Rabbi Sacks
Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day. The Holocaust did not define what it is to be a Jew. The Holocaust defined what it is to be human. Any assault on Jews becomes, very rapidly, an assault on our shared humanity. That is why we must continue to remember, not for the sake of the past, but for the sake of the future. #HMD2017#HolocaustMemorialDay #NeverAgain #NeverForget
I have been having the most amazing discussions online and in person, and I really feel this is the key, relationships, communication, and listening to each other.
Shabbat Shalom,
Coach Yulia
Chaya Margelit Hoffman
Oh, and a special message on Holocaust Memorial Day:
If you are a person who has little to no interactions with people who are different than you are, whether by the color of their skin, or economic status, or religion, or sexual preference, or WHATEVER:
I politely suggest you get the heck out of your bubble at least a bit not only to open your own mind but also to open the mind of that “other” person.
I firmly believe that maintaining our own traditions and values and religion and “ways” does not have to mean being afraid of other people. I think if we can learn anything from our troubled history it’s that it pays to have friends who may not be singled out with you by some ludicrous, hateful policy.
Because the more I learn about the Holocaust, the more I learn it wasn’t ended by America alone, or the Red Army. It was also ended by dissidents, anyone who resisted, who smuggled people and forged documents, to save lives. We need friends, people – friends who are not like us, to stand up for us when we are persecuted. And we sure as hell better stand up for them when they are.
So to all of you marching, and calling congresspeople, and doing whatever you can to stop something you disagree with – even if I don’t always agree with your POV or your tactics – I salute you. It takes bravery to stand up in the face of oppression, and ALL JEWS ALIVE TODAY owe our existence in some way or another to the kind of courage and actions that you exhibit.
Shabbat shalom.
