It’s interesting to me that in the past month, we celebrated Passover, Christians celebrated Easter, and right now, Muslims across the world are celebrating Ramadan.
This reminds me of just how important faith is, regardless of religion. During these recent weeks of social distancing and uncertainty, I think that we have turned to our religion even more.
Earlier this morning, I was a guest on a radio show earlier this morning with a colleague and we talked about exactly this, faith during these times. I’ll hopefully have a link to share with the congregation in the next few days, but one thing I want to share from our conversation is that that both of us noted that attendance, albeit over the internet, is up. We are all craving spiritual and social connection with one another.
Judaism is a bedrock foundational identity marker for so many of us. It is a lens through which we can make sense of this world, and better yet, improve the world. Paraphrasing the Christian theologian Paul Tillich, our religion is an ultimate concern.
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Murder is awful. Killing is awful. But the deliberate eradication of 6 million brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, husbands and wives, is immeasurably harrowing.
It’s almost inconceivable to think that the very thing that helps us make sense of the world, to find comfort, to act justly, to reflect the image of God back onto the world … was exactly the impetus for the nazis to slaughter 6 million of us. Our ultimate concern was the Nazis sole motivation for their systematic killing of Jews.
Right now, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic that is scary, anxiety producing, and unlike anything that’s happened in any of our lifetimes. But as the Talmud says about things like this, Zeh minhag haOlam, this is the custom, or way, of the world. It’s not necessarily anyone’s fault - there is no evil intention behind it.
This is what makes the perpetrated evil of the Nazis that much more painful. It was purposeful, and intended. Which means, that it could have been prevented.
It is our responsibility to follow the dictum of al tiscach, never forget, so that indeed, Never. Again. It is our responsibility to continue to live Jewish lives of joy and meaning, to remember that our Jewishness is an ultimate concern for the way we understand our lives and the world and each other. It is our responsibility to remember the 6 million that died, and redouble our efforts to repair the world. Never. Again.
