Comments on: Yom Hashoah: it’s a pain to remember

By: Peter S

Peter S — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:43:13 +0000

“What makes this country unique is the memory of the Holocaust.”

Is that all? Didn’t the founding pioneers seek to create a national identity built on the positive force of Jewish civilization rather than the “Jew as victim”?

Herzl would spin in his grave at such a thought.

By: Manuel

Manuel — Sun, 04 May 2008 09:55:24 +0000

Don’t forget the ולגבורה part.
Remebering also the uprising makes this day a very impressive and uplifting event.
As someone who grew up in Germany, I was raised with the feeling of being the victim. In Israel this is not the case.

By: niqnaq

niqnaq — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:42:35 +0000

Segev’s book is excellent.

By: adina

adina — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:14:47 +0000

Once again, Lisoosh: what she said.

I remember learning that Israel is relatively new to holocaust education (relative to the diaspora). That part of reinventing Jewish meant eschewing scenarios of victimhood.

And it’s true: I know more names of concentration camps than I do of great Jewish thinkers and activists. More of tragedy and fear than of pride. This is a fundamental question – one about how we balance our children’s education and our own identity.

By: beachdiary

beachdiary — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:50:38 +0000

I agree with you that the ‘remembrance’ every bloody single instance when someone just dare to try to look at other things has become a carnaval. Specially since many of the Holocaust survivors themselves are living under the poverty line here in Israel (and ONLY in Israel).

However when that siren sounded I could not help myself and cried. We HAVE TO stick to where this IS all about: those very many people that were slaughtered just for who they were and nothing, NOTHING else.

(It’s me, Tsedek I have closed my blog and started on a different path, LOL)

By: lisoosh

lisoosh — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:45:24 +0000

I can understand why you would have so many books. It’s a process. As a kid, we are all blissfully unaware, then we become aware in the abstract, then we become aware that these are OUR people and family and that this is personal. Then comes the obsession stage when we all suck in every detail we can, read every book, memorize every picture and try to imagine ourselves in that world. I think most people have that collection.

On the other side, I get you. The memories are critical. It is important never to forget, and to learn from history and to, honor the dead both by memorializing them and living better in their names.
On the other hand, an entire industry and fetish have also arisen. The Jewish nation is so much MORE than the holocaust. The Shoah is part of our history, but not all of our history, and it should guide us, not define us. And some people are allowing their obsession to define them and that is not good.

By: Tamouz

Tamouz — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:10:45 +0000

What Elad (and many other people) don’t understand (or don’t want to understand) is the point that the Holocaust is being used to justify every appalling act that Israel does, and to dismiss the unsavory circumstances of its existence. This does not mean that we should forget the Holocaust. This does not mean that Jews are not traumatized by the Holocaust. But the victimhood that Jews (both Israeli and diaspora) have accepted under the cover of the Holocaust leads them to convince themselves that they can do no wrong, that every activity in the territories is merely to prevent another Holocaust, and that any criticism of Israel is either anti-Semitism or the rantings of a self-hating Jew (although I admit that many anti-Semites and self-hating Jews themselves hide under the cover of pro-Palestinianism).

At least, I’m assuming that that’s your point: not that the Holocaust or Yom Hashoah should be abolished, but rather how sickened you are by how they are exploited for ideological purposes: to the point that the Holocaust has become one of the most important defining characteristics of Jewish and Israeli identity, to the exclusion of more positive characteristics (viz. the Jewish non-Israeli teenagers in your example).

Which seems to be related to Kusit’s points. Is a day really enough to remember the Holocaust? Shouldn’t we be remembering it every day of the year? And what good is Yom Hashoah if we’re not learning the right lessons from it, anyway?

By: Elad

Elad — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:21:45 +0000

You’re appalled? I’M appalled. “Cringe when visiting heads of state are taken to Yad Vashem rather than schools for gifted children”? Wow, have you totally missed the point?

There are schools for gifted children and hi-tech companies in every Western country. What makes this country unique is the memory of the Holocaust.

We still have many Holocaust survivors here. It is very likely that the existence of this country is ‘owed’ to the Holocaust. And we still see genocide around the world, in 2008.

I work in a company in Tel-Aviv with many foreigners, including many who are not Jewish. But when the siren sounded at 10am yesterday, everyone stood up and paid their respects.

Like it or not, the Holocaust’s effects are still being felt.

So I couldn’t disagree more. This day, and this remembrance, are VERY important, both in this country and in the world.

Elad: I do not understand what you “couldn’t disagree more” with. Based on your comment, I can only assume that you either did not read past the first paragraph of this post; or that you did not understand what I wrote. I certainly did not write or imply that I thought Yom HaShoah was unimportant. Lisa

By: jfrancishill

jfrancishill — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:46:12 +0000

On Holocaust Day

How do we measure
memories,
laid end to end,
across creation’s timelessness?
One by one
into the face of enternity.

By: Yohay

Yohay — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:58:23 +0000

I guess that we are all obsessed somehow with the Holocaust. Here’s the most obsessed person that I know:
http://kusit3g.blogli.co.il

Yohay: I’ve been reading Kusit’s blog, off and on, for at least a year. She’s an amazingly talented writer, and mostly I agree with her opinions, but – geez! – talk about not pulling any punches. Sometimes I wish she’d be a little, um, softer. One day I really want to translate one of her posts. Lisa