We cannot allow the memory of the Holocaust to fade

Oh sweet bagel. How delicious you are......... after Passover that is. Hopefully, we have all had enough pizza, bagels and chametz to make up for the matzah of Passover. And while we might be thinking about the damage that was done to our gastrointestinal organs, it’s important to remember that Passover is not about the food. It’s about the soul and it’s about our people.

Ironically, just two weeks after Passover ends comes the annual commemoration of Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Memorial Day. What I find interesting is that while so many Jews, who do very little which is openly Jewish during the year will go out of their way to celebrate Pesach, the vast majority of Jews (even those who are actively involved in the Jewish community) will allow Yom HaShoah to pass almost completely unnoticed. How odd that so many of us will make great efforts to remind ourselves of the persecution and oppression inflicted upon us by an ancient king in a distant land whose memory is but dust on the winds of history but the Holocaust, which took place within the living memory of our parents and grandparents, goes largely unnoticed. To my mind, there is something very wrong about that.

Thankfully, our local synagogues and federation are planning moving and meaningful programs to make sure that we Never Forget. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Jews in Tampa will not attend them. Please check the times in the Jewish Press to find a Holocaust Memorial Program to attend but more importantly, why don’t you bring someone with you who would otherwise not go. Whether it’s a friend or family member, adult or child, if each of us brought just two people who allow this day to pass without notice to a community program, we would make a vast difference in the awareness of our community

It was not that long ago that I remember yellow bumper stickers being given out in synagogues across America with a Jewish Star and the number 6,000,000 in the middle of it with the words “Never Forget” emblazoned across it. As Yom HaShoah approaches, I cannot say strongly enough that we can never forget the Holocaust and the Six Million of our people who were martyred throughout Europe during the Second World War. Yet it pains me to see that for many, especially the younger generation, the Holocaust is becoming just another incident in history.

The Holocaust is the most recent event of persecution which took place in our collective Jewish memory and it is incumbent upon us all to Never Forget and to keep the memory of the victims alive. Please take the time and make the effort to attend a Holocaust Remembrance Program.

To be a Jew means that we are forbidden to forget!

The Rabbinically Speaking column is provided as a public service by the Jewish Press in cooperation with the Tampa Rabbinical Association. Columns are assigned, on a rotating basis by the board.