blogs/rabbi-huberman

My Holocaust Oversight

Jewish tradition holds that sometimes God winks at us, but we’re not ready to notice.

One of God’s greatest and persistent winks occurred for me between 1973 and 1974.

It was my first time away from home. While it is customary for American students to “go away to college,” in Canada, high school grads usually attend local universities — living at home, taking advantage of quality, but ultimately more affordable, education.

On September 5, 1972, my life path changed profoundly. On that day, Palestinian terrorists scaled the walls outside of the Olympic Village in Munich, leading to the death of 11 Israeli athletes and a German police officer.

At age 19, my innocence was shattered.

Deeply unsettled, I rolled a piece of blank paper into my mother’s Underwood and penned a few paragraphs under the heading “Yes, it will be a Black September,” expressing what I thought would be world outrage – then and forever.

I mailed the letter to the Montreal Star, which published it.

Because of that letter and the widespread response it received — pro and con — I decided to enroll in the Journalism Program at Carleton University in Ottawa.

And — as they say — the rest is history.

While I began my journalism career dedicated to truth and facts, the entire time, God was winking at me.

For outside the window of my student apartment complex sat the Jewish Community Center of Ottawa.

Each day, for two years, as I looked out my fifth-floor window, I instinctively turned my face from the Jewish Center.

The synagogue within was “old school.” It held nothing for me.

And there were, it seemed, never-ending conferences about the Holocaust. I thought, in my youthful arrogance, “Get over it.”

But one day, my friend the actor, Stephen Mendel, called me from Los Angeles. The previous evening, he had attended a lecture, featuring Robert Clary – a Holocaust survivor.

You may know him as Corporal Louis LeBeau from the program Hogan’s Heroes.

“Irwin,” said my friend. “I attended a lecture last night with Robert Clary as the guest speaker. You’ll never believe this, but there are some who believe that the Holocaust never existed.”

“You’re kidding,” I replied. “We, as a people, have witnessed the pain. The Germans admit they did it. So, what is the issue?”

At that moment, I made the connection between September 5, 1972 and the Holocaust of 40 years earlier.

And, yes, it was about me.

Friends, two important events will occur this week.

I encourage you to click on this link and others, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/holocaust-memorial-day-commemoration-2020-registration-77272416879

as we mark the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps — during the United Nation’s official International Holocaust Memorial Day.

Yes, we have Yom HaShoah – the day when Jews remember this Holocaust. That is in April. And, there is Kristallnacht in November.

So why this and why now?

Back in 1976, when my friend Stephen called, I never thought I would have to address the reality of the Holocaust 34 years later.

But then, when I entered rabbinical school, I never believed that my synagogue would have to employ an armed guard every Shabbat, during holidays and special events, and whenever our Hebrew school was in session.

Yet, the Holocaust boils down to antisemitism – whether you call it BDS or anti-Zionism, or any other politically bleached term. Unfortunately, as we bear witness to the rising trend of open antisemitism in the New York area, hate has become a plague. The reality of hate continues.

And, it extends to many other groups across the nation.

This week in the Torah – Va’era — (And God appeared) we read the beginning of the Passover story. Pharaoh and the Egyptian people are subjected to the first seven plagues. But our understanding of the nature of plagues must evolve beyond blood, frogs and lice.

Today, it behooves us to ask, “What are today’s plagues?”

And, near the top of that list is hatred.

Many experts tell us no one is born to hate. We are taught to hate – often by adults. Parents have been reluctant to speak with their children about the Holocaust. The images are haunting.

But, we as parents, grandparents, and teachers must not let others do the teaching for us. We must actively pursue the understanding and the love of diversity within God’s sacred world. And that begins with our children and grandchildren.

As International Holocaust Memorial Day approaches this Monday, January 27, let’s encourage conversation with our friends and neighbors of all backgrounds. We must remain vigilant against the growing practice of “otherism.”

While we must demand that of all government leaders, the responsibility begins with us.

This week in the Torah as we remember the first of the seven plagues, let us focus on today’s plague of hatred.

I am older and perhaps a little wiser as I look back at my memory of the Jewish Center across the street. Now, I understand that hatred is — and perhaps will always be — alive.

I now understand that as long as hatred continues to plague us, we cannot remain passive. Let us teach our children and grandchildren not to retract, but rather to interact.

For our silence will only enable hatred to rise.

This coming Monday, please watch for a Zoom link that will enable you to join a brief CTI ceremony commemorating International Holocaust Memorial Day. You can particulate through your webcam from home or at work.

The service will help us remember the past, while being mindful of where we stand today.

It is not a lost cause, if we each regard ourselves as authors of the future. That journey truly began for me in 1972, and continues to this day.

Indeed, each of us can write a letter to the editor, to God, to the universe – and most of all, to the future.

Shabbat Shalom, v’kol tuv.

Rabbi Irwin Huberman