Today is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel it is called Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah, Day (of Remembrance of) the Holocaust and Heroism. It has been 80 years. This column concludes with a request. Three months ago, on January 27, we marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Red Army. The hardened Russian soldiers, accustomed to seeing terrible things in battle, were shocked to see how horrifically the Nazis treated the Jewish inmates. Nine days ago, on April 15, we marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by the British 11th Armored Division. Sixty thousand prisoners—starved and near death—were discovered. Thirteen thousand bodies lay unburied. Just four days earlier, U.S. forces from the 6th Armored Division entered Buchenwald. On May 7, 1945, German armed forces surrendered unconditionally. How do we collectively and properly observe a holiday dedicated to the memory [...]

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed this Thursday, April 24. This week’s columns are about the Holocaust.Raoul Wallenberg—One of the Thirty-Six?It is unlikely that we will know how many Hungarian Jews Raoul Wallenberg saved. It is in the tens of thousands and perhaps as many as one hundred thousand. He launched an initiative called “protective” passports, known as the Schutzpass. He also helped to establish “safe houses”, which, under the protection of the Swedish Legation, rescued some fifteen thousand to twenty thousand Jews.On January 17, 1945, while on his way to visit Soviet military headquarters, Raoul Wallenberg was captured by the Soviets. Soviet sources later claimed he died in Lubyanka prison in July 1947. His cause of death is disputed but one thing we know. He never emerged from the Soviet prison.The Jewish mystical tradition suggests there are thirty-six righteous people—Lamed-Vav Tazikim, or “Lamedvovkniks”—without whom the world would come to [...]

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed this Thursday, April 24. This week’s columns are about the Holocaust. Simon Wiesenthal, Pursuing Justice and the capture of Adolf Eichman Simon Wiesenthal had survived five concentration camps when he was liberated from Mauthausen concentration camp in May 1945. Despite being weak and frail, within three weeks of liberation, he compiled a list of suspected Nazi guards, commandants, and Gestapo members. He dedicated the balance of his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice.The Torah teaches, “Tzedek, tzekek, tirdof…”— “Justice, justice you shall pursue, so that you will live and possess the Land Adonai your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 16:20). While there are many vital ideals that we learn from the Torah, there are, I believe, only two that we are commanded to pursue; justice and peace. In bringing the evil to account, Wiesenthal helped bring a semblance of justice to [...]

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed this Thursday, April 24. This week’s columns are about the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel: There are No Words The great humanitarian, survivor of the Holocaust, prolific writer, speaker, storyteller, and student of Torah did not speak about the Holocaust until ten years after his liberation from Buchenwald. Elie Wiesel had taken a ten-year vow of silence. Why? He knew that he had to bear witness. He also knew that he did not have the words to express what he had endured and witnessed. In his preface of the 2006 edition of his book, Night, he wrote, “Painfully aware of my limitations, I watched helplessly as language became an obstacle. It became clear that it would be necessary to invent a new language…” Night was Wiesel’s first book and it brought the personal aspect of the Holocaust to a wide readership. It was originally a nearly 900-page [...]