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Like A Mighty Stream:
Remembering The Holocaust

Last week, Jews around the world took part in Germans blindly followed the orders of their Nazi
the Passover seder, a time in which we annual- leaders during World War II. The Holocaust, he
ly exalt the virtues of freedom and recommit our- writes, emanated from a society under the spell
selves to stamping out tyranny and persecution -of a "hallucinatory anti-Semitism" and long ob-
in our lifetimes. We perform this sacred corn- sessed with the notion of a global Jewish con-
mandment in the presence of God, dear friends spiracy. Hitler, according to Mr. Goldhagen, was
and family members, while consuming what typ- merely a tool of the German people to rid the
ically might be considered an abundance of food. planet of their "metaphysical enemies," the Jews.
But little more than half a century ago, the
Whether or not one accepts that perspective,
Jewish prisoners of the Bergen-Belsen concen- the Holocaust must be viewed as more than sim-
tration camp, having no matzah, debated ply "a Jewish thing" or a "German thing." The
whether their desperate circumstances halachi- slaughter of 6 million European Jews now be-
cally permitted them to eat leavened bread ra- longs to the world, not just the Jewish commu-
tions during the holiday. The mere fact that these nity, and must stand as a universal symbol of
deprived, lonely souls even explored the option what can happen when a culture's dark side is
of forgoing sustenance — and after their meal allowed to consume nearly every aspect of soci-
composed and recited a special prayer to the ety.
Almighty for their food —
For Jews, giving in to the
serves as a testimony to
universality of the Holo-
their faith and should in-
caust is not simple. Like
spire us to honor the mem-
every family scar, it's hard
ory of their souls by
to allow the outside world
keeping our traditions
to glimpse in and witness
alive. .
our pain. Seminal recent
This Sunday marks the
events such as the opening
annual commemoration
of the U.S. Holocaust
known as Yom HaShoah,
Memorial Museum and
or Holocaust Remem-
Schindler's List have
brance Day. While in Is-
helped the international
rael the day is observed by
community learn more
the sound of a siren bring-
about the Shoah and con-
ing all business and social
sider its part in the tragedy.
activities to a halt, Yom
But all this is for naught
HaShoah usually is ac-
until both Jews and non-
knowledged here by Jew- Stars the Nazis forced Jews to wear.
Jews recognize that the
ish community events,
Holocaust reflects a symp-
such as the Holocaust commemoration cere- tomatic response in the human psyche to condi-
monies 1 p.m. Sunday at the Holocaust Memo- tions brought on by baseless hatred. Then, and
rial Center in West Bloomfield and 1 p.m. only then, can we truly begin to comprehend how
Tuesday at the state Capitol in Lansing.
the Holocaust was allowed to happen and what
But Yom HaShoah must be more than a year- it says about the true nature of the human spir-
ly gathering or vigil to recall a tragic time in the it. And perhaps that self-understanding will al-
history of the Jewish people. It should be a sea- low us the strength and resolution to prevent the
son of contemplation and prayer, when we come intrusion of prejudice and discrimination in our
together as families and communities to recall a lives again.
period in which hate manifested itself in an or-
Holding Holocaust Remembrance activities
ganized and calculated fashion like never before. and proclaiming "Never Again!" might be sat-
It is true that humanity has witnessed other isfying for a brief period of time and serve as ex-
demonstrations of blatant cruelty and genocide. ternal demonstrations against what happened
One need not investigate recent history much to Jews during the war. But a sincere observa-
further than the butchering of Tutsis by Hutus tion of Yom HaShoah requires a constant aware-
in Rwanda or the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims ness and internal examination of the Holocaust
by Serbs to take note of other flagrant examples and incomprehensible cruelty wherever it takes
of senseless attempts of annihilation.
place. And this vigilance must lead to increased
But the Holocaust stands alone in history as education for our children. Otherwise, we're left
a case in point in which a group of people, pos- with merely feel-good slogans and sentimen-
ing no military threat and existing without any tality that will not enable us to fully combat ha-
national borders to protect or defend, were vir- tred in our midst.
tually systematically destroyed by the forces of
In the words of the prophet Amos, "Let justice
bigotry and evil.
well up like water, righteousness like a mighty
In his controversial new book, Hitler's Willing stream." May the memories of our brothers and
Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holo- sisters who perished in the Holocaust be a bless-
caust, Harvard University Professor Daniel Jon- ing upon us to lead the fight against intolerance
ah Goldhagen refutes the long-held belief that and hatred everywhere.

Letters

Tour Through
Menorah House

After hearing so much discus-
sion on the nursing facility
Menorah House, I decided to
take a tour and see it for myself.
On March 15 I met Dennis
Hayes, who is the administra-
tor, and Margot Parr, the exec-
utive director of the Home for
Aged.
I was taken throughout the
entire complex on three levels,
including kitchen and dining fa-
cilities, laundry, elevators, cor-
ridors, rooms and wards. I found
the facility amazingly clean and
orderly. There was a complete
absence of unpleasant odors and
best of all, the staff, from Mr.
Hayes on down, were cheerful
and seemed to enjoy their jobs.
While the owner has to keep
costs low as this is a privatized
home, nothing seemed lacking.
Additionally, the effort to keep
both kashruth and Jewish tra-
dition was present even though
the residents are about 50 per-
cent Jewish. Eventually the in-
tent is to increase that
percentage close to 100 percent.
On the premises is a nice gift
shop as well as hair-cutting fa-
cilities.
I was pleasantly surprised,
and I would invite anyone else
who is interested to schedule a
similar tour.

Harvey Bronstein

Southfield

Rabbi Faudem
At Hillel

I enjoyed your article, "The God
Squad" (April 5). I understand
you were focusing on pulpit rab-
bis. However, I wanted to bring
to your attention another young
rabbi in our community. Rabbi
Michele Faudem, a native De-
troiter, is serving as the rabbi-
in-residence at Hillel Day School.
I graduated Hillel with Rabbi
Faudem in 1983, and ever since
I have known her, she has as-
pired to be the rabbi at Hillel.
She is stimulating young Jew-
ish minds every day, not only
current Hillel students, but also
graduates at a special after-
school program held on Wednes-

day evenings. Rabbi Faudem is
the only female Conservative
rabbi in the Detroit area, pulpit
or otherwise. If you have not met
her, I hope you have the oppor-
tunity to do so in the near future.

Marianne Milgrom

Bloomberg

Farmington Hills

Setting
An Example

I believe that there is a time in
the life cycle of every communi-
ty when it has the opportunity
to set an example, to do some-
thing because it is morally right.
It is my contention that the De-
troit Jewish community has just
missed that opportunity.
With the closing of its nursing
homes, formerly known as two-
thirds of the Jewish Home for
Aged, it has forgotten its origi-
nal mission of providing for the
welfare of its members, has suc-
cumbed to the "bottom-line" hys-
teria gripping this country, and
has, like corporate entities else-
where, "downsized" itself. In the
process, it has "downsized" the
services it provides to its most
frail and vulnerable members.
Unfortunately, by eliminating
those particular services, it has
put the welfare of its communi-
ty in jeopardy.
Though not a native Detroi-
ter, I have worked for three lo-
cal Jewish agencies during my
24-year-residency in metro De-
troit: Camp Tamarack, Sinai
Hospital and the Jewish Home
for Aged. Though differing in
mission and activities, sensitiv-
ity to community need was a
common goal which united these
disparate agencies.
As a Prentis Manor family
member, I attended the March
27 meeting. At that meeting,
JHA administrators and Feder-
ation representatives attempt-
ed to explain to family members
the Federation's plan to empty
Prentis Manor of its current res-
idents.
The family members came
with a different agenda, howev-
er. At a minimum, they want-
ed to express their outrage and
grief at the loss of their loved
ones' home. Perhaps they were

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