Yom HaShoah

this past week was Yom HaShoah. We remember the 6 million Jewish souls that were taken from us during the holocaust. We live today, for the individuals who perished in the past.

We will never forget.

Only without light is there darkness. Only without love is there hatred. Only without peace is there war.

We are the Jewish people that stand strong in the face of all anti semitism. We will never fall.

Never again.

Today especially, we hold the memory of our fallen close to our hearts, as a reminder to be strong. As an endeavour to live in their merit.

We will continue to add light into this dark world. For the lost souls that didn’t get the chance.

In Parshat Shemini Nadav and Avihu- Aaron’s sons give an unauthorized offering to Hashem. They are killed for such an act.

It is after this event that we are able to learn a lesson about mourning.

Moshe tells Aaron that he may not mourn and must continue with his duties as the Kohein Gadol. Aaron disagrees, he says that he will mourn them- he needs to mourn them - for this is was G-d wants.

This week is Yom Hashoah. We mourn the loss of 6 million Jews who were killed for one reason only- that they were Jewish.

Rena Quint who was taken from her home in Pietrokov, Poland at the age of 5 and was interned in the ghetto in Pietrokov. Her mother was sent to Treblinka where she was gassed. Her father disguised her as a boy so that she could be used as slave labour in the labour camp. When she 9 years old, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen with her father.

Four years ago, she told her story at the Yom Hashoah service at Westpark Cemetery. She said the following: When she and her father were separated at Bergen Belsen he gave her a picture of her family. When the Nazi guards stripped her, she held the picture tightly in her hand. A Nazi officer saw her holding onto something, forced her hand open, looked at the picture of her family and ripped it into pieces.

At the age of 78 she told us: “My whole life, I cannot remember the face of my mother and father.”

This is what the holocaust did to the Jews: it ripped us apart, it destroyed our people, and it decimated our memories.

How do we mourn this atrocity? How do we move forward?

In this Parshah , we learn how to mourn and in this we find the answer to these questions.

From Aaron we learn the importance of mourning the lives lost and that lives that could have been. Honoring their memories by never forgetting.

From Moshe we learn the importance of moving forward. We learn the importance of living our lives as Jews and passing on the Jewish chain. This is our responsibility and obligation.

We need both. We need both mourning as well as strength to continue Jewish memory.