Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day

 Dear Friends,


As I reflect on the meaning of today's Holocaust Day of Remembrance, this year is different than previous years.

As we watch events unfold in the Middle East and across campuses in America, I want to  share teachings of two Holocaust survivors who I was privileged to call friends.

The first one is Charlene Schiff who died a number of years ago. You can do a search for Charlene Schiff, Holocaust survivor and learn more about her.  She taught us all about the four "I"s.  Ignorance, injustice, intolerance, and indifference.  We must do everything in our power to educate so there is no ignorance.  We must fight against injustice and intolerance.  Finally, we cannot and must not remain indifferent to those who are in need.

Although a seemingly simple  message, she profoundly touched all of us by her passion to work to eliminate the four "i"s.  May we find meaningful ways to carry on her memory through our own efforts to work for justice, to eliminate ignorance, and to fight against intolerance and to never be indifferent to the suffering of others.

The second survivor with whom I traveled to Poland in the mid 1990's is Itka Zygmuntowicz.(You can look her up also)  We were together in Auschwitz on her 70th birthday where she saw where her mother had been shot.  Our moment of prayer together is among the most touching events of my life as we said Kaddish (the Jewish memorial prayer in honor of the deceased) at the last place she saw her Mom alive.

She was a poet and philosopher and among her most inspiring words are the following:

"Life is a mixture of vinegar and wine; it is important to choose carefully with whom we dine."

"Love builds bridges of communication, and hatred builds walls of isolation."

"The best way to improve the world is to improve ourselves."

"We cannot always choose our circumstances but we can choose our responses."

Finally in memory of her Grandma, she wrote the following:

My Grandma

My Grandma was old, my Grandma was wise,

She gave me so much love, she gave me good advice.

My  dear sweet old Grandma so often use to say,

"My child, you only have what you give away."

So don't spare a hug, a kiss, or a smile.  Remember, dear child, we are only here for a while.

I loved my  sweet old Grandma, but suddenly one day, My dear sweet old Grandma forever went away.

But her love and words of wisdom are with me till this day, "My child, you only have what you give away.?  Nov. 25, 1989

May we give a little more effort to building bridges and not walls and perhaps our legacy will be that we helped build a world of peace.  We owe it to those who we remember on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day to remember these words from Itka:  "Kindness is the greatest gift."

B'shalom,

Rabbi Bruce Aft

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listening and Love

 Dear Friends,  This past week was a Jewish Holiday called Tu B'Av  Please check out the following link from My Jewish Learning. Tu B'Av, the Jewish Day of Love As I think about the meaning of love, I think about the Shema which reminds us to "LIsten Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord Alone."  We are then asked to love G-d with all our heart, all our soul, and all our might."  (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). One of the ways in which I look at love is described in the prayer "Listen" which is found below which I initially read in the prayerbook, "LIkrat Shabbat" I believe that among the most important aspects of love is the ability to listen.  At one of our children's weddings I read the following lyrics from the song, "I Talk to the Trees." from the broadway musical, "Paint Your Wagon." (please search for this and watch Clint Eastwood sing it:-)) I talk to the trees But they don't listen to me I talk to the stars But they neve
Read more

Prayers for Peace in Israel

 Dear Friends, In the midst of the tragic events  in Israel I wanted to send you something  which Elad, our tour guide  while we will be in Israel sent me. As one who remembers  so many of the conflicts in Israel, the loss of life and the trauma is staggering. May the memories of those who have died not be in vain,may  those who have been kidnapped and are being held hostage be  returned safely, and may Israel know peace  in the days ahead. B'shalom, in peace, Bruce My dear friends, You probably heard the bad news about the war that started today between Gaza and  between Israel. We are in a new situation that last time we experienced was exactly 50 years and one days ago on October 6th 1973 when the Yom Kippur war started, today it's Yom kippur war #2.   My family seems to be safe though my 96 years old grandmother who lives in Ofakim, my home town near the border with Gaza. among other villages and towns it is under attack and hostages are taken. My grandmother Sol has been l
Read more

Tragedies of War

 Dear Friends, As we all struggle with the tragic events in the Middle East, the brutal acts of Hamas including the taking of hostages, and all the subsequent loss of life, I, like all of us, am struggling to find the right words. I taught about the weekly Torah portion this past Shabbat (Sabbath) and we talked about the text that says that Noah was righteous in his generation.  Noah is not viewed as righteous for all time as is Abraham.  Noah is criticized for not arguing with G-d about the destruction of humanity and for not telling people why he was building the ark. This led to a discussion about whether we have ever done enough to claim to be righteous.  One participant in the discussion said he would be happy to list "saving humanity" on his resume whether he was considered righteous for all time or not. I gave the example of our Passover song, "Dayenu" which means "enough."  We say  that G-d does a variety of things for us and if G-d had only done a
Read more