B"H
Thursday, Nissan 26, 5781 (11th day of the Omer)/ April 8, 2021
Today (Thursday) is Yom Hashoa– Holocaust Memorial Day - a day established to reflect and remember the six million Jews, men, women and children, who were murdered by the Germans and their collaborators, just for being Jewish.
In this week’s Parsha, Shemini, the Torah tells how, on the first day of the dedication of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), in the midst of all the festivities and celebrations of the Jewish people, after Aaron finished the service on that special day and the glory of G-d appeared to all the people, a fire came out from before G-d and consumed two of his sons and they died before G-d.”
Moshe consoles Aaron by saying that the fact that his two sons died at this time was a sign of theirgreatness and righteousness,rather than their lacking.
Aaron’s response was silence.He didn’t complain. He didn’t ask, “Why me?” He accepted his fate because this was G-d’s will. The Torah emphasizes that this was one of Aaron’s great virtues, for which he was immediately rewarded, by G-d speaking to him.
Yom Hashoa reminds us of one of the most tragic events in our over 3000 years of Jewish history. It is a period of our history we shall never forget. This is especially true today with the rise of anti-Semitism in our streets, our campuses and around the world.
It is not in the realm of our limited human vision and knowledge to comprehend why such horrendous tragedies befell our people. There is no answer, we are not looking for an answer, and won’t accept an answer.
“Be of the disciples of Aaron,” tell us our sages in Pirkei Avot. Aaron, after his great personal tragedy, continued his priestly duties for the next forty years, serving G-d and the Jewish people. It didn’t set him back. Rather, he went forward. We too, in spite of our many questions, although we have no answers, must continue to go forward and perform our G-dly mission in this world to the best of our ability. It is our mission to spread love and spiritual light to combat the darkness in the world.
King Solomon in Ecclesiastes says, “There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.” We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust. At the same time we must be determined to continue the legacy of our ancestors, of our brothers and sisters, who perished in the Holocaust and whose lives were so brutally taken from them just for being Jewish.
They continue to live on through us, through our children and grandchildren, and through the mitzvot and good deeds we perform in their memory. Let’s perform a special mitzvah in their memory today. Let’s put on Tefillin and give charity in their memory. The Nazis may have succeeded to take our physical life and steal our physical possessions, but no one ever succeeded in taking our souls. Am Yisrael Chai – Israel lives and will live forever. May we merit the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days. Amen.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY