Does the Holocaust Still Matter?

YES!!!! It will matter always because the Jewish people are the Chosen of the Most High. The Holocaust is a lesson and a warning to us: this is what happens when people stand by and do nothing to help their neighbors. NEVER AGAIN!!!!

I don't thiink that Rabbi Feldman was saying man is born evil, just that he was not born good. There is a difference. Born evil (original sin) is a Christian and not a Jewish concept. However Judaism holds we are born pareve, neither good or evil with the capacity to develop ourselves either way.

Your words of "Never Forget" are words that should always be spoken. Every life is a gift from God and to not remember is an insult to God's gift. I will never forget and I am not a Jew. Remeber always to sanctify those deaths

We are Commanded by Ha'Shem NOT EVER to forget, and to teach the Children, that they not only never forget but that it does not happen again ... If we fail, if we forget and the Holocaust happens again ... it will be our very own fault ... what then shall we say to the Children ??? What then shall we Answer to G_D ???

This is what we need I am not Jewish but I completely agree with all that the rabbi has said. If we do not teach ourselves to respect others, if we do not recognise the fact that we are all born equal, we are all under one god, that none is superior to the other, that only god is the judge and that we cannot judge anyone as we ourselves will be judged for our deeds by the one god then we will never change.

words cannot describe the sadness felt when i read about the holocaust. we must all remember and prepare and prevent these movements...there are places inside the u.s. now that are ready to operate in the same manner. everyone should use google...search for it...and you'll find camps here. who are they for? why are they here in the u.

i want to thank you so much for this article i just want to mention one thing the reason we had a halocaust in the first place is because we assimilated and drifted away from yiddishkiet from Hashem and i think that if we dont do teshuva fast another one can happen as u said history repeats itself the point is that even look at today its repeating itself over and over

this is very well said and so beautiful i agree that the holocaust still matters because it shows that just because we are different doesnt mean that we shouldnt be treated different. AND HITLER WAS A TYRANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND HE WENT MENTALLY INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic article! So well said!! This is precisely what needs to be heard in a secular, humanistic world that wants to push away all unpleasant historical memories. People are basically sinful and selfish, and lean toward evil. Only a reconciliation with G_d will remedy this. The last paragraph of the article is precisely what I have told my listeners after conducting tours through former concentration camps. Shalom, and ZACHOR !

If we don't learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. Yes it still matters! It is a necessary reminder to us all, man's inhumanity to man.

"..and that only in connecting with God can evil be pre-empted in the world. We forget it at our peril" Above all else let the Holocaust remind us of the God we subscribe to and His requirements which truly "observed" will make us head and not tail and all the loving that God promises to be to us, to understand and to know Him because He delights in being kind, just and offers us righteousness in preaching Him. Let us boast in this as His power according to David inspires and sustains those who love Him truly those with a circumcised heart.

KEEP THE MEMORY AGLOW Soemtimes, we wish to forget that aspect of our past that brings us shame. Thankfully, we are not computers that can delete forever, any unwanted information. The process of remembering even those undignifying events enables us to analyse the events to see where we went wrong and then chart a course for our lives so that neither we nor our children will have to pass through the same road. Please keep the memory alive. I was born in the 70s, but I have never tired to read or watch movies/documentaries about Hitler's Germany and the perseccution of the Jewish people. The events seem like they happened yesterday.

Having just returned from Krakow Poland watching the 18th Jewish heritage festival there is at last a deep feeling of shame and understanding amongst the Poles of the tragedy that befell the Jews of Poland. This surprisingly makes today's Poland the most pro Israel and Jewish nation in Europe and should be admired after all Poland was the killing fields of Europe they were not the perpetrators yet twice as many Jews visit Germany than Poland - GO FIGURE - So my point is forget prejudices VISIT POLAND you will be surprised at the welcome Jews get

Does the Holocaust Matter? As a Christian and Catholic I say it matters very much. We are taught we must forgive, but I was once told that we must forgive if ASKED for forgiveness. I would still find it hard. Forgive if you are able, but DON'T EVER FORGET. I will remember for you.

the holocuast must never be forgoten!. it tells of mans inhumanity to man. why the jewish people where picked on is a mystery to me, no matter what is written

Why so much hatred toward the Jews? I am a secondary teacher at a Christian School who teaches about the Holocaust and current situation in Israel. I was deeply touched by your article and found it succinct and truthful. I have felt for a long time that the constant struggle against the Jews can only mean one thing. . . . there is only one G-d and he blessed the Jews with the door for all humanity to enter and know their Creator intimately. If anyone doubts look at the miracle of the modern day state of Israel? I pray for Israel and her soldiers daily. May the G-d of your ancestors continue to bless you with strength to be the light of this dark world.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH A WELL-WRITTEN ARTICLE. I will dwell on those words for the rest of my life.and will make an all out effort to remember to assume my responsibility in making this world a better place. You answered in plain language so much which i could not put name to. i really appreciate this soul transforming article and pray that you are blessed with inspiration to continue to write and help us learn to live up to the LIGHT OF TORAH WHICH IS OUR PATRIMONY. WE WE NEVER FORGET IT.

Wonderful article! Very insightful!
Rabbi Feldmans source that man is" born evil" is from the verse "Ki yetzer lev Hadom rah mineurav". This denotes that man is intrinsicaly good but has an evil inclination which must be overcome or at least confined and limited.

Memory is a theme of our shared Jewish history. In addition to the reasons stated in the article, there is an other equally important reason to remember the Shoah, that we the remanant that survived and rebuilt our people owe it to those who perished to remember them, their stories, their communities. We are the heirs to their collective memory and the only way that their histories will never perish. We have a moral obligation to keep that alive out of respect to their absence.

Wonderful article, but I too found the rabbi Feldman's statement about man's essence as evil disconcerting. If the soul Hashem breathed into us/is was pure, how then is our essence evil?

I think Rabbi Feldman makes it seem that man is evil in his essence. This is not a Jewish concept, but is in fact, a Christian idea. Man is inherently a soul which is pure and good, yet he is ruled by a foreign power which was imbedded into his soul from the time of Adam and the Sin. This power is the Evil Impulse. So, Rabbi Feldman is right in that its power is apparent from man's youth as stated in the Torah, but I think it's important to draw the distinction as to what is truly man's essence and what is not.

The evil leader of Iran fits the pattern described here. He does not confine his evil intentions to us. Has the relatively decent part of the world learned from 20th century history that the barking dog must be assumed to have the intention to bite?
May H" guide the heart and hands of leaders such as President Bush to choose the right course to meet present world threats. May all decent people recognize Who is our Real Protector, and be sheltered under His wings.

There are troubling parallels between the systematic vilification of Jews before the Holocaust and the current vilification of the Jewish people and Israel. Suffice it to note the annual flood of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN; or the anti-Israel culture that has taken such fast route in universties across the world ; the anti-Israel demonology of the world's media or the divestment campaigns being waged against Israel; or the attempts to delegitimize Israel's very existence.
If remembering Auschwitz should teach us anything, it is that we must all support Israel and her people against the vilification and the complicity we are witnessing, knowing where it inevitably leads.

As with the holocaust, the same kind of Jew-haters will again attempt to appease Arab rage with Jewish blood and land. We must stand up against it. Jews are still dying for only one reason; being a Jew.

Just as the Nazis could not have carried out the Shaoh without having poisoned the minds of the people of Germany and much of the rest of Europe against the Jews, anti-Israel propaganda is undertaken with the aim of paving the way for the genocide of the Jews of Israel,

As the Nazis used KAPOS and the Judenrat to help carry out the Shoah , so many of the key anti-Israel propagandists today are born Jewish. The fact of their Jewish birth should not excuse their contribution to the vile propaganda against the Israeli people.

In Schindler's List - one of the images that stands out in my mind from that movie is that of as beautiful Jewish girl child, of about four years of age, in a bright red jacket, which is the only colour plate in the black and white movie. Schindler observes this angelic child making her way through the crowds of Jews who are being herded out the ghetto by the Nazis. We see the little girl hiding under a bed, terrified, and that is the last time we see her, before we see later in the movie, her mangled little body, being wheeled to the crematorium on a trolley, identified by her red jacket.

The story of the little girl in red made me think of another child. A beautiful and vivacious child, who was murdered 60 years later by Arafatian terrorists at Adura in Judea, as she hid terrified under her parent's bed-Danielle Shefi.
In recent years Thousands of Israeli Jewish men, women and children have died from bombs, bullets or knife attacks, and thousands of others have been maimed, blinded, orphaned, widowed and terrorized.

Thousands of Israeli Jewish men, women and children have died from bombs, bullets or knife attacks, and thousands of others have been maimed, blinded, orphaned, widowed and terrorized.

Two years ago on the eve of the Jewish New Year, seven month old Shaked Abraham was shot dead in her crib by an Arab murderer who forced his way into her parent’s house as the family was celebrating the New Year.

A ten-month-old Jewish baby, Shalhevet Pass, was shot in her father’s arms by an Arab sniper in 2001.

The following year, a five-year-old girl, Danielle Shefi, was shot to death at point blank range by an Arab killer, while cowering under her parents’ bed.

That same year, two boys, four- and five-years old, where shot dead together with their mother as she read them a bedtime story, in a left-wing kibbutz, by Arab terrorists.

Over 25% percent of Jewish children living in Israel do not have enough food to eat as a result of the Intifada (war of extermination) waged by Yasser Arafat, along with the economic boycotts initiated by sympathizers of the Palestinian plans of genocide against the Israeli people.

Every decent human on this earth will stand with Israel in her hour of need.


G-D bless the lovely souls of the angels - the little girl in red who died at Auschwitz, and of Danielle Shefi, who died at Adura. . G-D bless the souls of all Jewish children murdered by the enemies of the Jews and of Israel

My father's father, one uncle and one sister came to America from Denmark. 100% of those who remained were victims of Hitler. After a certain date, if a living relative did not claim the land of those who died in the war, it reverted to the government. At a certain moment during WWII, my father's Danish family stopped writing. After the war Uncle August and Aunt Hattie returned to inquire about the family and property. Hitler had killed all the family. And because we missed the deadlne to claim the family farm outside of Copenhagen, all the land was also lost.

My mother's family is from Oslo. Her father came to America when he was 21. Many of those who remained in Norway were members of the resistance. Some were caught and tortured.

May we always remember out European loved ones and vow that "never again" will a Hitler be allowed to force his evil will upon a nation, a continent, a world.

With respect and appreciation for Rabbi Feldman's scholarship, I am,

Dale Stone
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The good Rabbi said it all. I believe that the victims of WWII shall NEVER be forgotten. May the ALMIGHTY bless the State of Israel and all Jews.

Dear Rabbi Feldman, no one should or can forget the Holocaust. It has to be handed down from generation-to-generation as you know how involved my brother-in-law is with it. Best wishes and regards. Marcia

The Article by Rabbi Feldman is of utmost importance. If everyone in America would read this article,it would be a light to their hearts on the importance of remembering a time of great suffering and darkness in the precious lives of over 6 million jewish people. i am dedicated to promoting the cause of Israel as a nation to everyone I come into contact with and will teach my grandchildren about the holocaust. We will not forget.

To not remember is to run the risk of repeating. To not only remember but to educate. I fear as we forget, the young will sink to the lows and commit the same atrocities without remorse. I am Roman Catholic and welcome all into my heart. I cannot understand and will never agree to the hating of the Jewish people nor of any people for that matter. I believe it to be complete ignorance. I am 39 and my heart aches whenever I see anything about the Holocaust. We are all one under G-d.

WE, HUMANS ARE NOTING WHEN COMPARE THE MANY POTENTIALS OF OUR CREATRE G-D, IT IS A FACT.
AND THE IMMENCE POTENTIAL OF JEWISH PEOPLE ARE ONE AMONG THEM.

The same question could be asked about slavery and why do black people still hold to it tightly? same reason; the world should never forget it. Should never forget the cruelty, the pain, the loss. When a family memmeber dies, they do nto become forgotten, there is always a rememberence. Jews, blacks, vietnam, all who have died should be remember always. That this event(s) should never happen again. 911 should never be forgotten. No matter how small or huge the tragedy was, or which group of people suffered, never forget for all of us are created by the SAME GOD, all of us in way or another are connected. Cry with them, love with them, laugh with them, carry eachother burdens, that's pure and undifiled religion...jews or non. people are people and no one deserve that kind of hatred and killing and persecution. NO ONE

Thank you again aish.com and Rabbi Feldman for a timely article. It is especially timely considering it is now 60 year from the liberation of the infamous Nazi concentration/killing camp of Aushwitz.

(My Great grandmother of Blessed Memory was sent to Aushwitz and killed in 1942 in the first roundup/expulsion of Jews from Bratislava then called Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia.)

There is a real need to remember to continue to remember THe Shoah. This is especially relevant when we see the disgraceful behaviour of Prince Harry of England the 3rd in line to The British Throne.
Prince Harry's terrible actions be dressing up as a Nazi at a costume party and then offering a lame apology "if I have offended anyone I am sorry" shows that we need to continue to remember and educate the next generations of what happened.
The Prince and many others have forgotten the terrible sufferings that Jews and others went through in World War 2. To make light of people's sufferings is an outrage.

I often find it difficult, living in such a secular society, to attatch my present status as a Jew to our long past as a people. This article, though, was able to sum up my basic feelings about the strong bond I feel towards my people. When talking to my friends, even Jewish friends, I bring up my people's past every occasion I get and I think that my friends are often annoyed by my continuous repetition. But after reading this article I know why I speak of the destruction of my people so often and why it is so important to do so.

For the second year, we mark the day commemorating the State of Israel’s struggle against anti-Semitism. We chose to mark this day of struggle against anti-Semitism on the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp that horrible symbol of the Holocaust.

The allies knew of the annihilation of the Jews. They knew and did nothing. On April 19, 1943, the Bermuda Conference gathered, with the participation of representatives from Britain and the United States in order to discuss saving the Jews of Europe. In fact, the participants did everything in their power to avoid dealing with the problem. All the suggestions for rescue operations which the Jewish organizations presented were rejected. They simply did not want to deal with it.

The Bermuda Conference was nothing more than a continuation of the shocking story of the “Ship of the Damned” – the Saint Louis – which set sail from Germany in 1939 with 1,000 Jews who succeeded in escaping from the Third Reich on board. The passengers knocked on the doors of Cuba and ports in the eastern United States, but were refused sanctuary and were forced to return to the shores of Europe. Most of them were murdered in the death camps.

The leadership of the British Mandate displayed the same obtuseness and insensitivity by locking the gates to Israel to Jewish refugees who sought a haven in the Land of Israel. Thus were rejected the requests of the 769 passengers of the ship “Struma” who escaped from Europe – and all but one [of the passengers] found their death at sea.

Throughout the war, nothing was done to stop the annihilation [of the Jewish people]. When, in the summer of 1944, the mass deportations in Hungary were carried out, the allies did not bomb the train tracks which led to Auschwitz from Hungary, nor the murder facilities in Birkenau, and this was despite the fact that they had the ability to do so. Allied planes attacked targets near Auschwitz, but they refused to bomb the camp itself, in which 10,000 Jews were murdered daily. Thus were 618,000 Jews annihilated in a number of weeks – the Jews of Hungary.

Mr. Speaker, the sad and horrible conclusion is that no one cared that Jews were being murdered.

“Do not put your trust in men in power” – said the poet of the Psalms – and, indeed, during the most terrible critical hour, those in power, and the declared friends did not lift a finger. This is the Jewish lesson of the Holocaust – and this is the lesson which Auschwitz taught us, the enchained people.

The State of Israel learned this lesson – and since its establishment, it has done its utmost to defend itself and its citizens, and provide a safe haven for any Jew, wherever he may be. We know that we can trust no one but ourselves.

This phenomenon – of Jews defending themselves and fighting back – is an anathema in the side of the new anti-Semites. Legitimate steps of self-defense which Israel takes in its war against Palestinian terror – actions which any sovereign state is obligated to undertake to ensure the security of its citizens – are presented by those who hate Israel as aggressive, Nazi-like steps.

Many of the manifestations of anti-Semitism in the past years are no longer aimed only at Jews as individuals. Rather, they are aimed at the embodiment of all Jews – the State of Israel, the Jewish state. As early as 1967, in “A Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend”, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote that anti-Zionism is no less than disguised anti-Semitism.

I quote: “The times have made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison… He does not hate the Jews, he is just ‘anti-Zionist’! My friend… when people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews – make no mistake about it.”

These days, the generation which was witness to the horrors is disappearing, and ignorance is increasing. Fewer people around the world have heard of the Holocaust or are aware of what happened in Auschwitz, and the manifestations of anti-Semitism are on the rise. 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz – the evil which gave rise to the horror still exists – and still threatens us.

Israel stands with governments, as well as Jewish and international organizations around the world which remember Auschwitz and are determined to fight this evil uncompromisingly and relentlessly.

We will continue to act tirelessly in order to ensure that the memory of Auschwitz and the lessons of the Holocaust will not be forgotten, so that Auschwitz will never again return.

Israel is a very small country, blessed with talented and courageous people. However, it must always be remembered that this is the only place in the world where we, the Jews, have the right and the capability to defend ourselves, by ourselves. And we will never relinquish this.

It is our historic responsibility. It is my personal historic responsibility".

some people act like the holocaust never happend they act like it was all mad up and they dont care they dont relise that all those inisint jews died!!they dont relise that all of that was real,but if they were jewish maybe they would think more about it what if the germans were being put in concentration camps and being murdered??would they all care then??

Rabbi Feldman makes a succinct statement relevant to today's society. When we are born we have a clean slate. Goodness must be engraved in order that instinct doesn't take habit.
Chaim B. Colen, M.D.

I thought your article outstanding and appreciate so much the chance to read and relate Jewishly on Shabbos from a small southern town in Georgia, USA. The degree of cultural sophistication is admittedly never an indicator of ethical interaction. It is a beautiful
choice to conclude "The Jew represents a different scale of values in the universe and a constant and formidable challenge to the dominion of evil."

My grandfather was killed by the germans in 1945 after years of hiding in barn houses and forests with my grandmother and my mom. I had a chance to see Aushwitz and Majdanek which makes one feel even stronger about history that repeats so often.

This is a lesson that should be compulsory in ALL schools all over the world. I am English and a Catholic, and believe most fervently that the atrocities committed in the Concentration Camps should be taught to all children. They should all be taught to ensure that we do not let these things happen again....be it Jews, Catholics, Blacks, Muslims, Chinese etc. There is no excuse, and recent events in Rwanda and Bosnia/Serbia reiterate the need to reinforce these lessons to our children.

cool website

we cannon forget what the germans did to us. did the people of jerusalem forget how the romans destroyed the beit hamigdash? no. so we must never forget the holocaust.

We must never forget that pain that has befallen our people because when we do we will lose sight of how far we have come. It's not the destination, it's the journey to use an old cliche. This article has really inspired me to not only remember what our people have endured but to celebrate it. What other group of people who have been through such hardships are still flourishing?

yes

The author writes "Man is not born good..."

He is wrong 100% !

The fact is that we are all born pure, innocent and free. Just because the vast majority of humankind cannnot perceive the divine nature of existence that comes when one has a childlike quality, does not mean that it doesn't exist.

A powerful article, but I am troubled by one of the things you write. You write "whenever we find great evil in the world, it is invariably directed against the Jewish people. The worst tyrants in history have one goal in common: to destroy the Jews."

This is simply not true. Of the millions murdered by Mao, how many were Jews? When the Armenians were driven into the desert, how many among those hundreds of thousands were Jews? When evil took hold in Rwanda, how many Jews were among its millions of targets?

We must not take from the Holocaust the lesson to be ever-vigilant against Anti-Semitism without also taking the lesson to be ever-vigilant against other forms of baseless hatred as well.

And we must not beleive that other nations are somehow immune to such evil.

Rabbi Feldman was actually quoting our sages when he said "Man is not born good...", which tells us that he can't be 'wrong 100%'. In addition, I believe it was Reb Elimelech from Lizensk z"l that said "adam le'umol yilad", (man was born to toil), which implies that man is not born all good. Our job in this lifetime is to work on our shortcomings.

Man is born pure (not with "original sin") but not GOOD. Purity and goodness are two different things, not to be confused. Goodness is the quality of making positive life choices; babies cannot make "good" choices, only "true" (/"pure") choices, following instinct. Goodness has to be worked at, it's not instinctive.

the midrashim say King Saul was so pure and free of sin that his face at age 30 had the innocence of the face of a 1 year old.
I have my 2nd child who is now 1 year old. That look of innocence doesn't last long. After 6 months it's gone.
(read from my favorite english book of all time - Reb Mendel and his wisdom artscroll)
I think a 1 year old is spiritually perfect since he has no real ego yet. Afterwards, he goes towards the terrible 2's and ego creeps into his heart.

I am not jewish but Christain. However, I think it is a shame that the Holocaust has to be part of our world's history but it is. I have never been able to understand how people were so blinded to not see how wrong they were to kill millions of innocent people, Jewish and others.

The main thing though, that concerns me, is there are still those that would do it again, today, if only they had the chance but this time the list would include so many more people. When people forget, or overlook, the crimes of the past they are asking for them to be repeated. How sad. I do support Isreal's right to exist as a nation and mourn when it is challenged by those that speak with hate rooted in their hearts.

I was just in a discussion room on the Net and some person decided to tell a joke in which Jews were compared to Pizza in an oven. I was upset with the joke but the general discussion that followed was even more disturbing. While some called it "off-color" must still found it amusing. I have spoken to some of these people and would not consider them hateful, but apparently I misjudged them. The nicest comment was "Oh I wouldn't repeat it but it is funny." Is it lack of understanding about the holocaust or just a general Jewish bias.

As with the entire body of work that Rabbi Feldman has created, this one too is excellent. My comment is geared to everyone. When we as Jews remember the Holocaust, and it's tag line "never again", it often seems to me that it only has meaning if we include victims of genocide wherever it happens. With the entire alphabet of Jewish organizations, how many have lifted a voice against genocide in the African countries? I remember having a conversation with my father many years ago on a day that the New York Post reported on the mass killings in Cambodia. My father was president of the National Council of Young Israel at the time. I begged him to take a public stand in the name of Young Israel and speak out against these mass killings which may have numbered in the millions. The next day he called me and told me that he had talked it over with other leaders of Young Israel and they basically said that they have enough to do with our own people, and couldn't worry about others. To his credit, my father wrote letters to New York newspapers in which he identified himself as the President of National Council of Young Israel. Can't the entire organized Jewish community create an office whose function is to issue a press release in the name of the Jewish community denouncing genocide whenever or wherever it happens?

Rabbi Feldman graphically depicts what happens when a culturally advanced society remains silent when a minority of fierce haters take over their country. It can happen again if the Holocaust is forgotten. I vow that I shall not reamain silent, and we all should make that same vow.

Thank you for this article. It is so important that we view current events also in the light of the Holocaust. It is not impossible for such an event to occur again. We must all do our part to combat discrimination and hatred wherever we are.

This is the most logical, informative article explaining the reasons why the Holocaust has to be remembered. I will share it with my family and friends. Thank you very much Celina