H7: Responses to Holocaust

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Yom HaShoah

This is Holocaust Memorial Day, 'Shoah' being Hebrew for
catastrophe. On this day attention is focused on our people
who were killed in the Holocaust. Not just how they died, but
how they lived and what they believed in. Near to, or on, this day it is appropriate to talk about the issues discussed in this chapter. Also you can use some of the paragraphs in this chapter as readings in a memorial assembly. More ideas for a memorial assembly are discussed in an earlier chapter (I:6).

The Living Covenant

"If you are My witness, then I am God; and if you are not My witness, then I am, as it were, not God" Write this out enlarged on the board or on a big sheet of paper, and ask: What does 'my Witness' mean? How can God be 'not God'? Can your audience make sense of the Midrash? Explain why Judaism is not a religion or a set of beliefs. It is a covenantal relationship dependant on both sides contributing. If one stops, there is no relationship. Use this idea to explain how the Holocaust challenges Judaism.

Searching for explanations

- Four different ways of seeing the Holocaust as a punishment have been described. None of them is ultimately wrong or right. They are distinct ways of viewing the situation. All of them spring from a need to understand what happened. It is easier to live with something if it can be justified. Be sensitive to these views when explaining them. Each was or is held by real people.

- You could get four friends to stand up and represent each view. If they can act well they could dramatise the views. Each one could address the audience separately or they could do a short play where they interact and discuss their opinions. You, or a friend, could be a fifth character who does not accept any of the punishment explanations. Each character in turn tries to convince you, but you feel that there can be no justification for the Holocaust.

- If you do act this out, make sure you prepare well. The material is extremely serious and must be handled carefully. You could organise a larger meeting for all the Jews in your school and perform for them. Rehearsals are vital.

A broken covenant?

Again, these issues could be discussed or debated. They all hinge on seeing our covenant with God as central. You could ask your audience what they think of them. (call Makor on 020 8446 8020 if you need more background on any of the three views) Is the Holocaust a reason to be Jewish? Isn't that too much of a guilt trip?

Am yisrael chai!

- Is Man to blame for the Holocaust or is God? God allows Man free choice, and that means accepting the results of those choices, however sick or evil they are. Explain how the Holocaust is an example of how low humanity can fall.

- In a way, Jews are a reminder to the world to remember God. Our continued existence is a testament to His. Stress to your audience that this approach does not justify or account for the Holocaust. It is just the way things are. Am yisrael chai is a defiant life affirming song. If you can pull it off, try teaching and singing it. If the atmosphere is right and the audience is not too large, you could ask some of them to talk personally about how they see the Holocaust. Does it help or hinder their Judaism?

- An interesting discussion concerns whether there Israel would have been declared the Jewish State if the Holocaust had never happened. Much of the international support for the State of Israel can from world Governments who felt that the Jews deserved a homeland after what they had been through. The modern state of Israel and the Holocaust are undoubtedly the two most memorable things to have happened to our people this century. They are forever linked, though one can never justify the other.

A Jew today

The covenant is a great equaliser. Every Jew is part of it, no matter what he or she believes or does. Are our people more or less united after the Holocaust? Can it teach us anything about being a Jew today?

Holocaust and halacha

Much has been written about the questions of Jewish law asked in the ghettos and camps. Can they relate to the Jews who asked these kind of questions and died in the Holocaust? Why was it so important to die as a Jew? And why did so few give up their beliefs? You may want to ask in a survivor to talk about their experiences in the camps. If you do, treat them with respect.

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