Never Again. This expression which was coined approximately 70 years ago contains within itself two words which contradict each other, and yet depict the future and eternal definition of the Jewish people. Two words which describe one powerful statement of an entire nation- NO MORE! Not in the present and not in the future. Never again. While the world map has changed and states have come and gone, leaders have changed, new democracies have been formed, science has progressed, economies have prospered, humanity has advanced and reached levels no one could ever have predicted, racial hatred against Jews and Judaism remains as it was, as if the Nazi regime had never been defeated. The Jewish people have always been under threat of annihilation and enslavement, from the time of Pharaoh in Egypt, to the Philistines, antisemitic Europe, the regime of Hitler and his Nazis and even until today, in the age of radical extreme Islam, the Jews have always been under threat of antisemitic persecution. The Jewish people have always suffered from attempts to annihilate them and to enslave them. Despite this persecution and the tragedies which have befallen the Jews for the 3000 years of their existence, the Jewish people never gave up its faith and its pride. In fact, each disaster just reinforced its pride as a Jewish people and strengthened its ability to withstand further attacks by their enemies. Despite every act of persecution and hatred, the Jews never gave up and never stopped dreaming about their return to the promised land. The Jews were successful in standing as firm as a rock until finally returning to their homeland- The Land of Israel. With the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, the nation began to make the deserts blossom, to revitalise the soil and to transform this tiny strip of desert, and to advance. The Jewish people, in contrast to their enemies, did not choose to get stuck in the past and to fight their enemies for the sake of revenge, but chose rather to look to the future and to raise their children for a better future, a future of a good and free life. The Jewish people have undergone many misfortunes and terrible tragedies, shocking occurrences which have forced them to choose and to develop an Israeli culture, filled with values of peace, brotherhood, and morality, a culture which teaches the value of life and liberty and emphasises love of the other. Those who have fallen throughout Jewish history because of repulsive antisemitism, will never be forgotten. Their death gives the living the strength to continue and the drive never to give up. Never to be afraid. For us who live here, our task is doubled, for we live also on behalf of our dead who did not have the privilege to live. As Nobel Prize Winner, Elie Wiesel, has stated: To forget the dead is as if to kill them a second time. And so we say, NEVER AGAIN! Sharing IS Caring!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 05:20:29 +0000
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