(1) Bell 3/7/2008 8:06:00 AM
comment by a non-jew
I am considering becoming Jewish. I have been a devote christian most of my life. I found Aish.com about a month ago when I did a search for "jewish meaning of life." Every day, Aish.com has touched my heart, mind, and soul in a way that no other religion ever has. However, your attitude toward Germans does not draw me closer to the Jewish faith, but makes me more cautious and hesitate. I was raised Catholic and I was raised to hate Hilter for what they did to the Jewish people, but I do not hate the German people. Did you not say in a previous talk that we should have "baseless love" towards those who have hurt us in the past. This attitude is powerful and nourishes my soul. Your resentment of the Germans does not.

May God heal your pain and resentment.


(2) sam lewin 3/2/2008 3:19:00 PM
the problem is morphing.
Boycotting German products today will leave most of us in a pickle.Open your computer,you will find a part with at least German origin. Same goes for cars. Surprise, surprise, your Chrysler Crossfire is a Mercedes CLK in 'disguise'.Rolls Royce and Bentley are German today and so is the Mini, the list can go on and on. AND DONT FORGET, GERMANY AND JAPAN WERE WW11 BUDDIES. As a matter of fact,the Citroen C1,Peogeot107 and Toyota Yaris share the same engine. Oh, and by the way, Henry Ford was an anti semite and did not employ Jews.

Don't even look at the cell phone industry.

How are you going to justify flying on an Airbus???????

Did you know Jews were banned from England only 3 or 4 centuries ago??
History will also reflect other Holocasts, all the way back to Greek and Roman times.

I'm sorry to say the world is shrinking and the venom must also stop.It might just bite back.

There is probably Arab fuel in your fuel tank right now.

As a Jew, I do understand your point,and YES--DONT EVER FORGET--but the time has come to put our energy to newer problems. The Muslim Fundamentalists should be your problem now. They don't even want us or Israel to exist.Period!!!!!!!!!





(3) Pinchas 2/24/2008 7:59:00 PM
The real question
I do suspect that this is actually a halachic question if somone is resouceful enough. For example,personally, my biggest question is a question of buying French wine or Israeli wine, after a brief contemeplation, I always go for the Israeli wine. In terms of buying many German and European products the question is what are the alternatives, who will it effect, and is it making a statement. Buying a Mercedes Benz or a VW, given the history of these companies and the strong historical associations, is sending the wrong message. However, the real question lyes in trying to fanthom how such an industrious country could have fallen to such decadence...
As noted by other comments, today the real issue is where to we buy our oil..

(4) Sam Hirschman 1/23/2008 11:59:00 AM
I try not to buy German products
For years I have tried not to buy German products. Some survivors that I spoke with thought that it was extreme.
When I lived in New York, I always purchased Dove soap. For 13 years I have been living in Israel and it really bothers me that Dove soap sold in Israel is made in Germany. One item I could never buy from Germany is soap. When I complained to the company and told them that it was insensitive of them to import soap from Germany and that they should import it from a different country, they gave a lame excuse that it is not under their control - they are part of an international organization.
I totally understand and agree with you.


(5) Milton Hillman, MD 1/21/2008 4:32:00 PM
The Germans could not have done it without a little help from their neighbors.
Many years ago my axxociateLudwig, lost his entire family to the holocaust while he was studying medicine in England. He always had 2 cars- a VW and a Mercedes because "the war was over." Stalin had plans to exterminate the survivors of the holocaust but died before he could bring his plans to fruition. Note that the copmps were not in Denmark where the local population where not have cooperated but were in places like Poland, Germany, etc. where the locals were thrilled to assist in the biggest robeery in the history of the world.bMy accountant asked his rabbi if he should buy a mercedes because it was a great automobile, esp. compared with the American pieces of junk.His rabbi also said that the war was over. It is a good way to look at your deceased Jewish relative's dental fillings as they are in the trim and other ares of the German automobiles. Of course many other peoples also were wiped out in the camps.The Germans would do it again if they could.


(6) Ana 1/21/2008 3:37:00 AM
Purchasing from Germany
Dear Rabbi;

Perhaps a few people know that under the influence of N Germany, Panama was burden with antisemitism in the 1940's at at the hand of President Arnulfo Arias Madrid. Growing up, I learned from my Grandmother that her brother was kill for being a Jew in Panama in the 1940. I grew up listening to the stories of the Holocaust and although not known relatives perished in Germany, my people did. When making a car purchasing decision I chose to purchase a Hummer instead of a trendy VW Jeta made in Germany.
I forgive the Germans for the demise of jews, but I don't forget there actions. In our eyes, Germany is culpable for expanding an idiology of hatred that caused the perpetuated crime of my Uncle's killing, expropriated my family, and dispersed a generation. The waves of hatred are never measured. I don't hate anyone, but just as a matter of personal choice, I don't buy from Germany.



(7) Ad Hammingh 1/15/2008 8:22:00 AM
The working Germans of today were children during the war and suffered. They should no longer be punished for the sins of the fathers.
So I buy German product and travel to Germany. I needed also some healing of the wounds from the war.


(8) hadassa 1/9/2008 8:56:00 AM
I'm with you, Rabbi.
My parents, may they rest in peace, were both survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. I will carry with me the pain and trauma of their suffering, pain and loss for the rest of my life. Even my children are very much affected by the knowledge of their grandparents' tragedy. It sickens me that the perpetrators of this enormous crime against our people are, once again, strong and powerful. It's probably true that no nation is guilt-free when it comes to anti-semitism, either overt or otherwise, but Germany is a standout, not only in the 20th century - during the Middle Ages they shed rivers of Jewish blood. So no, I don't buy German products.


(9) Ruby Harris 1/3/2008 12:37:00 AM
Today's enemy is Islam, not Germany
My mother still won't buy a Japanese car, but for us, it's no longer a problem: If I were to boycott countries that hate Jews, guess what: they're everywhere (to an extent). Germans, Spanish Inquisition, Kossaks, Ukrains, Romans, Greeks, etc., they all had their day, but today it's the Muslims.
If you choose your battles, Christians are relatively subdued today, while Islamic nations are actively murdering Jews (and others) worldwide! We have a clear major danger today, and there are substantial amounts of Christians who actually like Israel and the Jews because they've finally become aware that their hero and all (most) of his apostles were Jewish, and their writings say we are the Holy people and Israel is the Holy Land. But Islam is bent on Jihad, and they're propagating Mein Kampf and the Protocols today, not Germany.
Things have changed.


(10) Yocheved 1/1/2008 2:14:00 PM

As Jews, we are not ruled by our emotions. We do what the halacha says regardless of what our emotions tell us. Obviously, this issue has nothing to do with halacha, but if you need something that is only made in Germany, or they make it the best-and you need that, there shouldn't be a second thought not to get it. We can't help what's happened by not buying this product, and we have to just rely on G-d to take revenge for what they did.


(11) Alan Margolies 1/1/2008 1:23:00 PM
What you do is fine.
What you do is right for you. What the Nazi's did to us - yes,us - is somehow mistaken by a generation who is farther away from it in years. American Jews, especially, want to disassociate themselves with the European Jews of WWII, but that is what saddens me. They are we and we are they.

You should do what is right for you. The more the world changes, the more it stays the same.

How easy it is to condemn others' actions...how much more difficult it is to condemn our own.

Do we forgive Nebachudnezzer? We certainly do not forget. But, time has a way of healing wounds.

How can one say you contribute to discrimination when the people of Germany during WWII let 6,000,000 Jews be murdered, tortured, skinned alive, excrutiatingly experimented on...

I do not stand in your shoes, nor can I condemn you for buying anything German.

What saddens me is that there were and are today people who would do the same to the Jewish people, today.

Let me tell you what saddens me. It saddens me that I must buy gasoline for my car - including the outrages prices - that make it possible for the enemies of Israel and all my people to drain the U.S. and the world of it's economies. It saddens me that our politicians are influenced by that money and leave politics and lobby for the enemies of Israel (and do not kid yourself, the enemy of entire western world.

It saddens me that the Jews of this country, the world and yes, even Israel
are more interested in their luxuries than willing to fight for our right to exist.

So, do not buy German products, or French products, or Swedish products or Arab products (think Jews can live in that testament to Arab oil, Dubai?)or contribute to any economy that you perceive hurts you, your family and your people.

Who am I to judge you?




anything German.


(12) Haschile 12/30/2007 4:00:00 PM
Without German Airplanes, There Won't Be No Israel
Dear Rabbi,

Your opinion is totally backwardish, bad-minded, racist and stupid...

Greetings,
Der Schnorrer Haschile


(13) Gary Katz 12/29/2007 3:43:00 PM
Germany wasn't the only guilty party
I understand why many Jews would not buy German. However, many other countries were also to blame. How many fewer Jews would've been murdered without collaberation of the occupied countries? Should we boycott most of Europe's products? Something to think about.


(14) Anonymous 12/28/2007 9:18:00 PM
With this reasoning, how can you buy American?
With all due respect, Rabbi, your feelings, though valid, are irrational, hypocritical, prejudice, and xenophobic. WIth this same reasoning, whose products do you feel are "clean" enough historically to purchase? The Swedes? Iceland? Maybe Tonga? Which country hasn't done wrong or supported questionable behavior in their past? Do you feel the same about buying products made in China? Cambodia? Vietnam? Japan?

With this reasoning, how can you buy Israeli products? Or, do you feel that every decision Israel has made--every action it has taken--reflects your values? While Israel is still locked into a battle to defend itself, does that legitimize every action they've taken?

And what of our own country? Do you really feel that the USA hasn't fomented war and injustice in the world? Is it OK with you that the corruption, tyranny, and even bloodshed we've supported around the world, including Somoza, Pinochet, Hussien, etc., are OK since these people aren't Jews? What about MacCarthy inside the USA? Shouldn't you still be punishing your own country for turning back the Jews in their hour of need back in the 1940s?

What saddens me is the continuation of the circle of discrimination and your contribution to it. To me, it's not an attractive Jewish trait nor one I want to claim in my own Judiasm.


(15) Anonymous 12/27/2007 6:46:00 PM

I have a hard time buying anything from
Germany,it makes me feel like I am
supporting financially relatives of those who over 60 years ago; destroyed
my parent's family and all their extended family. Consumer goods and
hi tech products make our lives easier;
we enjoy them. I just can't stomach the
idea that a product which I rely on
and which makes my life easier was made
by a grandchild or great-grandchild of
a kiiler.


(16) HAROLD LACKMAN 12/26/2007 2:40:00 PM
Complete support for the video
As a North American born Jew, whose parents were born in Canada and whose grandparents on both sides arrived from Russia in the early 1900's, I avoid German products whenever I can. To the best of my knowledge, my family lost no close relatives in the holocaust. Yet I can not stomach the thought of buying a German product.


(17) a Hoffman 12/26/2007 9:29:00 AM
German Products and Care Our Deeds Affects
Wrongs of another generation aren't the acts the people today.
Since we affect future generations, we must not be those who press the past on to those who not personally culpable.
Two reasons:
#1. We know the Torah shows responsibility to fall on those who are at fault, as well as telling us we aren't to cause another to be injured by false testimony.
#2: We will blacken our record by blaming those who did not participate.
This can affect our future generations adversely.This is another ill,which must be considered seriously.



(18) Bruno Gideon 12/26/2007 8:00:00 AM
Buying German products?
I juest heard Rabbi Salomon's comment about buying or not buying German products. I have personal experience with Germany during WW2 but today I strongly think that we should let go of our anger and move ahead. Why? For two reasons, one being that all the brutal Nazis of that time are gone. What we deal with today are their children and grandchildren. They haven't participated in the Holocaust. And the second reason, if we hold on to our anger and can't let go, we eventually only hurt ourselves. And who would want to do that our of his free will?


(19) Allen Bodenheim 12/25/2007 6:51:00 PM
No to German products
Of principle, I do NOT buy German products. It is my way of saying that I will NEVER forget what the Germans did to the Jews. It is my way of protesting that I never had grandparents. It is my way of saying that regardless of how good the German product may be, I am not swayed by materialistic matters over principle.


(20) Renate 12/25/2007 2:08:00 PM
Sorry
Dear Rabbi Yaakov Salomon!
I am German (37 years old ) and I just want to say that I am very, very sorry for what the Germans did to your family and to millins of jews and I want to ask you for forgiveness.
Renate


(21) Mordechai Klein 12/24/2007 9:36:00 PM
Why Not buy German??What's WRONG??
I did not see a reason given other than Rabbi Salomon's personal feelings. I don't think feelings should dictate a person's desire to spread any negative action, such as not purchasing ... because it's German and my feelings won't allow me to do so. It's fine to have those feelings, but don't publicize it in a column.
BUT, there may be a Torah reason to not buy German. There may be a reason to BOYCOTT German goods (as much as we can) even at the expense of comfort. The Torah reason is be NEKAMA!
Hashem is Kail Kana VeNokeim! G-D of VENGENCE! There is a Halachah of Goail Hadam. Nekama, not in a "Get Even" way, but in a "Seeking Justice" way, is the Torah way. No, we should not go 60 years later and kill the great grandchildren of my grandparents murderers. But justice dictates, that even a hundred years after the country that murdered and then stole the gold teeth from my grandparents dead bodies to fill its coffers, should not be adding money to those same coffers thru my purchases! Jews lived in Germany and all of Europe since before the times of the Rishonim all the way until WW2. All of Europe was full of Jews. Other then a sprinkle of Jews, there is not and will never again be such a strong pressence of Jews in Europe only because of what Germany, along with all their accomplices, did. So, Nekama - JUSTICE, dictates that we do not say Appology accepted, and now we're best friends again. The finger pointing and blaming may no longer be applicable, but keeping a distance is the Justice that we must do.
As to the prefered trading status of Israel & Germany, you and I were not asked whether it should happen; today it's a fact. I would not have chosen it, but others did. That does not make it JUST, nor does it mean that it's the Torah way.


(22) Martin Broschowitz 12/24/2007 11:30:00 AM
I avoid using or buying German-made products
What saddens me more, are the Jews choosing to return to live in Germany, Poland and places where we have been persecuted. They have a country now.. why are they not moving there?


(23) ruthbaker 12/24/2007 11:15:00 AM
Forgive. . . that you be forgiven. . .
If we do not forgive, we cannot be forgiven. . .we must live our faith . . .


(24) Miriam 12/24/2007 10:10:00 AM
Cannot bear to see the words "made in Germany"
Many heimishe people think I'm weird for refusig to wear or buy German electronics etc. Maybe because both my parents were survivors, and I was born right after the war and the holocaust was so very real to me - but when I see the word German or hear German spoken it just sets off a visceral loathing for them and I think of them as Amalekim "Mochor Timcha as Zecher Amalek!!!


(25) Anonymous 12/24/2007 9:47:00 AM
we do'nt buy german
when buying a sewing machine in BP, wer refursed agerman model. a geltleman came over, shook my husband's hand a related that he paid many extra $ to purchase nongerman factory equipment-many of the modest ,fashionable, good quality ladies' clothing sold in PB is Grmn-it's a ubiquitous issue


(26) Freddy Maier 12/24/2007 8:43:00 AM
It is not a boycott !
I read all the comments and see the word boycott come again and again. It has nothing to do with it. I was born after the war and for more than 50 years I did not buy German or Austrian and never set a foot in Germany or Austria. First of all, for me it is a question of feelings. I have a bad feeling every time I listen to German, every time I see a German product. I think that there are so many countries to visit in the world that Germany and Austria can easily be put on the bottom of the list, without prejudice. Last year I had to fly with Lufthansa via Frankfurt and I felt very bad. I felt bad in the plane, I felt bad when I was served my kosher food by the German flight attendant, I felt bad during the 2 hours stop in Frankfurt airport. It is not a question about forgiving or not. Who am I to forgive any German in the name of the dead members of the Jewish People. The Germans will never be forgiven as the ones who could forgive have been killed....
That is what I feel and how I feel. I might be wrong but still....it is deep in me !


(27) Lazar 12/23/2007 5:13:00 PM
German products
I think it is absolutely ridiculous for Jews to refuse to buy German products. The Holocaust was perpetrated by the mostly dead grandparents of the people who are now living in Germany. The younger generations of Germans whom I have met are absolutely not antisemitic; if anything they are as ashamed as anyone else of the horrors that their grandparents' generation committed. On another level, I think it is time that, without forgetting the Shoah, we really have to start basing Judaism on something other than the 20th century's two Idols in the Temple; i.e. the Holocaust and the State of Israel. Although, having attended Hassidic yeshivos, I have many friends whose parents were survivors and who feel the same as you , they are not particularly well educated, and I am surprised to hear someone who otherwise seems intelligent spouting such narishkeit. All that this kind of attitude can possibly accomplish is an increase in the amount of bitterness in the world's atmosphere, and a lending of credibility to those who say that Israel should be boycotted because of the way it treats its Arabs.

בכבוד רב, אליעזר


(28) rochelle marshall 12/23/2007 2:09:00 PM
it's emotional not logical
I cannot buy German. Even the sound of the language has an effect on me. I know all the arguements and they are correct, but that doesn't change my neshoma


(29) David 12/23/2007 2:22:00 AM

I also have refused to buy German products. In particular, Volkswagon was created by Hitler so that every German could have a car. I have also heard ( but have no proof ) that Seimens built the ovens used in the consentration camps. As a Radiology Administrator I have refused to meet with their sales reps.
My only question is, for how long should we refuse German products? I buy Spanish goods and they hosted the Inquisition. My thoughts are to wait until all survivors and the children of survivors have passed on. To play it safe this would mean refusing German products for another 75 years.


(30) David 12/22/2007 11:07:00 PM
These companies were built on dead jewish slave laborers
I agree that the Germans of today are not the Germans of WWII era Germany, but that is only for the middle class.
The children of the upper class that orchestrated the Holocaust - and financed and benefited from the Nazi regime still hate us, as they were raised to. The lower class in Germany, as in most western counties, also blame the Jews for their financial woes.
The people that financially benefit when you buy German TODAY are the upper class (executives and owners) and the lower class (factory workers), both groups that would gladly follow hitler if he were still alive today.

By the way, there are still fascist right wing parties in Germany, as well as Jewish cemetery and Synagogue desecrations going on IN 2007!
Go figure???

On top of all that I stated above, most of these companies would not even exist without Jewish slave labor and without supplying the Nazi war machine.
People forget that not everyone worked for Oscar Schindler. When someone lagged behind while producing a Benz officer car, a BMW plane, a Porsche tank or a Hugo Boss soldiers uniform, they did not get docked pay - they received a bullet in the head and were then traded in for another Jew from their never ending stock. Maybe it wasn't so bad and they were only beaten to within an inch of their life or if a woman, just physically assaulted (yes, I am being sarcastic).

Are you so desperate for status or gas mileage that you can't drive a non-german car or use a non-german kitchen appliance?
Yes, the Japanese committed atrocities to people during the war, but they did save lots of Jews during WWII that came through Japan en route to Shanghai (ever hear of the Mir Yeshiva???). My friend's grandfather who was part of the Jewish Community in Japan at the time received a lot of assistance from the Japanese government in helping these people.
I think you can feel more comfortable driving a Lexus than a Benz or a Toyota Prius than a Volkswagen Golf, because the Japanese never smashed Jewish babies against walls for fun (sorry to be so graphic) - and the German's did.

Also, if we ever achieve peace with the Arabs, I will hope and pray that my descendants do not buy Hamas or PLO brand anything.

Wake up, be proud of who you are and -
Believe the Hype!
David

PS: Bravo Rabbi Salomon for stating your opinion!


(31) Lucym London UK 12/22/2007 7:45:00 PM
When we feel they deeply regret we can forgive naturally
Someone made a good point – there must be something that hasn't been settled – I think this is true – there are still rampant Nazi groups existing in Germany today, which have connections with other such groups all over the world. Has Germany come to terms with its past? Let's be honest - we are waiting for intense guilt, shame, perhaps a crippling realisation of wrongs that would make them cry out for forgiveness and mercy, for some kind of national sharing of our feelings to show they have connected to us as human beings and can feel our suffering as though it was their own. Exhibitions about German Youth (mentioned by Bill Merill) are not enough of a demonstration of the reaction I think many are looking for. Saying it wasn't us, we didn't know what was going on, we were forced to – these are not the words we feel we deserve as human beings. Until we get the reaction we are expecting, we do not have genuine grounds for forgiving naturally. The question is, how do we continue leading fruitful lives and enjoy every minute possible with Germans who wish us no ill will where the recognition and acknowledgement have not fully taken place? I think there are two levels – relationships where you look forward constructively out of religious principle and relationships where your inner heart feels satisfied. We have to admit that whilst much of the world do not share our faith which plugs morals deep into our very beings, most of our interactions with less moralistic nations will be unsatisfying to our inner hearts. We can only hope to teach from example, and hope our values rub off on the world.

May your lives be filled with peace and happiness!! :)


(32) janet kaiman 12/22/2007 6:46:00 PM

This topic was a discussion at our Shabbat table last week.
I have mixed feelings about buying German products and strong feelings about NOT buying products from France. My generation is feeling more hatre against the Jews from France and French politics than from Germany, so I question buying proucts made in France...


(33) Linda 12/22/2007 6:16:00 PM
My emotions won't allow me to buy German products
because everytime I see a German car or another item made in Germany, I always feel sad and angry at what the Germans did to so many innocent people and I cannot reward them with my hard earned dollars.


(34) Anonymous 12/22/2007 5:52:00 PM

When I visited my grandson studying in frankfut this summer, I was uncomfortable with thoughts what happened 60 years ago.
But if we do not forgive we are not following the precepts of Judaism, nor are we cleansing our own souls.


(35) wa lee 12/22/2007 1:02:00 PM
no to german mfg goods
i could not bear it within me to buy german made or owned goods after the horrendous murdering of the innocents that that country took a glorious part in participating in. their aim was to exterminate all the jews and they ferociously persued this goal. the magnitude of the crime was so great that it warrants jews to not buy german ( although it is an individual choice). my revulsion towards them extends to an american, namely henry ford, who also reviled the jews and was a hero of that disgusting creature adolph.


(36) Cella 12/22/2007 11:40:00 AM
German products?
This is such an interesting topic. I have noticed a visceral response within myself and a different awareness with German products, as well as anything German. I am of German ancestry and my grandfather fought in WWII against the Nazis. There is still lots of anti-semitism in Germany and all around the world. I can celebrate my German heritage and still not feel motivated to seek first for a German product, like I would "made in the USA" of "Made in Israel." It is fascinating to notice my feelings with buying something American or Israel, as compared to products from Germany, France, China, etc. I feel like I am "helping" Americans and Israelis when buying their products, but won't limit myself to only those products. I guess I buy on a hierarchy.


(37) Reg Saretsky 12/22/2007 10:37:00 AM
Thank you, Jonathan!
You summed up what I attempted say. As a non - Jew who lives in an area where Jews are now a valued part of society,( Canada) , but which refused to accept pre war jewish refugees ( "One Is Too Many" is a book well worth reading ) I have seen anti Semitism diminish in two generations.

The world's people do not grasp history past their lifetime. hence, Israel is seen as a 'bully' & "occupier" rather than a refuge.

Anti German Hysteria is at best a waste of time. the real battle is to save Israel.


(38) Michael Rubin 12/22/2007 10:25:00 AM
Let's read Vladimir Jankelevitch
Jankelevitch was the son of Russian Jewish parents, who had emigrated to France. In 1922 he started studying philosophy at the École normale supérieure in Paris, under Professor Bergson. In 1939 he joined the French Resistance. After the war, in 1951, he was appointed to the chair of Moral Philosophy at the Sorbonne, where he taught until 1978.

He was TOTALLY opposed to any forgiveness of the crimes of Nazism.

You should read his book L'Imprescriptible.



(39) gilly 12/22/2007 9:54:00 AM
I agree Rabbi
I agree with you Rabbi though there is no rhyme or reason to it, I cannot buy German products either. Though my brain tells me how excellently the products are made, my heart wont let me support the country that slaughtered 6 million Jewish souls. It's not a question of forgiveness, I have German friends, I hold nothing against them but I can never forget, we can never forget what happened there.


(40) larence freedman 12/22/2007 9:22:00 AM

I feel the same as the rabbi, my father was in the RAF during the war and altough i was not affected by the war i cannot buy german products, it seems just a betrail of the many deaths


(41) Anonymous 12/22/2007 8:49:00 AM
Forgive or Forget-NEVER!
When the Berlin Wall was torn down, I
felt a chill go down my spine. Will I
ever knowingly buy a product made in Germany? NO! I have studied a lot of history and I learned that history tends to repeat itself. I still don't
trust a unified Germany and never will.


(42) Chana 12/21/2007 8:51:00 PM
Never products from Germany
Dear Rabbi,
With great interest I read all the responses to your video. I especially liked the one from "Jerry Brodi". Mr.Brodi must have been talking to my parents or some mysterious jewish connection existed there, for both my parents always referred to Germany as that "Nazicountry"#1 and "Nazicountry"#2 for Austria.
My great grandparents fled Vienna and came via France and Belgium to Holland.
I will not take time to describe the agony and the life-long pain they carried with them to their graves. The pain they endured because they were jews. We survived World War II, only barely and in our family there never was any question of bringing in a product manufactured in Naziland.

For all those people (especially the non-jewish ones), commenting and insinuating that the Rabbi should be ashamed to have such thoughts and that the modern day german does not deserve such attitudes, I have this to say:
Make no mistake, anti-semitism is very much alive and well in Naziland still and not only through the generation of Hitler's henchmen but through their off-spring as well.
It may be very insignificant for me to boycott anything from Naziland, but in doing so I honor all those of us who suffered unspeakably through the hands of the nazis and who vowed to never forget.


(43) Margarita 12/21/2007 1:49:00 PM
what about made in united arab emirats or their airlines?
i think that jews have no choice in matter and we should try to pick our current enemies. it drives me crazy when i go to kosher store and i cannot see made in Israel. made in germany is not the biggest problem. what about spain - crusadors, or italy? what about malaysia? they are so horrible to jews, but we buy... i think that we should stop flying emirats and buying their products. we should support Israel and i have to argue with kosher caterer to buy at least wine made in Israel. why??????????????






(44) Lynnetta 12/21/2007 12:52:00 PM
What about the other countries that assisted ??
Rabbi, I will partly agree with you but what about the other countries that helped the Nazis ?? Should we buy their products or not ?? What about the German car manufacturing plants that are on U.S. soil that give jobs to Americans ?? What about buying a product that is made by a jew in Germany ?? Are you going to ban that product too ?? A situation has happened within my family. We have family in a mining state that lost their jobs due to the change in buying of cars to Japan. My husband and I live in a different state over 800 miles away, where a Japanese automaker has a manufacturing plant. We bought a car that was made at that plant. When they found out they got mad at us because of what has happened up there but we were proud to buy a car that was made just down the street. Granted, no lives were lost but there are still strong feelings. Now a days there is way to much "gray areas" and it is hard to say really why not to buy certain products, I think.


(45) Brian Silvey 12/21/2007 8:11:00 AM
Why do German products represent Nazis?
R'Solomon,
In general, I agree with your perspective, however, I have two points to make on what I considered your weakest argument in the video, that some products are manufactured in Germany and others are manufactured for German companies.

1) Today's economy is far more complex than the post-WWI era economy. There is much more to say here, but I will reserve comments on my limited knowledge of facts.
2) Given the global economy of today is so complex, the underlying question for me is "why do these German products of today represent the Nazi regime of the 1930's?"

As mentioned in previous commentaries, there are many nations who have brutalized our people, desecreated our Torah, maligned or deligitimized our Holy Land, and philosophically argued against the very existence of Hashem.

Unless a clear connection can be shown that the execuitves of any company condone values that attack the Jewish people, the Torah, or Hashem, I can uncomfortably justify purchasing their products.


(46) Anonymous 12/21/2007 7:02:00 AM
its personal
My grandparents were surivors and after losing their families to the Nazis they were not able to forgive and forget, and so they did not purchase German products. Can anyone blame them? Of course not. But one may say that I, as a 3rd generation survivor should be able to have a different perspective. My grandparents did not buy German because they would have been buying from Nazis. I dont think they would have been ok buying from their grandkids either. In their honor, I do not buy German.


(47) Max 12/21/2007 4:37:00 AM
Don't judge
The people who made the vaccumm aren't the same people who tortured so many jews. You don't personally know them, their politics, their beliefs, values, etc... You have to realize that you are lumping all of Germany into one category and that is stereotyping. You can't judge a person based on what their parents are like, or what their ancestors did, because they have no control over that, and you shouldn't punish them simply for being associated with them. Judaism says that everyone is capable of doing good things and making good moral decisions, so don't punish modern Germans for things they personally haven't done. Give them a chance before you make up your mind.


(48) Jonathan 12/21/2007 2:15:00 AM
The Germans are not the Nazis anymore....
Rabbi with all due respect this is a very primitive view you have towards German made products. The 3rd generation of children these days have no interest in hating Jews or any other race.
Hitler was just a very 'smart' man; he knew how to use the media to his advantage and propagate all issues of the economy and direct it towards the Jews around Europe. At that time after only just recovering from the Great Depression people were looking for an easy way out, to become rich again and most of all to take revenge on the world for humiliating them from the end of WW1 when they had to forfeit a lot of their rights.
Anyway enough history lessons, the point i'm attempting to convey is that the German people were brainwashed, they were desperate and the Jewish people were a perfect scapegoat as everyone had already been jealous of the Jews high income and high status in German society.
Hitler made them into savages, and every Nazi deserved to die because of that. However, this is not the case anymore. Germany have woken up to the fact that the Jews are their best ally and have always been...the modern world is not like it anymore.
Now we must focus our attention on the last remaining savages on this planet, those who live and support the destruction of the State of Israel.
Rabbi, you should not have to think twice when purchasing German made products any longer, but contemplate when buying Arab made products from Arab states. For God's sake, most of the world's oil that we use to run our cars on are drilled from the Arab oil rich states. Maybe you shouldn't drive a car and buy a fully electric car. "Ok" you say, "but not all Arabs hate Jews or Zionists". Does it not say in the torah those who stay silent are just as bad as those who perpetrate the act? If Arabs really didn't hate us then there would be mass protests to force Ahmadinejad to stand down, and even be executed for his hateful crimes.
These are my thoughts Rabbi, and you should consider them (if you even read these 'talkbacks) as time goes on and Israel is becoming more and more isolated from those that vow to send them back into the sea.



(49) Tikvah 12/21/2007 12:57:00 AM
Not comfortable with it
I don't buy German products--not because I can create a logical argument against it that would pass muster in a courtroom or a classroom, but because my conscience will not allow me to do so.


(50) Brain 12/21/2007 12:50:00 AM

I am a german jew I own a vw golf tdi because it gets 44 mpg. I understand your hatred my father was German and my mother an sabra. I will always find my self torn by anger of history and my heritage.I'm proud of my father he was a navy veteran who helped stop the nazis. I will always hold the same feelings you have but forgiveness has to come from your heart not mine and how can you forgive the dead. It's for Adoni to judge we can not change the past only accept it and make sure it never happens again. When ever I see a bwm or mercades logo I think of the spinning propeller what it represented it sickens me but I drive the car of the people what does it say of me. I asked my mother this once and she said Brian it's a car but the man who drives it was a good Marine a great father and grandfather who made me very proud.I have found that I will always question everything I do.I hope that's what makes me good jew and a fair man,I don't know it's not my call but I do know one thing it's man job to judge all even ones self and hashem's job to know all. As for your video keep the hatred brother it makes a man strong does that make sense. Shalom for Israel todah for the space and good luck with your hatred I keep mine close to my heart SEMPERFI Brain




(51) Mark Berkman 12/20/2007 11:19:00 PM
We try to avoid buying German products
We believe that every society has a certain soul. My subjective belief is that the Germans may put a smile towards Jews, perhaps out of guilt, but there is no real remorse for the killing of Jews. To see this, one does not have to go back to the Holocaust. Look what happened in Munich at the Olympics. After refusing Israeli assistance, and botching the rescue, Germany created a fake hijacking so as to release the terrorists they had captured. This to me, is a society that views Jewish blood as a cheap commodity. I have no intention of ever visiting Germany, and I prefer not to economically support them.


(52) Jossef 12/20/2007 9:02:00 PM
Forget the German cars what about the world's oil?
Dear Rabbi,
I usually agree with, and learn from your drashot.
I have a Jewish friend who survived a WW2 Japanese prisoner of war camp in the Far East. The Japanese have never acknowledged the murder, rape and pillage of WW2. Never paid reparations, and conditions were such in those camps that would have made some Germans caps, like a holiday home. Using your reasoning, we should also boycott Japanese goods, but what household can survive today without them?

The Arab countries that dispossed and evicted nearly a millions Jews since the establishment of Eretz Israel, and demand "ther right of return" with European support, supply the world with fuel. They murder and assist in murdering Israeli's in particular, but swear death or submission to Infidels which means everyone who is not Muslim. Are you not going to buy fuel for your American car or to heat your home?
I hear what you say, you acknowledge it is "emotion", but it is surely not Torah Judaism.


(53) Anonymous 12/20/2007 8:39:00 PM
I fully agree...
All four of my grandparents were survivors. When seeing a German made product, like my mother before me, I hesitate to purchase it. Hearing the German language spoken also makes me cringe. I consider myself to be a third generation survivor. Having parents who were second generation survivors raise me, has had a strong impact on who I am. I feel very strongly from personal experience amongst peers that having European (survivor) grandparents or American grandparents makes a world of a difference in our personal identity.


(54) Horst 12/20/2007 8:22:00 PM
to buy or not to buy....teach or hide the truth
THIS WAS SENT TO ME BY A GOOD FRIEND WHO HAS ASKED ME TO PASS IT ON. HOPE YOU WILL DO THE SAME IN MEMORY OF ALL THOSE LOST.

It is a matter of history that when Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect: "Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

Memorial Chain

This week, the UK removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it 'offended' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred.

This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.

This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated.

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.

This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!

Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the world.

Don't just delete this. It will take a minute to pass this along.






(55) Benoît 12/20/2007 5:47:00 PM
We cannot hate in our heart.
Dear Rabbi,
Your posture about today's Germany astonishes me, and makes me wonder... I'm proposing a reply. The Torah suggests that, in front of HaShem, we should not bear hatred to our "neighbour". Must we act in compliance with this outstandingly revolutionary imperative only as long as our neighbour is Jew? What does "in our heart" stands for, then? What if it was all about preventing ourselves from spoiling our very personality, and self, from things like hatred or grudge ? Surely there's a difference between grudge or hate and justice or simply faithful memory. There still must be things that have not yet been settled, I can't feel it in my flesh -I'm not a grandson of an Holocaust survivor, but ... maybe there's something to think about.


(56) Anonymous 12/20/2007 3:18:00 PM

I am very glad that I have support to my thinking and hopefully actions. I do not have immediate relatives who have been through the holocaust but that doesn't make the pain any less. (thoughts from Jerusalem-where I live)


(57) Shmuel 12/20/2007 2:59:00 PM
I can not forget the past
It is already years since my father passed away. His searing cries from nightmares have not faded from my memory. I can not and will not forget that they too were 'made in Germany'. Those who are willing to part with the past have likely not shared the hellish memories of the survivors. I wonder how many people who came out of the Nazi inferno are willing to forget this modern day Amalek.


(58) Leonard Fine 12/20/2007 2:11:00 PM
Expressing such hate is not a Jewish thing
I am saddened to see such an outpouring of venomous hatered. The Holocaust is one incident in Jewish history but there are many more atrocities. Buy Russian? Buy Polish?buy Egyptian? buy Spanish? Buy Greek? and so on. Each responsible for huge losses of Jewish life and culture. A decision not to buy a particular product is ones own choice but the consideration of the implications of a global ecomony suggests you are buying something that is made, thought of, contributed to or even developed by Germans. I feel some editorial comment is required as this is very dangerous talk and care should be expressed when making such public statements. To hate with such intensity engenders similar hatered back and while I do not advocate ever forgetting such an atrocity as the Holocaust one needs balance in thought and deed to move on and live life for what it is, a gift from Hashem and we should do all to make our time here a blessing not a curse.


(59) Paul Slaton 12/20/2007 1:30:00 PM
I don't feel the same.
I fled from Austria in 1939, my parents
did not make it and were killed.Yes,
I can't blame today's Germans for what
their grandparents did. Nazis and denial are illegal in Germany.


(60) Marina 12/20/2007 1:02:00 PM
Your attitude makes me wonder and almost wander...
What does the Torah say? To forgive and forqet and to leave everything in His hands. Or, doesn't it?


(61) Giti 12/20/2007 12:47:00 PM
is this a torah veiw? why stop at the Germans?
What about Spain- Spanish inquisition? Or Poland? The polish citizens were worse then the average German citizen this is ridiculous behavior boycotting it is a personal thing, not something to be posted on an asih web page. It is not a Jewish character trait to take revenge. We are better then them, our torah preaches not to take revenge. Who are you punishing anyhow? Each person is judge for what they do, not for what the fathers, or the country of origin did. Hashem built anti Semitism into this world for many reasons, we will never know why the holocaust happened. What about Russian products, there is no official number on how many of our brethren they slaughtered, and if you go through the world there is unfortunately no shortage of countrys that have evicted and slaughtered Jews. G-d runs the world every body should focus on being the best human they can be and Hashem will take care of punishing the evil.


(62) Bill Merrill 12/20/2007 12:07:00 PM
Germany has come to terms with their past more than anyone else
As you said, the decision of whether or not to buy German products is ultimately an emotional one. Since we humans are emotional beings, it's not surprising that we make emotional decisions. For me, however, my emotions tell me that Germany has done more to come to terms with their past than any other country. Germany supports Israel. Germany has a Jewish community revival going on. Why would that be if the Jews there didn't feel safe or secure? In Germany, it's illegal to be a Nazi.
The last time I was in Germany, I was doing some contract work at a client in a pretty remote area of the Swabischen Alps - a bit northwest of Bavaria. This was not a place on the tourist trail. I saw a local cathedral in the town. In Germany, there are cathedrals in nearly every town, even the small remote ones. But Germans are not as religious as they used to be. The cathedral in this town had been converted into some kind of art gallery/museum. In it, they had a exhibition about the local history of the Hitler youth. There were examples of documents from the time that described how a local person joined the Hitler youth, and was never heard from again, and other things of that sort. This was definitely not anything pro-Nazi about this. But this was an exhibit for local Germans. Nothing was in English, and in any case, as I said, this town was not on the tourist trail. My knowledge of the German language is not perfect, but it's enough for me to read the exhibits and understand what was going on.
Why would there be such an exhibit in a relatively remote part of Germany? This is just another example of Germans coming to terms with their past.
Compare this to a place like Turkey, where it is illegal to call the Armenian genocide a genocide. Turkey is a wonderful country with a lot going for it, but for emotional reasons, they can't at all come to terms with their own past.
Germans are doing more to come to terms with their past than anyone else. I think this deserves to be recognized. So of course I have no problem traveling in Germany, or buying German products. That doesn't mean I'm not affected by visits to concentration camps or any of the other things that happened during WWII. It would not be appropriate to forget the past - but it's appropriate to not blame people for what is past, especially when most of the people in question were not even born when the events occurred.



(63) Rachel Janashvili 12/20/2007 11:33:00 AM
I am not sure what to make of this?
Dear Rabbi Salomon,


Is it ok to live in America (assimilation is growing at an unbelievable rate), or better yet is it ok to live in Germany??? I am sure you are well aware of some prominent Rabbies that went to live in Germany & opened Yeshivas, how is that OK??? Oh, and how could we forget Russia, who shechted millions of jewish neshomas, communities full of Torah, how many frum people go back to Russia for business? or is it only OK when it comes to money?

Again, I am not sure what to make of this question, but it definitely makes me think of a lot that is going on among us. Hashem is running this world, Germans, Russians & many others who wish us bad are only the tools in Hashem's Hands. We are the problem!!! We are not united. To buy German products or not isn't our problem.

BTW, I do not & will not buy German products, (I try to buy Israeli products as much as I can) but that's a feeling I have, I can not force it on others, because it almost does not make sense, too many questions that I don't have answers for arise when I tell people I don't buy German products.

We enjoyed having you in Kew Gardens,

Regards,

Rachel


(64) Israel Mossman 12/20/2007 11:28:00 AM
Consumer Reports: German cars not reliable.
It would bother me to drive any of the 3 cars you list. My wife barely escaped Nazi Germany. All her relatives were lost, but 2 who also escaped.


(65) David Fleisher 12/20/2007 11:06:00 AM
A Look At The Bigger Picture
Rabbi,

No one should know more than you, as a mental health professional, that forgiveness can be healing and liberating.

During the War, the largest percentage of the German people did not know about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis. By the end of 1939, when some of those right-minded folks figured out some of the things that the Nazis were doing, they were powerless to do anything about them.

It seems that even through the end of the war, the largest portion of the German people wanted nothing to do with Nazism or with war-making. Yes, as a fellow human being, an American and a Jew, I would prefer to see the companies that willingly supported Hitler's goals publicly and continuously admit to their involvement and guilt and ask for forgiveness. But, over time, the shame, greed, denial, ignorance and inability to accept guilt factors of negative "human nature" have gotten in the way on both sides of the issue.

Personally, I am struggling with some of some of the wrong-minded actions perpetrated by our government against some people and other nations since the creation of our country in my name....and yours. What comes closest to mind is our recent and improper invasion of Iraq. Weather we are willing to admit to it or not, this is a large part of one of the biggest "pease issues" of our time.

If there was any move by any country that rivals the Japanese, German and Italian actions during the 1930's and 1940's for an unbalance and/or fundamental change to civilization as we know, our invasion of Iraq is it! Quoting the reluctant planner of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, "We have awakened a sleeping giant".

Therefore, I propose two different but connected courses. First: those of us who wish to buy or sell German (or for that matter, Japanese) goods follow their better consciences and communicate on a one-to-one, personal basis with each other. I do not speak German or Japanese but have always been willing to communicate.

Thinking about the larger problem at hand.....Second: join in with me in trying to apologize and beg for forgiveness for the "mistakes" made by our "uniter not divider" President and his cronies for unilaterally "taking down" a sovereign nation without the acknowledgement of the majority of our citizens and other governments. AND waking up the sleeping giant of about one billion people!

Forgive but never forget.

With Respect,

David Z. Fleisher



(66) Yitzchok Cohen 12/20/2007 10:35:00 AM
agree - in principle
I am the grandchild of holocause survivors, and, as others have commented, I will not by "major" German products, primarily out of respect for those of my family who were lost/tortured by the Nazis. Yet, at the same time, I understand the viewpoint of those Jews who claim that this is no longer an issue...especially those from the Sephardic communities, who were, let's face it, largely unaffected by the Holocaust. So I'm not sure I would feel comfortable telling other Jews what to buy or not; it is, as you said, a matter of feeling and emotion.
My father feels very strongly against buying products from the Ford company, because it's well known that Henry Ford was a rabid anti-semite. That obviously doesn't mean that his descendants are as well, but this too is a matter of emotion.


(67) reut 12/20/2007 10:05:00 AM

It's not the economic issue; I don't think that my not buying will really hurt the German economy. It's the disgust factor: Why would I WANT to own German made products? Why would I want to step foot on German soil that is flowing with Jewish blood?


(68) Michael Jarvis 12/20/2007 9:42:00 AM
There is nothing wrong with buying German products
My family would never buy a German product until we made our first first to Israel over 30 years ago. During that trip I noted that many of the products especially cars were made in Germany. One of Israel's largest trading partners is Germany and has been for nearly fifty years. I think that before you take Germany off you buy list, Jews as well as other Americans should take a look at other countries, France amoung others. While we drive our SUVs and fill them with oil from countries where hate both Jews and Americans, I believe that our energies can be better and more productively used by working towards both Israel and American independence and let our enemies and Jew haters sell their oil to others. As a note America uses 25% of the worlds energy, energu independence should drive the price of oil down by about 50%.


(69) Anonymous 12/20/2007 9:12:00 AM
Crime
Posting comments of hate is a "Hate Crime" in itself. We are critical of commentary against Jews, and seek apologies for those words, but are we able to justify doing the same? It is ok to feel frustration and anger for past actions of others, and we all do it, but to clearly state that we HATE someone and to be proud of it, is only promoting the continuation of hate. Dig deeper within yourselves and find peace instead of hate, and don't buy German if your feelings tell you not to.


(70) Anne 12/20/2007 8:32:00 AM
I disagree......
I am also a child of a Holocaust survivor. I know the suffering and devastation continues long after the deaths of so many of our people, the atrocities and the concentrations camps. I know that we will never regain what we lost. I know that we are still healing and trying to rebuild. I understand how anything German, we would stayed away from. And make no mistake; I know we must be vigilant against our enemies. I know we must never forget what befell us.
Yet I have this to say because of my experiences.
It was during a course of study at the University of Paris, that I became friends with another student from Cologne, Germany, I realized that she was truly tortured by what her own people had done. I realized that here are a whole generation of children born in Germany after the Holocaust that are suffering, also. If we are really to be a light in this world as the Torah teaches. I believe that Hashem wants us to increase the good in the world. It means unless that particular company or person had involvement or ties with the Nazis or is an enemy of the Jewish people, we should try to build positive relationship for the future whether it be commerce or personal.
We should try to elevate suffering when we can. Anything that demonizes a human being no matter without due process is not justice for world.
Of course, if you can buy Israeli products or the products of people you know support Israeli and the Jewish people that for me would be the best choices. But let us take leave from the hatred by putting a great distance by how we act and by remembering that each life is precious especially the children wherever they happen to be born



(71) jJERRY BRODIE 12/20/2007 8:10:00 AM
I BOYCOTT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE FROM NAZISLAND.
I have never knowingly bought anything made in Nazisland, or in Nazisland Junior (Austria), and I never will, (b'lee nader).

I will never call these 2 countries anything but Nazisland and Nazisland Junior.

I will never call their language anything but Nazistalk.

I will not talk to any non-Jew whom I know to have been born in Nazisland, or in Nazisland Junior, including those who are born even this second, because JEW-HATRED is in their mothers' milk, and they can not help but be JEW-HATERS.

I had booked a cruise from Miami to Italy and southern France.

The cruise company was going to book us on Air Canada's partner, LuftNazisair to Frankfurt and from there to Barcelona, and from where we would fly back home to Toronto.

I refused to accept this, so they booked us on Air Canada to Milan and on Air Italia from Milan to Barcelona.

One month before the cruise, they notified me that our Air Italia flight had to be cancelled, and that we would be using Luftnazisair all the way home. They refused to provide any alternatives.

We cancelled the cruise and lost more than $4,000.00 because it was done for a non-meedical reason, and that was not covered by our insurance.

If I had a million dollars and had to lose it to avoid setting foot on Nazisland or Nazisland Junior, or on any of their planes, trains, buses, cars, boats or roller skates, I would do it.

I am prejudiced against anything and everything to do with Nazisland and Nazisland Junior because I HATE them all, and I am proud of t. If I live until the end of time, I will never change about this.

Jerry Brodi


(72) Raechel 12/20/2007 7:31:00 AM

Rabbi,
My grandparents were Holocaust survivors and I too share your feelings. It is one of the ways I honor them and the memory of my family members who perished. How can I financially enrich a country that committed such evil, and to this day is still rampant with anti-semitism. I can not, with good conscience, buy German products. It is as if I were forgiving and forgetting what took place, and I choose to respect the memory of my family members and never forget.


(73) Horst 12/20/2007 6:31:00 AM
buy German products?
It is fair for Rabbi Solomon and many others to feel that way. But consider this......If Rabbi Solomon or one of his family was, G-d forbid,to suffer a terminal desease and the only drug to save them was produced in Germany, what then? To save such a good man and any member of his family that drug would need to be used. I would hide it under an Australian made label


(74) Anonymous 12/20/2007 6:25:00 AM
I'm With You on This
I totally understand your position and feel the same way myself. I don't have any relatives that lived through, or died during, the Holocaust, but my father was in the US army serving in Europe then. He never bought a German product for the rest of his life and I think that determined, or at least influenced, my decision to do the same. My family and friends don't understand this for the most part and I can't really explain it - it's more of a feeling, as you said. But feelings, and acting on them, are important.


(75) Judith G Dawson 12/20/2007 5:10:00 AM
Yes, I have to agree with you, Rabbi.
I'm irrational about it - we have a Japanese car (made in America) but I will not buy German products or visit Germany. I guess I feel that what we did to Japanese-Americans was so horrible they have more than paid their price, whereas Germany became a 'good guy' almost immediately. Keep encouraging people to think about these issues, regardless of their decisions.


(76) Richard Seigel 12/20/2007 5:05:00 AM
agree
I agree Rabbi Soloman.


(77) peter kraynik 12/20/2007 3:50:00 AM
Forgive
We can forgive, Yom Kippur, but not forget! By forgiving, we are closer to Torah. Kindness is better than hatred. If G-D can forgive we can Too. Shalom


(78) Reg Saretsky 12/20/2007 3:09:00 AM
The need to hate 'the other" ....
SarahRachelwrote:

7) SarahRachel 12/19/2007 5:50:00 PM
It's NOT Just the Past
I think that people who say "Germany of the past is not the Germany of today, nor are the German people of the past the same as they are today", must have their heads in the clouds. It is in their souls to hate Jews, just as it is in the souls of Ishmael and Esau to hate the Jews. It only goes underground for a while, but it ALWAYS (always!) re-emerges for another try at the complete genocide of the Jewish people. It is not gone, regardless even of the laws in Germany against denying the Holocaust.

Do people honestly think that the children and grandchildren of the Nazis did not grow up and do their teething on these teachings? Of course they did. The rare German will reject it in his soul - and that German is probably actually a lost Jew and not a German at all. ..."

OK, again, as half German, I hope to explain, without disparaging the real emotions ...

Wh Auden , "S


(79) Paul 12/20/2007 2:08:00 AM
Bloody Hands
I'm a Christian, and a second generation American of Greek decent... and I'm also the former social studies teacher. Please know that of us have ancestors that have been victims of slavery and oppression. The Jews of History are no different that the Africans as victims of the past (and present) slave trade. What makes the events of the last 400 years so significant is the massive documentation, and the widespread knowledge of those events. Jews at the hands of Nazis', Blacks at the hands of whites, labor and the hands of management. Historically, blood is on the hands of theses oppressors. Should we as humans not try to help them wash the blood off their hands?



(80) Paul 12/20/2007 1:35:00 AM
Honoring Ancestors
I used to be a social studies teacher in an urban school. Daily I was faced with situations where middle school children were hostile to each other feeding off emotions that were fed to them by parents and other adults... emotions rooted in contempt based on the opinion that "whites enslaved my ancestors, and they are still keeping us down today." I posed the question, "Does anyone here want to be held accountable for the wrong actions of their grandparents?" The room was dead silent. Over the year we saw a tremendous decrease in violence at our school.

Sir, The answer to making the world a better place to live lies in responding to others from a higher moral plane. Turning the other cheek so to speak. If you are choosing to not buy German products to honor your ancestors, I submit that you are essentially worshiping your ancestors, and you might be violating the 2nd commandment.

How can we live in peace with hostility in the air?


(81) Anonymous 12/19/2007 10:03:00 PM

I agree.


(82) Julie 12/19/2007 9:26:00 PM
foreign cars
Yes, if I were you, you must honor your parents memory and not buy German products. I can remember in K.C. where you could not park a Japanese car in a Union Hall parking lot , a sign saying it would be towed away. But here I am, at 64, thinking about buying a cute PT Cruiser. And then you spoke. I'm Bnei Noah and believe in the 13 principles of Maimonides. What would he do? What would Rashi do? Something to think about. Keep the good work up, Rabbi. I treasure everything you say. Julie


(83) Anonymous 12/19/2007 7:56:00 PM
comment of Germany
I have not and will not ever visit Germany, or buy any German made products. It may be irrational, but as you said it is a "feeling" and it won't go away, thank you


(84) Shelly 12/19/2007 7:43:00 PM

I am just curious, are Jewish communities making a comeback in Germany?
How many Jewish people are there?
When I was in Germany, I couldn't wait to get out, that is how uncomfortable I felt. I don't know how logical that is.


(85) tziporah 12/19/2007 6:53:00 PM
will not buy German
Out of respect for both sets of grandparent (and my namesake)I make a conscious decision not to buy German. One set of grandparents, lost the bulk of their families to the Nazi's and the other set survived the war by the Grace of G-d, and fleeing to Russia.
Sorry, but the Shoah is still raw and the blood of 6 million is crying. Never
Again! Never Forget-must be our mantra.


(86) Anonymous 12/19/2007 6:25:00 PM
Buying German
Just two points:

1) Refusing to buy German products will not bring back one single Jewish life.

2) Refusing to buy German products cannot punish those who were actively responsible for the Holocaust. They're all dead.

Rabbi, If your refusal to buy German gives you some sort of vindication then, by all means. I have no problem with those that feel as you do.

However, I have no problem with it.



(87) SarahRachel 12/19/2007 5:50:00 PM
It's NOT Just the Past
I think that people who say "Germany of the past is not the Germany of today, nor are the German people of the past the same as they are today", must have their heads in the clouds. It is in their souls to hate Jews, just as it is in the souls of Ishmael and Esau to hate the Jews. It only goes underground for a while, but it ALWAYS (always!) re-emerges for another try at the complete genocide of the Jewish people. It is not gone, regardless even of the laws in Germany against denying the Holocaust.

Do people honestly think that the children and grandchildren of the Nazis did not grow up and do their teething on these teachings? Of course they did. The rare German will reject it in his soul - and that German is probably actually a lost Jew and not a German at all.

Until Moshiach comes and all of the Jews are gathered into Israel, the Third Temple is built, there is Universal Peace, and those who have chosen to become Righteous Gentiles have done so, and those who haven't are completely wiped out even on the levels of their souls, no Jew should ever think that the wish to exterminate the Jews as an entire people, will ever be far from the conscious awareness of Germans, nor of Arabs, nor of Esau for that matter. Don't fool yourselves.

I do not buy German products, knowingly. If I had a way to also not buy Arab oil products and any of Esau's products I would do that as well, in a heartbeat. I would prefer to only buy Jewish products if that were at all possible.


(88) Anonymous 12/19/2007 5:45:00 PM
German products
I too will not buy a German product if there is any other possibility, and I will go out of my way to find a product not made in Germany


(89) marc 12/19/2007 5:09:00 PM
germany
i would like to remind some of the pro-germany people- the torah says to wipe out amelek- and that doesn't mean they themselves- but every child, animal slave- everything that comes out of them. we see the torah does not care if one greatgrandchild of amalek would be good - not to kill. amelek is the "core enemy" of the jewish people-
i am not the one to bring this into the world- but many prominent rabbis of the world have proven that hitler and his crew - were amalek- GERMANY- and whether true or not- not important
when it comes to a true enemy of israel- there is no forgive-and-forget- sorry to burst the PRO_GERMAN_ BUBBLE
we are a peacful loving people- but not where the torah says not to be!


(90) mike lieberman 12/19/2007 4:47:00 PM
I humbly disagree with you, Rabbi.
Rabbi,
I love watching your video blogs. I almost always agree with you. I remember reading that killing one life is like killing the whole world. Every nation at some point has attempted to kill the Jews. Should we not buy products from every nation then? Right now Germany supports Israel. Let's buy from them as they support us. Many American companies could very well have heads that hate Jews. Should we not buy from them? Every nation at some point has tried to kill us. Let's just not buy any foreign products then. Does that make sense? Many Jews are self loathing Jews? Many Jews in Israel don't like Torah Judaism. Should we not buy from them too? Something to think about.


(91) Rena 12/19/2007 4:30:00 PM

Dear Rabbi Salomon,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. The Nazi's reign of terror, while it may historically be a thing of the past, emotionally it is all too recent. I am a 3rd generation "survivor" of the 3rd reich and I have not forgetten, nor will i ever forget, the affects of the inhumane, incomprehensible, merciless atrocities committed against us (and those other groups who were locked in our ring of hell.)These memories should not take 60, 70, 100 years too pass;just to be gone like the dust of yesteryear. If we let those years pass with the affects of our holocaust waning, then we will have forsaken our fathers, grandfathers, and forefathers. My heart doesn't cry out when i think of this gradual loss of connection, but it suffers an intense agony, devoid of all feeling, like the agony I feel when i see the piles of shoes in the holocaust museum. We must remember our fathers physical and spiritual survival from the nazi brutality, for if we forget, we have murdered their legacies!


(92) regina 12/19/2007 3:29:00 PM
I agree and disagree
Dear Rabbi S.
In a lot of ways I agree with you that we cannot forgive and forget what they did to us, on the other hand, their products are better to none. You buy a German car, vaccuum cleaner, coffe maker, etc. their products last a long, long time, because they are proud of their workman ship. I also cannot really comment, because I also am a child of Holocaust survivors, who lived most my adult hood in Germany, growing up there, going to school there. I am not agreeing with the person who commented that Germany is not the same like before. They will always have a silent hatred for the Jews and what they represent, especially because of them are Catholic. It is true that most of Israel lives on "German" money, but that is money they are owed, because those are "Wiedergutmachung" payments.


(93) Anonymous 12/19/2007 3:21:00 PM
german products
i was brought up like yourself and any german product was thrown out of the house.however many of my friends are now buying cars such as mercedes and audis.what do i do?


(94) Anonymous 12/19/2007 3:06:00 PM
nuetral
i hear and can understand where your coming from. my grandparents families were all killed and wiped out by the germans. no i am not pro german products at all but if they make a better product i think i would buy it. a few years ago i made a comment of how i would never by a german anything and a person yelled at me and said " who are you to play G-d. why are you taking those animals punishment into your hands. let Hashem punish them. if you despise them so much why take away from their onishment to come. let them suffer the ultimate punishment."
after that i dont think i wuold go out and buy a german priduct but if thte situation wuold arise to not get a certain item bec its german i dont think i woukd turn it down.


(95) Yehoshua 12/19/2007 2:42:00 PM
I started buying in ISRAEL
When I grew up in the states, I didn't want to learn driving in 10th grade because the cars were Volkeswagen. But, since moving to Israel where so much is German, I broke down and don't give it too much thought... or not enough thought! I like tropical fish. Here, just about and fish food or water conditioner is German.
That said, I don't justify myself. Of course ALL the European countries were disgusting and are saturated with centuries of Jew hatred, I know this. The head of the monster:Germany!? A person who boycotts them now is surely a sensitive, ethical being with much integrety and a very healthy Jewish heart.


(96) zevi 12/19/2007 2:35:00 PM

While we cannot forget what the nazis did to the jewish people,we cannot say that i wont buy a german product.Nearly every country in the world including the United states has done evil to the jewish people.Are we not going to buy products from spain?What about the spanish inquisition?Do you have no heart?What happened to all those jews that died in spain?How can you support the spanish economy? Just because the holocaust was more recent doesnt make it different than the spanish iquisition.What about all the boats that were turned away by the US government during world war 2?How can jews accept anything or buy anything thats from the USA? Saying that you wont buy german products is a childish way of thinking.If you dont want to forgive then dont.You are not supporting nazis by buying german products.Its rare to have a product that is entirely from one country anyway.If you have a product that says made in germany this could mean it was only assembled there.It could have parts from china or any other country.It just so happens that either the distribution point is in germany.If you buy a product made in the USA,theres no guarantee the german economy doesnt benefit from it.By going out of your way not to buy german products,you are just going to make yourself crazy and you wont really be not buying german products anyway.Some products are engineered in germany which means you are benefitting germans as well.Even King shlomo bought and traded with the egyptians.Did he not know that egyptians killed alot of jews and had them in slavery for hundreds of years?


(97) JOEL 12/19/2007 2:34:00 PM
German Products
Dear Rabbi,
I agree with you. I drive a BMW and have for a very long time. I was ready to get a new one but after the comments in your video, I know now that the weird feeling I always had everytime I parked on the grounds of Shirat Shalom, my temple in Hoffman Estate, IL, My car I new had some kind of significance even when I did not know who is or was a shareholder of BMW. I will not buy German. Period. Thanks.


(98) Jonn Izzik 12/19/2007 1:52:00 PM
We are both right and wrong
Rabbi Yaakov. As 60 year old Jew in Portland, OR -- grew up in Belgium. Buying German is still 100% feelings. I have not been able to rationalize the Holocaust away because it happened 65 years ago and therefore it is now OK to buy German products. It would not make my wife and I feel good to drive in one of those slick well-designed Audis or BMWs.

Not to long ago we bought tickets for a raffle and one of the prizes was a (German) car. My wife and I decided right away, if we were to win, we would sell the vehicle immediatly. And -- I do not agree with this 'feeling' but, I remain stick with it.

I know also there is a growing Jewish community in Germany and many Germans made serious efforts to understand the misery their parents or grandparents caused onto the Jews and Judaism.

We are both right and wrong.
Shalom
Jonn


(99) cathy lyons 12/19/2007 1:42:00 PM

I agree. I do not like to buy german products. If it is made in Germany I will not buy it. It is just a feeling inside of me that just is totally wrong. If I was there then, they would have killed me. When I hear German spoken, I cannot help but have an "instinctual" chilling reaction. It may be wrong to many people, but it is just such an intinctual reaction. Be well!


(100) GJP 12/19/2007 1:16:00 PM
NEVER!
Anyone who thinks anti-Semitism is not ram pant in Germany has either never been there or has not been paying attention.I also have passed up trips that included a stop in Germany. Places with pious sounding names like Vienna are no different from Dachau or Belsen.


(101) Anonymous 12/19/2007 12:47:00 PM
agree with you
I agree with you. I do not buy German products. I think of it as a way of always remembering the Shoah and honoring the memory of the millions who were murdered. It's one of my ways of making sure they will not be forgotten.


(102) chava 12/19/2007 12:46:00 PM
what about Jewish-owned German companies?
Okay, I don't understand why Jews choose to live in Germany, but if they do, and if they have a company that makes a good product, what should I do?



(103) Anonymous 12/19/2007 12:26:00 PM
The Germans would do it again given the chance
In my humble opinion, I do not beleive the Germans of today are truly remorseful for the sins of their parents and grand parents. Germany. much like Japan is only remorseful that they did not win WWII. Today we see how Germany, and the EU for that matter, would gladly sacrifice Israel for Arab oil. Clearly only a foolish, ignorant Jew would buy products from a nation that wanted all Jews exterminated.


(104) Hector Lee 12/19/2007 11:28:00 AM
wholehartedly agree with you
Rab Solomon: I lost my childhood to the threat of a German invasion; a child with a submachine gun in my hands to make sure the man at the other end of the gun sight would die for his country: because if they caught me my brit would be reason enough for my being sent to a concentration camp.I became a soldier in order to survive;I can't ever forget that disgraceful situation, it still hurts deeply in my heart; I never was a child due to the war.


(105) Joey 12/19/2007 10:45:00 AM
Don't forget the past, but acknowledge the present
While I can understand Rabbi Saloman and others' feelings on the subject, I cannot say I really agree. It is not as if Germany is really the same country as it was during the Holocaust, nor is anti-Semitism (as far as I know) a daily fact of life there. This is not to say that one should forget the evils of Nazism, merely that one should keep in mind that it is not a genetic condition that affects modern day Germans.

More generally, too, it seems to me that many Jews tend to be overly phobic about a lot of things from the past. Some, for example, seem absolutely sure that Vatican II was a charade, and that every Catholic is just secretly waiting for the chance to reinstate another pogrom. I'm not saying, again, that the evils of the past should be forgotten; just that Merckle is not Hitler, Benedict is not Ferdinand, and that these differences need to be recognized and rewarded.

God bless.


(106) Anonymous 12/19/2007 10:41:00 AM
Buying German products
Dear RAbbi:
Not only do I not buy German products, but also I will not set foot in Germany. I have missed out on several trips because the itineraries included at least a brief stop at a German port.


(107) daniela 12/19/2007 10:20:00 AM
Mercedes ?
Forgive my ignorance, but wasn't Benz of Mercedes Benz Jewish ?


(108) J.C. Hughes 12/19/2007 10:12:00 AM
Are we reponsible for our fathers?
I am just a dumb hillbilly, and I can't imagine growing up know that my parents were murdered, by a group of people who hated them just for being Jewish; knowing also that they murdered my relatives, and friends of my family.
There is no excuse for those people who committed sure hideous crimes. No doubt I would have a hate for them, and I would have great difficulty not holding the next generations accountable.
I know that you study and teach from the Torah, didn't Ezekiel write in the 18th chapter verse 20 "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself."
I know that Ezekiel was writing to the Jewish people of his time, and not to other nations. But shouldn't the principle apply to all?
I don't like to buy any thing from Germany, China, and most other countries. But it is because I like supporting our own countrymen.
If it bothers you to purchase any goods from Germany, don't; but don't hold this generation responsible for what their grandparents and parents may have done.



(109) Dirk A. van Mulligen 12/19/2007 9:39:00 AM
An example from my father
My granddad lived in Indonesia during the second world war. He did not survive the Japanese concentration camp they put him in. My grandfather died there some two weeks before the end of the war. All of our families' possessions were gone.

My father himself was in the Netherlands at the time and had his hometown bombed by the Germans. Later he had to work in a factory for the German industry towards the end of the war.

Why this story? My father was a very special and spiritual man. Untill his death, I have never heard him say anything negative on either the Germans or the Japanese. Not that he bottled it up inside, but he honestly did not harbour any hatred or ill-feeling towards them. As to why he never bought a Japanese car, they were lousy back then!

I sincerely hope he can be a shining example for other people around the world. His name by the way was Rein, meaning 'pure' in dutch. I'm proud of the man and hope to one day achieve his level of forgiveness and pureness in life myself.


(110) Norman 12/19/2007 9:24:00 AM

I have very convoluted emotions about modern day Germany. Certainly, I will never forgive or forget the Holocaust, but I also can not forget that Germany came to the miltary aid of Israel while the USA still debated the question. From what I understand, if not for German aid, Israel would most likely have lost the war when the Arab states attacked her. In addition, Germany has been forthright in compensation as well as in working hard to combat anti-semetisim in Germany.

When my wife and I planned our Euopean tour, we selected a tour that spent the least amount of time in Germany (the valleys were very beautiful, making us wonder how such ugly people came from there). Guess this was a statement of our feelings.

I raise the question of our attitude toward Japan, which started WW11 and committed terible atrocities against many Americans and captured societies.

Are we to consider only our own religion and suffering at the hands of the Nazis, while discounting the horrors that Japan, now our strong ally,perpetrated? Most items we now buy in America are made in China, a country that still lacks human dignity and freedom for all, contrary to Jewish beliefs.

Can we only hold Germany responsible, in spite of their recent good works, while ignoring Japan and China?

Either we accept modern Germay, or we must also reject Japan, China and other totalitarian states.


(111) shelley leibowicz 12/19/2007 9:22:00 AM

When I was a teen shopping for my first used car I came home one night and told my dad what I saw.(My father was a survivor who lost his entire family)Being a thoughtless teen I mentioned a volkswagen I'd seen that day, and the look on his face was that of pain. I didn't quite understand, then he said in a quiet voice,'maidela, I can't buy you that one, it hurts too much to think of what happened to my family by the germans'.
It kind of shocked me because my dad didn't talk about the war much (he said little girls shouldn't know from such things)but that helped to begin to understand him more.
so to honour him more than anything, I would still never knowingly buy german.
thanks


(112) MIcheley Angelina 12/19/2007 8:53:00 AM
Not buying German products is a silent and ineffectual protest and will not change public opinion or the trade of nations including Israel.
Using tools that noone notices to assuage our pain and anger is like using knives to untangle knotted shoelaces. We have a great deal of work to do that is the opposite of
isolation, boycotts and angry protests.
We need dialogue, groups healing racism together, education, an understanding of psychohistory and how
we need to mak