Dear Friends,
As we mourn for the victims of the Holocaust this week as we commemorate Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Commemoration Day, I hope that each of us will take a minute to think about what we might do to help victims who are experiencing genocide as you read this. At this time of year, we are reminded that we live in a world where the hatred and bigotry which killed six million Jews and five million others, continues to permeate our world, particularly in Darfur and the Congo.
I personally don’t believe that it is fair to say that the perpetrators of genocide are simply evil people. I believe that people do evil things and that each of us needs to be aware of potential hatred and stand up for the people and causes in which we believe. I remember Rabbi Yoachim Prinz’s comment at a synagogue in Berlin that “the greatest sin is the sin of silence…”
We all remember the comment made by Pastor Martin Niemoller that when they came for the communists he didn’t stand up because he wasn’t a communist, and when they came for the trade unionists, he didn’t stand up because he wasn’t a trade unionist, and when they came for the Jews he didn’t stand up because he wasn’t a Jew, and when they came for the Catholics, he didn’t stand up because he wasn’t a Catholic, and finally when they came for him, there was no one left to stand up….
May each of us make a pledge today to make ourselves more aware of genocide that occurs in our world and try to do something (write a letter to a public official, do a fundraiser for victims, make a donation…whatever…) to show we care.
In the Book of Leviticus, we read that we should not stand idly by the blood of our neighbor and in the Talmud, Shabbat 54A we are told that we are responsible when a member of our family, a member of our community, or someone in the world does something to hurt someone. May we take this responsibility seriously and speak out against injustice when we see it.
Finally, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Poland at this horrific time. May the memories of all those who died in the plane crash be a blessing to their families and friends and may the people of Poland find the strength to deal with this tragedy.
B’shalom,
Rabbi Bruce Aft