RJ Blog

On Yom Hashoah we remember the great tragedy that we as a people and as a world faced during World War II over 60 years ago. But how do we use that memory today? To what end does that experience motivate our community? Surely one answer is that we as a people must be particularly attuned to atrocities committed around the world. Yesterday the United Nations observed a Day of Remembrance for victims of the Rwandan genocide. This week marks the 19th anniversary of the beginning of a 100 day period during which hundreds of thousands of Rwandan men, women [...]

Today is Yom Hashoah, the remembrance day for the Holocaust. This day is a very emotional and heart wrenching time for Israelis, as many have family members who were in the Holocaust or are survivors.

“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” ― Elie Wiesel Sixty-seven years ago perhaps the greatest travesty of the modern era came to a close as the Holocaust was finally was exiled to the dust of history. The images, testimonials and artifacts of Nazi Germany’s attempt to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Gays and other minorities have been burned into our collective memories. The principles of industry been used as instruments of death were used as never before in the quest of one race to prove itself dominant over all others.

by Stacey Zisook Robinson This poem was written in memory of Kristallnacht (Nov. 9-10, 1938) in honor of those who suffered. Stars littered the ground Crystal fire Shards of ice Glass The smoke of a thousand thousand years Ascended Coiling upwards, twisted With the memory of a People Chosen once in light Chosen again In darkness In ashes and in blood

A spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum confirmed that Antoni Dobrowolski, the oldest known survivor of Auschwitz, died in Poland earlier this week at age 108. When the Nazi regime limited elementary education for Polish children to just four years of schooling, Dobrowolski participated in underground education efforts. In June 1942, he was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz, where more than one million people were ultimately murdered by the Nazis. In a documentary recorded five years ago, Dobrowolski said, “Auschwitz was worse than Dante’s hell.” He was later moved to concentration camps Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen until being [...]

This week’s New York Times story “With Tattoos, Young Israelis Bear Holocaust” has raised a lot of eyebrows amongst American Jews. The email I got from a friend alerting me to it called the trend “tasteless”; friends who responded all agreed. For my part, I didn’t say a word – mostly because I couldn’t figure out how I felt. A few days later, I still can’t. But let’s back up. The story begins, When Eli Sagir showed her grandfather, Yosef Diamant, the new tattoo on her left forearm, he bent his head to kiss it. Mr. Diamant had the same [...]

NFTY in Israel alum Marlana Fireman writes about the incredible journey that a rock from Auschwitz took with her as she traveled from Europe to Israel and back to her home in Ohio. Read about the awe she discovered while contemplating the meaning her experiences this past summer, and find out why she says that “in my travels, no matter where I go or what I learn, I will do for those who couldn’t.”

by Rabbi Donald Kunstadt Why would a rabbi want to travel to Berlin, Germany? Certainly there are more pleasant places to visit, from Tahiti to Hong Kong, on the bucket list of life. Well, for one, Germany is closer. Second, I must admit a curiosity as to what modern-day Berlin is like. It has a reputation for being über hip. After traveling there, I don’t know if I would characterize it in that way; however, it certainly is a progressive city by American standards. Third, my father leaving Vienna at the age of 16 as a refugee from the Nazis [...]

During the journey, questions that arose were, “What would I have done?” “How would I have reacted?” “How could this have happened?” “Where was the rest of the world?” “How can I ensure such atrocities never occur again?” To say that everyone was excited to reach Israel is an understatement. To now understand some of the reasons why a Jewish homeland is so important to the Jewish people turned their excitement of visiting Israel into a much deeper yearning. As the plane landed in Tel Aviv, everyone applauded. The next steps on our Journey were about to begin.

As someone who grew up reading Little Golden Books in which mommies and daddies take care of their obedient children, I love how Maurice Sendak’s stories, by contrast, dive right into the fray of real life—warts and all.  As a librarian, I also appreciate what a pioneer Sendak was and how his stories and illustrations broke barriers in children’s literature.  I love the edgy realness of his characters—and especially relate to bratty Pierre of I-don’t-care fame who reminds me of my young self answering my own mother.  Sendak’s kids are not gift wrapped with pretty paper or shiny bows.  Like [...]

My full name is Sara Kathryn, but it has never meant much to me. I have always known that I am named for my great-grandmothers, those black and white faces whose photos I have seen but whose stories I had never heard. In fact, beyond their names, I knew almost nothing at all about Great-Grandma Sarah and Great-Grandma Katie, not even where they came from. When, as a child, I was assigned class projects that required me to trace my family tree, I always hit a stumbling block. My paternal grandparents were both long dead, and my father had no [...]

I have just returned from eight days touring the sites of Judaism in Central Europe with six teenagers and one soon-to-be HUC student. When I first interviewed at my current congregation, I was asked, “Rabbi, what do you think about our Confirmation trip to Europe?” As I had looked at the synagogue website before the interview and noticed that it highlighted two things – the Confirmation trip and the Adult Education program – I knew that this was an important question. I started with, “I’m not sure why the trip doesn’t go to Israel…” When a murmur ran around the [...]

by Linda K. Wertheimer “You Jewish son of a b….,” a boy taunted my brother on the school bus one day as I sat nearby. I was 14, my brother, Kevin, 16. The comment made us seethe, but we let it pass. Then a few weeks later, my family, the only Jewish one in our neighborhood and rural Ohio school, woke up to find swastikas etched in wax on our home windows and cars. This time, my family did not let it pass. My parents contacted a deputy sheriff, who was friends with my brother through Boy Scouts. The deputy [...]

To this day, I still cannot comprehend how one person and some of his fellow countrymen could have carried out acts that decimated not only the Jewish communities of Europe, but also targeted any group of people they deemed unworthy. The countless men, women and children who were systematically murdered for their religious beliefs, cultural practices, mental capacity, physical ability or sexual orientation are remembered today on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.