Arlene Kushner on Yom HaShoah -- And John Kerry's Errand in the Middle East To Make Peace

From Arlene Kushner:

April 8:

A Nes

A miracle. 

I am writing on Yom HaShoah. And what I see, as clear as clear can be -- juxtaposed against the pain beyond imaging of the various stories of survivors -- is that the resilience of the Jewish people is a miracle.  Our people, decimated,    embraced life and rose up again to great heights.  Not just to survive.  But to better the world via medicine and technology and culture.  Out of the horror -- the inhumanity and obscenity -- blessing upon blessing. 

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the State of Israel is a nes.

~~~~~~~~~~

But the world does not receive Jewish miracles kindly. 

Which is why today there are existential threats to our nation, and our legitimacy is questioned.

Arlene Kushner on Latest on Iran

From Arlene Kushner:
April 7, 2013

Silence

It was suggested by my rabbi yesterday that in a way silence is sometimes the most appropriate response to the Holocaust, because human words are inadequate to grapple with the horror of that time.  Thus the title of this posting:

Tonight and Monday are Holocaust Memorial Day.  (In Hebrew it's Yom HaZikaron leShoah v'leGvurah -- Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and of the Heroism -- and this year especially Yad V'Shem will be focusing on the Resistance). 

Credit: beachhillel

But in fact, even in the face of the pain, the horror, we need words, if people are to know what went on (never, to understand it).

Video: Iranian Website Displays Antisemitic Cartoons About the Holocaust

Watching the cartoons that appear on Iranian TV, one gets a sense of why the Iranian regime is doomed to mediocrity

Here's the video from MEMRI:

Survivors Of Bergen-Belson Sing HaTikvah in April 20, 1945

In rare and moving footage dated to April 20th 1945, inmates at Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp sing the anthem of hope 'Hatikva.'

Here's the video:

Arlene Kushner On Yom HaShoah

April 19, 2012

"Additional Perspective"

Yesterday I wrote about Holocaust remembrance.  Today I want to expand on this, for the day being observed right now is most properly called Yom Hashoah v'Hagvurah -- Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Heroism.  That second part is important, because the Jews did not all go -- as was said by Vilna resistance leader Abba Kovner  -- "like sheep to the slaughter."  There was resistance, which also must be remembered and honored. 

The most powerful example of that resistance we have is what took place in the Warsaw Ghetto, and it is for this reason that this day of remembrance has been set to coincide with the most significant part of that resistance, which was initiated on April 19 (1943).

LESSONS FROM YOM HASHOAH: Esser Agaroth has some lessons to keep in mind on Yom HaShoah, but warns On Yom HaSho'ah...You're Not Gonna Like it

Technorati Tag: Yom HaShoah.

YOM HASHOAH BLOG ROUNDUP: Check out Life In Israel

Technorati Tag: Yom HaShoah.

UN HOLOCAUST DAY: The UN finally got around to creating International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust--to be observed on January 27. The site has some interesting links, such as "Briefing Notes," which actually takes you to a page at the Yad VaShem website and a page of resources.

Now does anyone recall the UN or the media making mention of this Day back in January?

Technorati Tag: UN and Yom HaShoah.

HAREDIM AND YOM HASHOAH: Israel Matzav blogs about a complex topic

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HOLOCAUST DENIAL IN THE MIDDLE EAST is Greetings From the French Hill's topic--highlighted by the first in a series of video compilations of the Muslim media doing what it does best.

Technorati Tag: Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Denial.

DUMPING YOM HASHOAH: In The Crime of Remembering the Holocaust, Sultan Knish writes:

There has for a while now been building a steady chorus of protest over commemorating the Holocaust. The voices are both Jewish and Non-Jewish. Some of them come from the left which indicts the Holocaust for being too limited to Jews to be worth remembering and as a pretext for oppressing the poor paleo-terrorist people. Some come from the right which claims the whole thing is anti-Christian and just prevents reconciliation between the Jews and everyone else.

Read the whole thing.

Technorati Tag: Yom HaShaoah.

YOM HASHOAH--ISRAEL VS. GALUS: View From a Height puts the contrast this way:

Yom HaShoah, in Israel, is actually called Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. It, along with Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut (stay tuned for next week) stress the importance of taking positive action, as a people and as individuals, to prevent evil and promote good. This means prayer and study, but also means picking up a gun and defending your country and your family. It is a message that is compatible with, but different from, the message of Tisha B'Av.

I'm afraid that the fact that Israel focuses on the Heroes and that American Jews tend to focus on the Martyrs says something unsettling about American Jewry - that we haven't really overcome the Galut, or Exile, mentality. That we are more comfortable seeing the world through the lens of victimhood than the lens of self-reliance. Which pretty much condemns us to relive that experience, too.

Read the whole thing.
[Hat tip: Boker Tov, Boulder]

When I was teaching in a Yeshiva Ketana, there was a special project for the 8th grade to write reports on various aspects of the Holocaust. One year, I got approval from the Principal to teach a mini-course about the history of modern Israel--but there were no textbooks available.

I think part of the reason is this Galus mentality.

Technorati Tag: Yom HaShoah.

YOM HASHOAH: Boker Tov, Boulder blogs about Yom HaShoah, how Olmert is commemorating it, and other news that shows how so little has changed.

Technorati Tag: Yom HaShoah.

162 SITES ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST: Holocaust Remembrance Day is Monday, April 16, 2007 and Good News From Israel has posted 162 links to sites about the Holocaust in English, Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish on his regular website.

Technorati Tag: Holocaust.