Recently at our weekly Torah study class, one of the participants shared a few personal memories of what it was like to be a child during the Holocaust. One particular memory that stood out, was her memory as a four year old child of her joy and happiness when her cousin found a whole potato in a pile of garbage in the middle of their factory labor camp. Her cousin who was only a few years older than her, instantly cut up the potato into three pieces and gave one to herself, another cousin and kept one for herself. It's a simple story, but it is very telling and powerful.
In Israel this week, the country went silent for two minutes as millions of people from around Israel, stop in their tracks, get out their cars on the highways, and stand still in the street, when the shrill sound of the siren goes off. The sound of the siren jolts the country to silence as they stand still and remember the loss of the 6 Million Jewish victims of Hitler.
Words can do no explaining or justice, and silence is sometimes the only way forward.
Among all the images that I saw this week, the one on the left which is from this (link where you can read more about it), is one of the more beautiful ones, as survivors escape from a train and realize that their lives have been saved.
As we remember the past and the millions of innocent murdered victims, we must also take the time to focus forward and ask ourselves what can we do to make tomorrow a more Jewish tomorrow, how can we ensure that our community will be a stronger one, and what am I going to do to make sure that the faith of Judaism and the eternal flame of Mitzvot, Values, and Spiritual Ideals, continues to burn ever brighter.
As the verse says in Hebrew "VeHachai Yiten El Libo", may the ones who live, take the message (and values of the deceased) to heart (to live by as well as remember).
Shabbat Shalom