God during the Holocaust? How could a God who loves us let such a thing happen? [redirects to the Times of Israel]
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“Mom, what do you know about the Holocaust?” You swallow, take a deep breath, play for time, your mind racing. “They’re not old enough to know about this,” you think to yourself frantically. “Can’t I hold on to their innocence just a little bit longer?” They’ll never be old enough. No one is old enough to really deal with the atrocities of the world. I know I’m not. But ignoring evil does not make it go away. Ignoring evil gives it space to grow. We must face evil, and we must help our children to face it. [redirects to the Times of Israel.]
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We have reached a tipping point where the Holocaust is changing from an immediate, traumatic memory to community history. At this transition, we have an obligation to frame how we as a Jewish community will commemorate this event for future generations. If we do not create some sort of ritual observance, then I fear that the Holocaust will fade into history, its lessons lost. I brought this idea to a meeting of Jewish educators… [Redirects to the Times of Israel.]
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