Parshas Shemini (5778)
This Thursday, Yom HaShoah or “Holocaust Remembrance Day†was observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the six million Jewish martyrs who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan (April/May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.
[Ed. Note: While many Orthodox Jews in Israel and abroad commemorate the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, others in the Orthodox community, especially Chareidim (so-called “Ultra-Orthodox†Jews), remember the victims of the Holocaust on Tishah B’Av, the traditional day of fasting and mourning which was already in place long before the Holocaust. This is based on a long-standing Jewish tradition, that there are really no new tragedies befalling Israel. All of our national woes and calamities stem from one tragic source – the Destruction of the Temple on Tishah B’Av. To establish a new day of mourning – even for the Holocaust - would detract from the significance of Tishah B’Av and obscure its lesson and message. -dz]
This week also “happens†to be Parshas Shemini, in which we read publicly from the Torah about the sudden tragic death of Aaron the High Priest’s two oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, during the joyous inauguration ritual of the Tabernacle in the desert. Aaron silently accepted the Divine decree, as it says in the Torah, “… and Aaron was silent†(see Leviticus 10:3).
We, too, can only follow Aaron’s lead in the face of a huge tragedy such as the Holocaust, and silently accept G-d’s Divine decree. We have no words to say - because there are no words to say - that can explain the murder of six million of our brothers and sisters during the Holocaust.
And yet we are taught by our sages that even though we don’t have the ability to fully understand G-d’s will, everything happens for a reason, and we are enjoined to look for ultimate meaning and any lessons that we can learn from each tragedy that occurs.
With this in mind, I would like to share with you one powerful lesson of the Holocaust that was suggested by my wife’s late great-uncle Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach ZTâ€L, and quoted by Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum in her book Holy Brother:
“So everybody knows that what unfortunately happened after the War was this: Some Jews lost faith completely and left Judaism altogether, but others became ten times more religiously observant than before! So how do you explain this? The answer is: What did they remember from their childhood? Did they remember a childhood where Shabbos was so sweet … where their Tatta and Mama kissed and hugged them … where their Rebbe in ‘cheder’ (school) gave them candies, a tender pat on their cheeks and told them they were special? If that was the childhood they remembered, they said, after the War: ‘Ah, it’s been so long since I had the warmth and beauty of Judaism, ah, I remember it so well, I want it back in my life now!’ So these people returned to their heritage and became fire, fire! But what those who remembered a different childhood? What about those for whom Shabbos was only ‘NO!’, whose parents tormented them, and whose Rebbes punished them with a strap? ‘Hey,’ they said, I’ve been beaten down to the ground, slapped around enough in concentration camp. I don’t want that in my life ever again!’ And these are the ones who unfortunately left Judaism because they never saw its beauty and never knew its joy. So always remember: everything begins in childhood!â€
We Jews have a glorious tradition and belief that one day soon the King Messiah will arrive and reveal himself, ushering in an era of peace and tranquility. At that time, the earth will be full of the knowledge of G-d and His Torah, and we will be given the ability to understand with perfect clarity all that happened to us throughout our long history, including the Holocaust. Only then will we be able to proclaim G-d’s Oneness and Unity, as the prophet Zechariah foretold, “G-d will be King over the earth; on that day G-d will be One and His Name Oneâ€. May we all live to see that day. Amen!
[Sources: Holy Brother: Inspiring Stories and Enchanted Tales about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach by Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum, Jason Aronson Publishers]
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