Editor's Notebook
Community Views
A Little Flame,
A Little Conscience
OurJewish Survival
settermined By Us
ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR
It takes a bit of
work to properly
set up the candle.
My living room
windowsill is a bit
narrow, so I have
to employ a cock-
tail table, some
telephone books
and a hot pad to
get the candle to the proper
height and situated so that it can
burn safely.
Next Wednesday night, I want
that candle to be seen. There will
be no lights on in the front of my
house, nothing to distract from
that little yellow
glow.
Wednesday
night. April 26.
Yom HaShoah.
Holocaust Re-
membrance Day.
Over the
years, a few of
my neighbors
have asked me
what the candle
represents. I've
told them it's to
remember the
Six Million Jews
who were killed
in the Holocaust.
But it's really
more than that.
That candle
RABBI LANE STEINGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
mer Soviet Union and, yes, even
here, in the good ol' United States
of America. Anywhere that a life
has less worth than a cause. Any-
where that "we" becomes para-
mount over "they." Anywhere
that a stereotype is allowed
greater meaning than individual
worth.
I tried to show a videotape to
my sixth-grade Sunday school
class a few weeks ago. Unfortu-
nately, due to teacher error, the
Public Broadcast System docu-
mentary on child survivors of the
Holcoaust did not play well on the
synagogue VCR.
response to make me angry, to
make me feel guilty. My lack of
conviction makes me uncomfort-
able, the way I assume American
Jews felt in the late 1930s and
early 1940s. And I don't like the
feeling.
It's as if I personally let down
the Six Million and failed the
dwindling numbers of survivors
of the Holocaust.
So, that Holocaust candle next
Wednesday night becomes my
act of pennance and my release.
It gives me something tangible
to do, my public protest of the
Holocaust, of genocide, of neo-
AP PHOTO
Nazis, of hatred and bigotry.
I know that 200,000 cars
will not pass by my yellow
candle. I'm not sure that even
20 will see the flickering yel-
low light. But I will see it,
Left: Holocaust
and my children will, and
survivors light
some
of my neighbors will see
memorial candles
it.
at the Western Wall
And if that action is dupli-
in Jerusalem.
cated around Detroit, around
the country, even around the
world, we can shed a little
So we quick- more light on the horrors of the
ly turned to a past ... and the present.
discussion of
My candle was supplied by the
Righteous Gen- National Federation ofJewish
tiles and Jewish Men's Clubs. It is yellow, like the
children. And yellow star the Jews of Europe
ultimately I were forced by the Nazis to wear.
asked the class: It may be too late to receive one
If this were dur- of these special candles from a
ing the time of synagogue or temple. But it
the Holocaust, doesn't matter.
represents my pennance and my could you hide someone if it posed
As far as I'm concerend, you
anger. Anger? Yes, anger that I a danger to you or your family? can use a yahrzeit candle, a Shab-
can talk to friends and neighbors
Fifteen pre-bar and bat mitz- bat candle, a scented candle left
about my feelings, even write vah children. Jews in America in over from the 1960s or any other
about my thoughts in this col- 1995. Not a one raised their candle. Just put it in a window in
umn, but really have no power to hand. No one in the class would a safe position.
change what happened during take the chance.
What matters is remembering
World War II or to influence what
Their response made me those who died in the Holocaust
is happening today.
think. Would I have raised my and remembering the intolerance
Today, because the Holocaust hand? Under the circunistances that led to their deaths.
is continuing.
of the Holocaust, would I risk my
I'll say Kaddish and light my
The seeds are re-planted dai- family to save the life of a candle for people I never even
ly, in the Middle East, in Africa, stranger? Of someone I knew?
knew.
in Bosnia-Herzegovina. in the for-
There is enough doubt in my
And I'll remember. ❑
Above: Survivors
commemorate the
50th anniversary of
the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau
Recently I was
blessed to be in
Jerusalem
again, this time
for the annual
convention of the
Central Confer-
ence of Ameri-
can Rabbis.
Several of the Is-
raelis who addressed our gath-
ering made a point of
mentioning to us that if current
trends continue, the Jewish
population in the Jewish state
will exceed that of North Amer-
ican Jewry early in the coming
century.
A few of the speakers even
suggested that it is only in the
State of Israel that Judaism has
hope of surviving, and that in
the not too distant future the
Jews of the United States and
Canada will become all but ex-
tinct due to assimilation, apa-
thy, and intermarriage.
To be sure, the outlook for
North American Jewry is far
from clear or certain. But then
the prospects for Jewish sur-
vival never have been assured
or guaranteed.
In the Torah itself, the ques-
tion of our people's persistence
and perpetuity was raised.
Would Abraham and Sarah
have an heir? Who would car-
ry on for Isaac and Rebekah —
Esau or Jacob? Which of Is-
rael's offspring would become
the "vessel" by which the gen-
erations would be linked one to
another?
And throughout scripture the
problem of the people's loyalty
to the covenant, that is, to their
faith and heritage, was an open
and a vexing issue.
Not too long ago, a young,
bright light of the American
Jewish community suggested
that a little anti-Semitism is not
bad for Jews in this country be-
cause it sensitizes and mobilizes
us.
Truth be told, anti-Jewish
sentiment — and action — at
times has been a stimulus
which has elicited an assertive,
positive and strong Jewish re-
sponse. But anti Semitism also
has led to Jewish losses, to
tragedy for many Jews, and
even to the abandonment of Ju-
daism by more than a few of our
people.
Combating anti-Semitism —
necessary as this endeavor is —
might make some segments of
American Jewry feel more se-
cure, but it will not secure the
Jewish future in America. Nor
will interfaith activities. Nor
will the building ofJewish in-
stitutions.
Living in a free — thank
God! — and open society, we
"Jews of the West" must face
the reality that the survival of
Judaism is a matter of proba-
bilities and of possibilities, and
that we must do everything in
our power to increase the odds
in our favor.
Simply stated, we need to
work for a spiritual revival of
Judaism in North America. To
this end, it behooves us to build
educational, cultural, and reli-
gious partnerships between
synagogues and federations,
among the "movements" and
our congregations, and between
the Jewish communities of
North America and of Eretz
Yisrael.
The time for Jewish
parochialism, for Jewish nar-
rowness, and for Jewish tri-
umphalism long since has
-
passed. The ages-old challenge
of the perpetuation of the peo-
ple of the covenant is more cur-
rent and more crucial than ever.
The outcome ofJewish survival
in North America into the next
generation won't be known for
several years. But it will be
shaped by what we do now. ❑
Lane Steinger is senior rabbi of
Temple Emanu-El.