Monday, Nissan 28, 5777 / April 24, 2017

Today isYom HaShoa – Holocaust Memorial Day, designatedto remember our Six Million martyrs, who were murdered for no other reason, except for beingJewish.

Martyrdom is nothing new to our people. We have been exiled, persecuted and murdered for the past two thousand years, even by, so called, peace loving religions. Jews were always the easy scapegoats for other nation’s problems. From the Egyptian exile up to our days, anti-Semitism existed in one form or another. In our time, when it is politically incorrect to call it anti Semitism, it is called BDS.. but the concept is the same. No matter what the official name, it always derives from hating Jews and Israel.

But somehow, throughout the past three thousand years, it is we, the victims, who always came out on top, in the greater picture. Our strength lies in the fact that we never forget. We do not forget our past and as a result have a very distinct GPS system to guide us on our path to the future.

I saw this so vividly, during this Pesach in Sea Gate, N.Y., where we spent the holiday with our children. There was a major fire in the Shul where I prayed and where my son-in-law is the rabbi. The fire began about midnight. By the time we came to the Shul it was full of smoke and over 100 firemen working to extinguish the blaze.

Our first reaction was to save the nine Torahs in the Shul. Against the advice and warnings of the police and firemen, we ran into the building, disregarding the heavy smoke, and, thank G-d, managed to save all the Torahs. Everyone’s utmost concern was the Torahs. Even Jews who never stepped into this, or any other synagogue, their first question and concern was, “Were the Torahs saved?”

It was amazing to see the sigh of relief when people heard that the Torahs were taken out of the burning building. The Torah is our GPS. It is our link between the past, present and future.

Many of the nations who tried to annihilate us are long gone and completely forgotten. But we are still here, greater and stronger than ever. Yes, in too many cases they were able to take our bodies, but they were never able to take our spirit. Even when they were able to rob us of our physical possessions, they were never able to take away our Torah and spiritual inheritance.

“Am Yisrael Chai” – “The nation of Israel lives on,” is our eternal slogan. The Torah is our life! The Torah and the Jew are inseparable. Thus we are both everlasting.

As we remember the six million Holocaust victims, including the one million infants and children, who were murdered over 70 years ago, let’s also not forget who we are. We mustgive our children the education and exposure to our heritage. Our continuity depends on our children and grandchildren. If, G-d forbid, they forget, then who will remember?

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY