Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Lionel Blue once remarked that Jews are just like everyone else, only more so.  This year I feel the same way about Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that we mark today.  Yom HaShoah is important every year, but this year, even more so.  It is even more so because our pledge to remember, and our promise of Never Again, is being tested.  

It is being tested by the fact that 59 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza after 566 days.  

It is being tested by the rise of authoritarian regimes and the erosion of liberal democracy.

And it is being tested by the rising antisemitism around the world and in the US.

In the recently released ADL Audit of Antisemitic incidents reports, the ADL found that, in 2024, antisemitic incidents once again, for the fourth year in a row, reached an all-time high in the US. And we know that some of these incidents happened in our very own community.  This scary rise in antisemitism must strengthen our resolve to stand strong as one community that is part of the Jewish people.  Together, we stand up to the hatred and antisemitism that plagues our world today.  Together, we remember, and we reaffirm never again.  

We are currently reading from the book of Vayikra in shul on Shabbat.  In a couple of weeks, we will read how God commands us V’hai bahem, to live by the mitzvot, our traditions and our values.  This is what continues to guide us today when we stand up for what’s right, and also when we do not let those who hate us define us.  We live by them when we live with joy, live with hesed (kindness), and live with pride for our Jewish heritage and our Jewish traditions.  That’s V’hai bahem.  That’s what it means to remember.  That’s how we fulfill our promise of Never Again.