April 15, 2007

• tonight we remember the victims of the Holocaust.  this Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), the 27th of nisan on the hebrew calendar was chosen  by israel’s knesset because it falls between the end of passover tnd the anniversary of israel’s independence.  as we remember the Shoah, we are  reminded that the legacy of violence, intolerance, and hatred belongs to our own generation.  we are charged not only with commemorating the Shoah, but also to distill from it important historical truths and theological reflections.

  as people of faith, what can we learn from this tragic chapter of our history?  how do we convey the dignity and importance of human life in an age that has seen such broad and brute annihilation?  how can we convey a message of a loving and compassionate Creator to an increasingly skeptical and desensitized society?

  moreover, how do we bear witness to the suffering and tragedy of the millions who perished in the Holocaust, and give honor and recognition to those who survived pogroms, forced marches, and death camps, and went on to build new and meaningful lives?  how can we reconcile the reality of absolute evil and the goodness found in those few who risked all to shelter, rescue, and nourish those fleeing persecution and death?  how do we do more than bear witness to the suffering and tragedy in our own generation?

  six million jews died: women, men, little children, old people, even infants.  along with these jews many others were killed: slavs, roma gypsies, disabled people, anyone of african descent, homosexuals, christian pastors and roman catholic priests, jehovah’s witnesses, russian prisoners of war, trade unionists, and any other individuals who, for whatever reason, were considered racially inferior or seen as degenerates.
  taken from the Yom HaShoah service bulletin from the joint service of Hebrew Union College and General Theological Seminary

  • 11:33 pm
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