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VAYAKHEL 5784
Seeing The Bigger Picture
Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK
This week I was once again back at Auschwitz.
I was guiding another trip for the vitally important Holocaust Education Trust for 200 6th form students from schools in the South West of England. It was the second time I had been back to Auschwitz since October 7th and as I entered again, I realised it really has not been the same since then.
While I was waiting for one of the student groups to arrive at Block 27 at the Auschwitz museum, I happened to glance at the wording at the entrance of the block.
Block 27 was opened in 2013, designed by Yad Vashem and the State of Israel. In my mind, it is by far the most important and powerful block to visit at Auschwitz.
So, what did the intro read?
The Holocaust was the unprecedented genocide, total and systematic, perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, with the aim of annihilating the Jewish people The primary motivation was the Nazis' antisemitic, racist ideology. Between 1933 and 1941 Nazi Germany pursued a policy that dispossessed the Jews of their rights and their property, followed by the
branding and concentration of the Jewish population This policy gained broad support in Germany and much of occupied Europe.
In 1941, following the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Nazis and their collaborators launched the systematic mass murder of the Jews. By 1945 nearly six million Jews had been murdered.
As my eyes scanned the words, I realised, that I could rewrite the rst paragraph.
October 7th was the attempted genocide, total and systematic, perpetrated by Hamas and its collaborators, with the aim of annihilating the Jewish people The primary motivation was Hamas’s antisemitic ideology. Between 2006 and 2024 Hamas pursued a policy of demonising the Jewish state while ring tens of thousands of missiles onto civilian targets of the Jewish population. This policy gained broad support in the United Nations and much of progressive Europe.
But then I stopped and paused.
It is very easy today to wring our hands and talk about the perilous state of World Jewry – and yes, things are probably worse than anytime in my life, but we need to have perspective and realise the bigger picture
I mentioned Bari Weiss last week. A friend pointed out to me that as well as her speech, she also had an open discussion after her talk – which was also enlightening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfjLm0-fQEg
She was questioned toward the end about how Jews are very scared globally post October 7th and what are her thoughts are Her answer was powerful:
“It really comes from thousands of years of not being Sovereign, of being in Exile. How then did the Jews survive? They had to accommodate power The whole difference in us even having this conversation right now, is that we live during the third Jewish Commonwealth and so the politics of being a Jew anywhere in the world has been totally transformed since 1948 and that is just a seismic change that has made Jewish life everywhere different and better. However, I think on October 7th we got a glimpse into what it would look like without that, and I think that was earth shattering.”
In modern day Israel, there are two Memorial Days on which the siren wails Yom HaZikaron – to remind us of the cost of having a State of our own and Yom HaShoah – to remind us the cost of not.
However, we must look at the world. Not in a narrow ve, ten or even a hundred-year spell but a much broader canvas and we see a story being played out.
A story that has been going on for thousands of years
Millions of characters have been in this story – represented by hundreds of nations.
Some of these nations were in the early episodes – then faded.
Some have come later in the story.
But only one has had a role throughout. Sometimes a major player on the world stage, sometimes more in the background.
That nation is the Jewish nation, our nation – begun by Avraham, forged in the crucible in Egypt and then chosen at Har Sinai by Hashem and given the Torah– the divine code for humanity
This week we read about the construction of the house of Hashem – the Mishkan where Hashem promised to dwell amongst His people Eventually that Mishkan was brought to Yerushalayim by Shlomo Ha Melech and became the Bet Hamikdash.
Yet, as we know, it didn’t last. We were exiled twice, subject to wandering across the globe amidst much persecution for millennia
And then just eighty years ago it reached a nadir - we faced genocide, as I was reminded this week
And then just three years after liberation we returned – to our ancestral home.
Friends, we are currently living in a wonderous era. A dif cult era? Yes. A worrying era? Yes but Hatchala d’geulah – the beginning of our redemption.
Today, despite all that is happening across the world that is worrying us – the Jerusalem Marathon occurred. Nearly 50,000 people running across the holy city raising millions of shekels for soldiers, families and a myriad of incredible charities. Imagine telling that to our great grandparents, that Jews would be running, not in fear, but with pride in their nation in unity and through the holy city of Yerushalayim, the capital of Medinat Yisrael in order to better the society around them – they would not have believed you.
We must continue to be strong, to be proud, to defend Israel and the Jewish people. To ght against our enemies and pray for the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the
hostages However we must never forget the bigger picture, of who we are and where we have come from and where we are going.
We can then look at the second paragraph, I saw in Auschwitz –and also rewrite that
In 1941, following the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Nazis and their collaborators launched the systematic mass murder of the Jews. By 1945 nearly six million Jews had been murdered.
Thankfully, In 1948, following the creation of the State of Israel, the Jews and their friends launched the systematic ingathering of the exiles. By 2013 nearly six million Jews lived in the reborn State of Israel.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Shabbat Shalom
WATCH: Dvar Torah from Rabbi Benjy Rickman >
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