Rabbi David Woznica
One of the themes of the Book of Genesis is family and children. In our current Torah reading we are privy to family conflicts, marital issues, and the complexities of parent-child relationships.
Next month, January 27, 2020, marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. It’s worth looking at the population of world Jewry before and after this horrific period. I think many will be surprised to learn some of the figures.
In 1939 the Jewish population had grown to nearly 17 million. The world population was 2.3 billion. Tragically, following the Holocaust and the murder of six million Jews, the Jewish population was 11 million.
Today, Jews number about 14.4 million of a total world population of some 7.7 billion. In 75 years since the end of the Holocaust, we have not returned to the Jewish population before the war. In other words, there are two or three million fewer Jews today than there were before the start of the Holocaust in 1939. The world population has more than tripled.
Had the Holocaust not taken place research suggests that the global Jewish population would be at least 26 million and perhaps as much as 32 million today.
There are 613 commandments in the Torah. It’s noteworthy that the first commandment is “Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:28). Among the many remarkable traits of Holocaust survivors is that despite unimaginable loss, one of the first things they did was to have children. Rather than giving up on the future, after liberation they did exactly the opposite. To paraphrase Elie Wiesel, it’s difficult enough to begin, but it’s so much more difficult to begin again after everything has been taken away. And yet, that is exactly what survivors did.
We should, of course, be sensitive to those who are not able to have children and respect the choice of those who choose not to have children. At the same time, as a Jewish community, let’s do all we can to encourage having children and collectively celebrating every one of these precious souls. And let’s also ensure we shape them into Jews who love, celebrate and practice Judaism. It will be a blessing for our people and beyond.