Discussion about this post

User's avatar
HP's avatar

This was supposed to be my quick read while I eat lunch, but I have to get back to work in the middle. I may comment again later after I read the rest, but for now this is probably the best two sentences I have ever read about how we, who were born after the Shoah, feel.

It is said that every Jew, past, present and future, stood at Sinai. Every Jew also stood, metaphorically, in those gas chambers as well.

Two simple sentences that are so profound!

Expand full comment
Scott Sekuler's avatar

Hello Rabbi

Thank you for writing and sharing this at this particular moment in time. It is ironic to me (for lack of a better word) as mother’s mother was from Chelm as I may have mentioned to you in the past. My maternal grandfather was from the town next door named Hrubieszow. My grandfather was fortunate to get out in 1929 before things got really bad but the rest of his family was not so fortunate. Thirteen brothers and sisters, parents, nieces, nephews, cousins all perished. While my grandfather wasn’t a survivor in the traditional sense of the word my mother and aunt told me that my grandfather had anguished, frequent nightmares most of their lives. My aunt recently said to me that she felt like the Holocaust was literally in her DNA despite her not having personally lived through it. It makes me wonder the same thing as I feel it so viscerally many times especially during Holocaust remembrance days and looking at the pictures of my family which I am fortunate to possess. I feel almost as if I somehow experienced it. Any thoughts?

Thank you for being you!

Expand full comment
9 more comments...

No posts