Yom HaShoah Commemoration
Temple Beth Jacob of Newburgh
April 12, 2013
Rabbi Larry Freedman
Where do we
begin with a Holocaust commemoration? Do
we rehearse the rise of Hitler? Do we retell
stories of atrocities? Do we offer
silence in the face of what should be unimaginable? Do we try to find something novel from the never
ending flow of stories that detail the astounding horror and resistance during that
time? The depths of evil and the heights
of bravery are still being discovered.
There is a new documentary called “No Place on Earth” about two
families, 38 Ukrainian Jews in all, who lived deep underground in a cave for
502 days and survived. This is an
amazing story that I find astonishing and not at all surprising. The more I learn, the more I learn not to be
surprised. The unbelievable becomes real
time after time. There are more stories
yet to be discovered, yet to be shared that speak of heroism amid the horror.
How to speak at
a Holocaust commemoration? First we
begin with history. We honor the
survivors, we grieve over the murdered.
We bring back some classic minor key East European liturgical
melodies. But then I have to look to the
present day. Is there anything more to
these commemorations than history? If
they are just about history, then soon enough we will one day no longer have
them. People will forget. Decoration Day was fading and so turned into
Memorial Day. Armistice Day was being
forgotten and so became Veterans Day.
These things happen. There are a
number of Jewish holidays that commemorate an historical event which are
remembered by very few. The Fast of
Gedaliah, anyone?
But there are
other holidays that transcend their original intention. Purim and Pesach are hardly just about what
they are about. There are many, many
levels of meaning to these holidays and that is why they maintain their power
to this day.
What will be
the enduring power of Yom Ha-shoah? That
lesson was brought home to me in two episodes these last two weeks. At the last minute, a chief master sergeant
at the guard base called me up. “Hey
chaplain,” he said, “I just received this DVD with instructions from
headquarters to have an Armed Forces Holocaust Remembrance program. Can you say a few words?” Um, sure, of course. I did not know that there was such a thing as
an Armed Forces Holocaust Remembrance program but indeed the Department of
Defense has sponsored them for quite some time.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington sends out a DVD with some
short videos that feature American military members past and present along with
the memorial museum’s educators and so forth.
They were quite good. But what
would I say? About 30 people attended
including almost all of the command leadership which, given the short notice,
was very good. I asked, why should we
have an Armed Forces Holocaust Remembrance program? One woman started nodding her head as if to
say, yeah why exactly am I here?
I offered a
variation of the message of “never again.”
Those in uniform are granted the privilege of harnessing tremendous
power that can bring astonishing violence.
I was taught by the Air Force itself that we are responsible for the
professional application of violence in the service of our national interests.
To see other men and women in uniform commit war crime after war crime and
unleash their tools of violence on a scapegoat ought to make those of us in
uniform today wince. Those in uniform
must remember that the power we hold is to be carefully guarded and
honored. And yes, we must follow our
training and yes we must follow orders but always, in the back of our minds there
must be a moment where we ask, is that a legal order?
The Air Force
was very clear in teaching that we are not to follow illegal orders. We are to stand up against them. And yet, bad things are still happening. When I talk to young people going to basic
training, I tell them, don’t lose your head, don’t engage in hazing, don’t let
some superior officer cow you into doing things that are wrong. We can no longer accept “just following
orders” as an excuse. Yes, do what you
are told but always keep in mind, in the back of your head, is this right? Is this legal? And then find the courage to
stand up against it. Hazing, belittling,
religious coercion, racial “jokes.”
These things are no Holocaust to be sure but they speak to a culture
where those with more power can bully those with less and those with less rank
assume that these things are acceptable if the higher ups are doing them. And they are not. And we with the higher ranks need to teach
the new recruits to maintain one’s morality always. “Never again” ought to be invoked much
earlier than waiting for a full blown genocide.
Currently,
there is an awareness campaign and other efforts to combat sexual assault in
the military. It’s a problem. I reminded them that we cannot offer pious
bromides against sexual assault if we don’t also combat the problem of the
bystander being silent. The Shoah could
never have been as devastating without the silence or help of bystanders. The crimes of sexual assault are often not
prosecuted because the victims have few people to turn to. The bystanders are scared to intervene. Again, it’s hardly genocide but the lesson of
the Shoah shouldn’t be just for catastrophe.
We can stop catastrophe well in advance when we create a just
culture. Acceptance of sexual assault
leads to a culture that accepts brutality and a culture that accepts brutality
is a culture that accepts war crimes. It
is just that simple a line.
And that
lecture in front of my base commander colonel was my nerve inducing resistance
for the day.
Last week, I had another experience. I’ve been teaching kitah zayin while our B’nai
Mitzvah teacher Nava Herzog is recuperating from a broken foot. The students and I got into a conversation
about anti-semitism in their schools.
Apparently, penny throwing is not uncommon. Apparently, it happens often. Sometimes the kids told the teachers,
sometimes they did not. Sometimes they
felt they couldn’t and that they just had to deal with it.
“Never Again”
is the slogan we chant but what it really means is, “we don’t have to take that
crap anymore.” We don’t have to put up
with people who think picking on Jews is funny.
We don’t have to allow an atmosphere of bigotry develop even as the
perpetrators say, “just kidding.” We don’t
have to let anti-Semitic parents be the role models. Rather we need those children to go home and
explain to their parents that school doesn’t think it’s “just kidding.” Let the parents be embarrassed. Let them take their hatred underground while
the culture at the school retains its moral high ground. Let them be ashamed of who they are, not us. We don’t have to take that anymore.
During the
Holocaust, German Jews would be flabbergasted.
They would ask, “How could these hateful things be happening in Germany
of 1939? “ Today, we don’t ask. Today we
demand: These things must not happen in
America in 2013. End of story. It is hard to stick your neck out like this
but it is better that we do so and so we must. There are many things short of
genocide that must happen never again. We
have to remember that.
This Tuesday is
Yom Ha-Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day.
It is a festive day in Israel celebrating a country but also a people
who has survived and thrived. It is paid
attention to here more or less. But we
should acknowledge what the State of Israel has done for us. The internal politics there can be difficult,
the problems never ending but politics that will decide the nature of the
Jewish State have nothing to do with the meaning of the State of Israel to all
Jews anywhere. There will be no more
Jewish genocides. We have a place to go
to, a government that will watch out for us and an army that will defend
us. We don’t take crap anymore. That is a lesson of the Holocaust re-affirmed
by the existence of our own state.
This is all a
little bellicose for a moment of remembrance, no? Perhaps, yes.
But sometimes all this remembering makes me angry and frustrated that so
many had to die for nothing more than hatred and bigotry and a refusal of most
countries around the world to care. So I
take that anger and turn it into vigilance and remind those in power to behave
and remind those under the thumb of a bully to push back. That is my response.
To make our
transition from devastation to strength, let me close with a famous poem by
Natan Alterman. Chaim Weizman declared
that, מגש כסף אין מדינה נתנת לעם על “No state is ever given on a silver platter.” Reeling from the Shoah, Natan Alterman saw
the heroism of those who fought for and died for the creation of the State of
Israel. He wrote this poem in part to
acknowledge the recent events and to acknowledge what Never Again requires. Here is the The Silver Platter.
...And
the land will grow still
Crimson skies dimming, misting
Slowly paling again
Over smoking frontiers
As the nation stands up
Torn at heart but existing
To receive its first wonder
In two thousand years
As the moment draws near
It will rise, darkness facing
Stand straight in the moonlight
In terror and joy
...When across from it step out
Towards it slowly pacing
In plain sight of all
A young girl and a boy
Dressed in battle gear, dirty
Shoes heavy with grime
On the path they will climb up
While their lips remain sealed
To change garb, to wipe brow
They have not yet found time
Still bone weary from days
And from nights in the field
Full of endless fatigue
And all drained of emotion
Yet the dew of their youth
Is still seen on their head
Thus like statues they stand
Stiff and still with no motion
And no sign that will show
If they live or are dead
Then a nation in tears
And amazed at this matter
Will ask: who are you?
And the two will then say
With soft voice: We--
Are the silver platter
On which the Jews' state
Was presented today
Then they fall back in darkness
As the dazed nation looks
And the rest can be found
In the history books.1
Crimson skies dimming, misting
Slowly paling again
Over smoking frontiers
As the nation stands up
Torn at heart but existing
To receive its first wonder
In two thousand years
As the moment draws near
It will rise, darkness facing
Stand straight in the moonlight
In terror and joy
...When across from it step out
Towards it slowly pacing
In plain sight of all
A young girl and a boy
Dressed in battle gear, dirty
Shoes heavy with grime
On the path they will climb up
While their lips remain sealed
To change garb, to wipe brow
They have not yet found time
Still bone weary from days
And from nights in the field
Full of endless fatigue
And all drained of emotion
Yet the dew of their youth
Is still seen on their head
Thus like statues they stand
Stiff and still with no motion
And no sign that will show
If they live or are dead
Then a nation in tears
And amazed at this matter
Will ask: who are you?
And the two will then say
With soft voice: We--
Are the silver platter
On which the Jews' state
Was presented today
Then they fall back in darkness
As the dazed nation looks
And the rest can be found
In the history books.1
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