'COMMUNITY VIEWS

WHY from page 29

OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN

their collective pasts in order for
them to build a foundation upon
which to build a collective future.
Germany, having spent decades
dealing with the Holocaust and the
darkness within the German soul,
would have an extremely difficult
time intimately associating with a
France still in a state of denial that it
had any role in this horrible period in
human history. In fact, even the Swiss
bankers, whom we can presume
desire to be the bankers of a corn-
bined Europe, are being called to task
with regard to their "neutral" actions
during the Second World War. No
longer can the Swiss hide behind the
veneer of innocence and neutrality.
J‘ They, too, must confront their repre-
hensible and evil behavior and in
some manner disgorge their ill gotten
gains obtained at the cost of Jewish
lives and Jewish community assets.
They, too, must account and atone in
order to play a significant role in the
emerging European union.
The future in which the movement
of information will be almost unre-
stricted as technology diminishes the
relevance of national borders requires
a base line of expiation and atone-
ment, so that a collectivized society
can move forward with a clean slate as
the dawn of the information age over-
takes the dusk of the Industrial
Revolution. One can assume that the
religious heart of this European union,
the Catholic church, will soon follow
the lead of its French leadership and
also acknowledge, at the very least, its
nonfeasance and failure of moral lead-
ership throughout the Holocaust,
including its actions in shielding many
of its Nazi perpetrators upon the ces-
sation of hostilities at the end of the
Second World War. If the economic
and political leaders can show moral
leadership in asking for forgiveness,
► can the church remain on the sidelines
in dealing with this issue if it chooses
to remain the moral beacon of the
new millennium.
Although the atonement comes a
half century after the event and
although most of the individuals who
should have been held accountable
have escaped accountability, the col-
lective atonement we are experiencing
by those who have to this point
denied culpability and responsibility
for any aspect of the Holocaust is
truly remarkable. The quote "never
again" has been elevated from a slogan
to a reality as the civilized world rec-
ognizes both its obligation to atone
and its commitment which follows

from atonement never to repeat such .
behavior again.
Thus, the confluence of the new
millennium, the dawn of the informa-
tion age and the preservation in
recorded history of the events of the
Holocaust have all played a role in
altering and broadening the
Holocaust's responsibility from just
those Nazis to the collective world
who by blatant actions, misfeasance or
nonfeasance allowed European Jewry
to largely be wiped from the face of
the earth.
Let us never forget, but let us final-
ly forgive. The time is now for world
Jewry_to celebrate our rebirth and
rekindle our internal commitment to
our preservation in a world which
accepts us as no other Jews have been
accepted in our illustrious multi-thou=
sand year history. ❑

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PUNISHMENT from page 29

the Massachusetts father: it meant a
kind of closure.
We, the American people, as a
nation, set all kinds of limits. If your
parking meter runs out, you pay a fine. _
If you want to drive, you have to have
a license. If you steal money, you have
to go to jail. What is unreasonable or
unfair about our collective decision to
impose such punishments? Nothing.
As long as the punishments are fair-
ly drawn, without targeting any one
race, sex, religion or creed, these regu-
lations help society run. So, too, do we
have the right to determine exactly
what that punishment should be —
and in some cases I see nothing wrong
with saying this means the perpetrator
forfeits his right to continue being a
part of this society, a part of this
world._
Yes, we must be certain that we
have positively identified the criminal.
Yes, the manner in which he is killed
must be carefully defined (though
some criticize it, I find nothing offen-
sive about lethal injections). And yes,
the death penalty should be used only
in the most extreme cases.
Perhaps the thought of executing a
criminal is unnerving to some. But if
your idea of justice is keeping a mass
murderer alive, able to watch TV and
eat and sleep peacefully, then please,
invite him to your home — and by all
means see to his care with your tax dol-
lars, not mine. ❑

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