UNFORTUNATELY I DO GET THIS - IN A WAY...

     There are some things in life that are unpleasant and curious and others that are far more frightening than that. Over the course of time I have written often about the rise in anti - Semitism and some of what I believe  are the reasons for this. The truth is, this movement, this growth of hatred truly needs no reason, no analysis, for it seems to be a permanent part of the world's ills. No matter what is said, that we are a Judeo-Christian society, that we have given the Bible and other words of importance and inspiration, that we have contributed much to the progress of the world and even Mark Twain wrote about that in  his famous piece on the outsize contributions of the Jews to the world and its civilization. We have won Nobel prizes, academic awards, been a huge part of the filmdom world, of political thought, of literature and art and the list goes on and yes, we even have had our famous criminals such as Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky and unfortunately we have had others as well, but all in all, I feel that the Jews have more than earned their keep on G-d's earth.
    They have also come back from their proposed graveyards time and time again. How many enemies have chased us, burned us, threatened us with worse and worse, stoned us, gassed us, murdered us for maintaining our identity, just for being Jewish and make no mistake about it - no matter how assimilated one was, how intermarried or distant from any open observance of Jewish ritual - you were a Jew and subject to their fate. Throughout history we have outlived these enemies, from the beginning of time till now and we will continue to do so, but why must this always be a battle for survival?
     Jews have long felt that they had a safe place in England. They forgot that there is a strong basis of anti - Semitic feeling in Britain. Remember, Edward II expelled them from England but first made sure to take all their funds and even burn them in York. It was not till centuries later that Jews were officially allowed back into England - centuries.
     And now, what has changed? Well, we are not being burned - yet - and maybe not so far off if the plans of the radical Islamists gain stronger roots and adherents there. But we do not even have to wait for the Islamists, not when the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbin has waved that flag quite strongly. Publicly, over the past two months, they have suspended members, from candidates for office to those already there, and when their posts and statements grew too outrageous even for others to read, and Jews and others protested, suddenly these people were suspended and an "investigation" promised. Now it turns out that dozens have been suspended, over 50 on Monday nite alone!!! But this is a dirty little secret that had to come to the top, rise to the top like the scum it is. One does not need an "investigation" to know and understand that there is a rotten core here, certainly within the Labour Party. They have even sent hate posts to their own MP and why? Because she is Jewish. There is no excuse for this, no reasons - but I do get it. The hate is eternal, no reasons necessary and that is a fact that has come out of history. And the stories in the NY Times? Good luck finding them.
     The lies, the canards, the vicious hatred, the bloodlust - all that, but there is more. Go on YouTube and type in Hatikvah at Bergen - Belsen, read a book by Elie Wiesel, surf YouTube for more stories of survivors and faith and heroism, read any of the genre of the Holocaust from fiction to non fiction, attend a Witness Theater production, listen to a recording by a survivor - and you will hear the truth and the courage and the hope and the guts and the determination and yes, the story of the Eternal Jew in a positive manner, not in a hateful rant filled with bloodlust and murder aforethought.
     Tomorrow nite begins the observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel there are events, commemorations, televised stories and interviews, a reminding of the newer generations why they are there, how they got there and the purpose of Israel, its function not only as a modern state, a full partner in the world, but also still as a place of refuge for Jews still running for their lives, still being persecuted, killed, blown up - even here in Florida there was a plot to blow up a shul in Miami. In Israel they remember, and at 11 the sirens wail and the country comes to a halt. Cars stop on the highways, on the streets and the drivers stand by their cars. People stop mid footstep and stand, in silence, heads down, remembering the six million but also those of the future unborn, the generations stolen from us. All that has been that should not have been. Those survivors still with us remember the drastic change in their lives from one year to the next. I, personally, find it haunting to look at large pictures of groups, families, classes, clubs and know, that horrible knowing, that they were all gone, just gone. I can look at pictures of my own family, over 200 strong who lived mainly in Lithuania, who were gone, slaughtered, dropped into a mass grave outside their villages, killed as a partisan, burned and gassed. These are cousins and aunts and people I never got to know. This is my namesake. This is what the day is about, but remember, Hatikvah and Shabbat were observed immediately upon liberation not only in Bergen Belsen but elsewhere as well.
     So tomorrow nite come to the Traditions at the Morse and sit in on their ceremony. I go every year. You should too.

    

After Liberation: Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust

Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration
Wednesday, May 4, 2016 — 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

The Tradition of the Palm Beaches • 4920 Loring Drive • West Palm Beach

561.242.6671 or mary.greco@jewishpalmbeach.org   Register to attend.

     REMEMBER   Z'CHOR   GDANK
    WE ARE HERE AND WILL REMAIN SO