There are three, even four, different dates for commemorating the destruction of European Jewry: (1) Yom Hasho’a on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, established by Israeli legislation; (2) International Holocaust Memorial Day on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz; (3) the Tenth of Tevet, the day designated for remembering those who have no other memorial (4) and, for some, the Ninth of Av, the day of mourning for Jewish calamities in history.
Yom Hasho’a is the official day in Israel and the rest of the Jewish world for mourning for the victims of the Holocaust. Some Orthodox Jews mark it like all other Jews, but those who are opposed to any form of innovation and to every kind of Israeli legislation tend to mark the tenth day of the Jewish month of Tevet, traditionally a fast day, as the day for remembering those who have no other memorial. But some Orthodox Jews prefer to remember the Holocaust on The Ninth of Av, the day when all the calamities in Jewish history are remembered.
January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, is marked as International Holocaust Memorial Day. Unlike in many other countries, notably in Europe, the day as such isn’t commemorated in Israel, but it’s nevertheless marked in different ways. One of them is the publication of an annual report of anti-Semitic incidents in the world. The report published today notes that in some countries there’s a decrease and in others an increase of such incidents. Many factors play a part: the presence of right-wing political parties, the activities of left-wingers who, despite protestations to the contrary, are prone to confuse anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, and of course, the number of Muslims in any given place.
The national ethos in Israel is offended by the continued prevalence of anti-Semitism. The memory of the indifference of the world and the impotence of the Jewish people during the Holocaust is behind the Israeli conviction that it’s for the Jewish state to defend all Jews in the world wherever they may live. The continued existence of anti-Semitism is, therefore, an affront and a challenge to Jewish statehood.
But there’s also another side that says, or at least murmurs, “We told you so!” This view is founded on the conviction that only in Israel can Jews be truly free and that’s where all should come and live. Many are the tracts that argue that the only future for the Jewish people is in Israel; everywhere else assimilation is inevitable.
There’s much to suggest that anti-Semitism promotes greater allegiance to Israel on the part of Diaspora Jews. Even if they only make what has become known as “partial aliyah,” i.e., that they have a second home here, the level of discomfort in the country of their birth and/or residence is a strong factor in their attitude to Israel.
On the other hand, most Jews believe that, as long as anti-Semitism isn’t state sponsored, it doesn’t really threaten their existence, only the comfort of some. They’re rooted where they’re now and they argue that personal security isn’t guaranteed anywhere, for sure not in Israel. So when in doubt, stay put.
Not being at home anywhere in the world and practicing “partial aliyah,” as we do, I’m not in a position to draw conclusions, only to try to live with the problem.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed