Yom Hashoah 2018

Today is Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In honor of all those who perished, were murdered in the Holocaust, and what lessons we can learn from remembering, I send this to you.

My parents are Holocaust survivors, or now, were Holocaust survivors.  In their honor and memory, I remember.  In memory of the six million Jews who were murdered, I remember.  For this I say “Never Again”.  We remember to honor those who were murdered and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, anywhere.

 “What does it mean to remember? It is to live in more than one world, to
prevent the past from fading, and to call upon the future to illuminate it.”  Elie Wiesel

Today, I am sad not just for the remembering, I am sad and fearful as I see that Anti-Semitism is on the rise again.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. – George Santayana

Often, it’s repeated because we are fooled as it never comes dressed in the same clothes.  Anti-Semitism is again on the rise and this time, it is not only coming from where it traditionally sprang.

Along with the current rise in Anti-Semitism, Christians, Yazidis, Syrians, and many others are being persecuted and murdered around the world.

“The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. In a world awash with hate across religious divides, people of all faiths and none must stand together, not just to defeat anti-Semitism but to ensure the rights of religious minorities are defended everywhere.” – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

 “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” – Albert Einstein

“It’s not the differences that divide people, but rather the indifference.” – Francesca Schwartz, my Aunt, she was a Holocaust survivor who was a victim of Dr. Mengele experiments

I write this because I cannot be indifferent.  I must speak up.  I must do something.  I hope that this something touches you and that you feel the same.

It is traditional and respectful to observe a moment of silence.

If we observed a moment of silence for all of the six million, we would be silent for eleven and a half years!

Let us all observe a moment of silence.  Let us all vow to not remain silent!!!!

“Never Again”