Have you heard of Yom HaShoah? It is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a day designed, specifically, to remember the 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi Genocide. Today is Yom HaShoah, and today we must remember. We must remember what we lost, but also what we learned.
It’s easy to wonder why we have an entire day that is dedicated to something that happened so long ago. It’s easy to wonder why we vow to “never forget” a tragedy that seems so impossible to forget, but its not.
So often Jews are told that we are harping on the past, and that we are are seeing problems that aren’t there. We are told that we no longer face hate, so why bother making a “big deal” about something that is no longer an issue, because it wouldn’t happen again.
We vow to remember because these are the same things we were taught to believe the first time… then 6 million innocent Jews died. We remember to ensure this will never happen again, because we still face hatred today. According to the FBI anti-semitic incidents rose 57% in 2017 and hate crimes against Jews rose by more than a third. We are living in a time full of hate.
I, as a Jew, face hate every day, but I am not the only one. Today there is constantly someone with hate in their heart, and I’ll be the first to admit it isn’t always against Jews. I see hate towards all types of people. I see hate based on occupation, race, religion, gender and sexuality. I see hate stemming from fear, judgement, ignorance and anger about the past. It is the hate I see, for all people, that makes me remember.
I remember what hate has done and what it will do again if we do not stop it. It doesn’t matter who your hate is towards- there cannot be room for it. I remember, and will never forget, the lessons we learned about humanity when 6 million people, my family included, died because of hate. I remember, and you should too, to make sure it won’t happen to someone else’s family.