Rehearsing History - Yom HaShoah
Genocide is not a new addition to humanity’s history, yet
during World War II there was a particularly dark episode, unusually marked by
its methodical, systematic and efficient annihilation of any person with Jewish
roots. We know it as the Holocaust and Yom HaShoah is its memorial day –
remembering the genocide of the Jews. In Israel, it is commemorated on
the Hebrew calendar on 27th day of Nissan, being 24th April this year.
Remembering history seems to be a key to not repeating its
catastrophes. The biblical history of Israel is a good example of
mistakes being repeated over and over, despite attempts by their leaders,
judges, and prophets to keep their national history in the forefront of the
Israelite’s minds and decisions. It was as the people of Egypt forgot
about Joseph, that they turned on the Israelites and enslaved them. And
likewise, it was as generations passed in Israel and they forgot about the
exploits the Lord had done to bring them out of Egypt, that they found
themselves in disarray and far from the Promise. Perhaps Moses understood
this principle of remembering, when he recounted the story of the Exodus and
the desert wanderings of the Israelites in Deuteronomy, and again when he gave
the strict instructions for remembering the Passover ‘as a sign and
reminder’. Maybe Deborah and Barak understood this when they wrote a song
about their victory over Sisera for the people to sing. Perhaps David understood this when he penned Psalm 1, instructing
us to meditate on God’s word day and night. Did young King Josiah understand
this when he started his national reformations by reading all the scriptures
aloud to remind the people where they had come from and who they were?
Perhaps this is what God had in mind when he said, “Fix these words of mine in
your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your
foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you
sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you
get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your
gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many
in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the
heavens are above the earth.”
There is something very important about rehearsing
history. Yom HaShoah is set aside as a time to remember the Jewish
genocide during World War II in Europe. But there are not so many left
today who can remember. Of the Jewish minority that survived the Holocaust,
there are around 500,000 left with us, about 200,000 of which are living in
Israel today. According to statistics from Helping Hand Coalition, on
average, their number is reduced every 15 minutes or so, and it is estimated
that within 5 years their numbers will be halved.
Your People My People actively supports the work of Helping
Hand Coalition, working with Holocaust survivors in Israel, providing essential
aid and assistance to these elderly people. They are also collecting
their stories. Their histories are being rehearsed, their stories are
being listened to and even recorded. Why? Perhaps so we can hear
them, know them, remember them, and not be complacent enough to see them
repeated.
And you too can be involved in this process. Besides
being able to invest financially, you can also become a listening ear to those
with similar stories to tell. Are there elderly Holocaust survivors in
your community that need a listening ear, a witness to their story? Maybe you
have Jewish work colleagues whose grandparents or parents were survivors or
victims during WWII who would be happy to share their accounts? In the
season of Yom HaShoah, when millions of Jewish people remember the holocaust,
perhaps this is an opportunity to help them rehearse their history, so that we
may never repeat it.