29 Apr RUNNING OUT OF TIME: WHY TALKING ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST NOW MATTERS

According to the

recently released Anti-
Defamation League

(ADL) report,
antisemitic incidents
broke a record for 4th
straight year in 2024.
Last year, they identified
9,354 antisemitic
incidents, a 5% increase from 2023 and a
staggering 926% increase since it began
tracking in 1979. There were more than 25
“targeted anti-Jewish incidents” per day in
2024, more than one every hour. Eighty years
after the Holocaust, instead of “Never Again,”
attacks on Jews are now occuring once an
hour.
This week, we mark Yom Ha’Shoah,
Holocaust Remembrance Day. Nations around
the world are called on to remember that hate
led to the extermination of six million innocent
people, among them one million children. The
Holocaust erased two thirds of Europe’s
Jewish population, one third of the Jewish
people on the globe.
While the Holocaust is obviously not the only
tragic event in our history, it is by far the most
heinous and devastating. Consider how
devastating October 7th was and is for our
generation and yet, all of the victims of that
horrific attack and the war since were the
casualties of one hour in a death camp. But
the Holocaust much more than just a tragedy

of the greatest magnitude, it is the symbol and
the synonym for antisemitism and in that one
word conveys a warning for how the world’s
oldest hatred can lead to a democratically
elected, “civilized” nation carrying out a
genocide. While Jews were not the only
victims of the Holocaust, the term should be
reserved specifically to invoke hatred directed
towards the Jewish people. That is why it is so
offensive and dangerous when it is invoked
flippantly and casually and when it is used in
grossly inappropriate contexts and
comparisons.
Just this week, in an effort to criticize fellow
comedian Bill Maher for recently having
dinner with President Trump, Larry David
authored a satirical essay in The New York
Times titled: “My Dinner With Adolf. David
wrote from the perspective of a “vocal critic”
of Hitler who is invited to dinner with the Nazi
dictator and finds him to be surprisingly warm
and personable. He writes: “Two hours later,
the dinner was over, and the Führer escorted
me to the door. ‘I am so glad to have met you.
I hope I’m no longer the monster you thought
I was.’ ‘I must say, mein Führer, I’m so
thankful I came. Although we disagree on
many issues, it doesn’t mean that we have to
hate each other.’ And with that, I gave him a
Nazi salute and walked out into the night.”
One can disagree vehemently with President
Trump on policies and even see them as
bigoted or dangerous or one can be a great

critic of his character and even see him as
repulsive, but to compare him or his policies
to Hitler to make a point, even satirically is
deeply misguided and offensive and yet
another shameful decision of the New York
Times.
We must continue to confront antisemitism,
and Holocaust education to the general public
is one critical component. We must create a
culture in this country of the same intolerance,
hypersensitivity and opposition to
antisemitism, Jew hatred, and Holocaust
appropriation as we do other forms of hate,
bigotry, and racism. “Ugly Jew” should be
taken as seriously as the N-word: triggering,
traumatic, and simply unacceptable and
intolerable. Good-hearted people—not just
Jews—must never allow this country to
become a place where Jews cannot
comfortably and safely walk around in a
visibly identifiable way.
Some argue that Jews should be defended
because we are the proverbial canary in the
coal mine. When Jews are allowed to be
attacked, it is a sign of the collapse of the
society. German pastor Martin Niemöller
famously wrote: “First they came for the
Socialists, and I did not speak out — Because
I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the
Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they
came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for
me–and there was no one left to speak for
me.” In her book “People Love Dead Jews,”
Dara Horn, a past guest on Behind the Bima,
argues that we should not be grateful for this
quote or way of thinking, rather we should
be offended. This sentiment essentially
suggests that the only reason to care when
Jews are murdered is because it is a warning
that later, actual people might be attacked or
killed. We obviously should not accept this
argument and certainly should not perpetuate
it.
But there are two other reasons Holocaust
education is vitally important within our
Jewish community. When we reference the
Holocaust, we are often referring to the
millions of martyrs, the victims who were
murdered. But there is another population
who should come to mind, maybe even first:
our Holocaust survivors.
The Holocaust is not just a part of history
like the Crusades or Inquisition. Holocaust
survivors may be the most heroic population
of all time. Their resilience, strength,
fortitude, and faith may be unparalleled.
There has never been a group more entitled
to be bitter, resentful, to feel entitled, or to
give up on the world and on people. But
instead, overwhelmingly, survivors rebuilt,
they worked hard, they maintained
positivity, optimism, and hope. Most exude
deep faith, determination and a selfless
devotion to Jewish continuity, to Jewish
community, and to the Jewish state.
However, time is running out for the world
to engage with Holocaust survivors. A
report published this week by the Claims
Conference projects that of an estimated

211,300 Holocaust survivors alive in the
world today, almost half will no longer be
with us in seven years. By 2032, there will be
fewer than 100,000 living survivors remaining
in the world.
Though we are more prosperous than ever and
have more comfort and conveniences than
those who have come before us, many are still
struggling with finding happiness, hope,
meaning and purpose. Find a survivor. Latch
on. Draw from their energy, ride their
enthusiasm, be carried, and lifted by their
heroism. If you struggle with faith, piggyback
off their unwavering emunah, be inspired by
their dedication to Torah and mitzvos.
We can learn much from the six million
martyrs who lost their lives in the Holocaust,
but we can learn even more from the 3.5
million who survived and then built thriving,
rich Jewish lives.
Lastly, I believe we should use Holocaust
education and current campaigns against
antisemitism as outreach opportunities. While
the majority of American Jews believe that the
Holocaust is essential to their Jewish identities,
only 15% said that observing Jewish law is an
essential element of what being Jewish means
to them personally.
With the rise in antisemitism, the world is
presenting us with the opportunity to remind
our fellow Jews about why Judaism matters,
what it means, and why they should care. With
people increasingly hating us for being Jewish
and once again excluding us for being Jewish,
we should double down on Jewish pride,
Jewish practice, Jewish continuity, and a
Jewish lifestyle.
We say at the seder, v’hi she’amda la’avoseinu
v’lanu, and it has stood for our forefathers and
for us. What is the v’hi, what is it? The Netziv,
Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, answers, it is
that b’chol dor vador amad aleinu l’chaloseinu,
that in every generation they have risen to
attack us. While we do not welcome or want
antisemitism, it often takes our enemies’
reminder that we are Jewish to inspire us to
fight for our people.
A non-observant Jew told me that when there
was an antisemitic event at her son’s college,
her son, who previously had little to no interest
or investment in his Judaism, put a mezuzah
on his door and hung a Magen Dovid around
his neck. While we confront and combat
antisemitism, let us simultaneously leverage it
to remind and inspire our fellow Jews about
their Judaism.
Continue to study and speak about the
Holocaust, not as the central part of our
identity as Jews, but as an important way to
honor our survivors, to motivate us to fight
antisemitism and as an opening to engage
unengaged Jews to learn more about why
being a Jew matters.