100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

December 10, 2009 - Image 20

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2009-12-10

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Metro

ON CAMPUS

Fine Art Appraisers and Auctioneers — Since 1927

December Auction Dates

Friday the 1 ith

Saturday the 12th Sunday the 13th

At 6:30 p.m

At I 1:00 a.m.

Where Was God?

At Noon

Photos by Art Alsne r

Priest, Shoah expert discuss God
and Holocaust at EMU event.

SALVADOR DALI,
COLOR LITHO, C. 2o" X 16"

SALVADOR DALI,
COLOR LITHO, C. 20" X 16"

ii•M111111111111,

.20

CT. DIAMOND
14KT GOLD
PENDANT

JOAN MIRO

40 1/2" X 26"

FABERGE, 14KT
YELLOW GOLD
CIGARETTE CASE

Father John Pawlikowski, Dr. Guy Stern and Eastern Michigan University

Professor Martin Shichtman discuss whether God survived the Holocaust.

Art Aisner
Special to the Jewish News

Ypsilanti

ROBERT HARVEY,

1966 48" X 60"

IGOR CARL FABERGE,
GOLD ON STERLING,
"IMPERIAL WEDDING COACH",
H 21/2",L 4"

ANDRE LHOTE,
0/C, 21" X 25"

STEUBEN AURENE &
DOMINICK &HAFF
STERLING SHERBETS,
EIGHT

TIFFANY & CO..
STERLING COFFEE
, SET, 1907

MINTON SLIP PAINTED
MOON FLASKS
TWO, H 12 lie", w 9"

409
JrutsoN,
FRoir Mi 48226
TEL, 313.963.6255 wv w.ntimoAR. --1.(

20

December 10 .09

G

od survived the Holocaust,
but was not the same in the
eyes of the millions follow-
ing organized religions around the
globe, said panelists at a rare inter-
faith discussion at Eastern Michigan
University on Nov. 23
The event, co-sponsored by Hillel
at EMU, the Holy Trinity Catholic
Student Parish and EMU's College of
the Arts and Sciences, drew more than
200 students, faculty and community
members for a sometimes frank, but
non-confrontational discussion about
God's role while millions perished
under Nazi Germany rule.
"Some conceptions of God did
not survive the ashes of Auschwitz:'
said Father John Pawlikowski, pro-
fessor of social ethics at Catholic
Theological Union in Chicago.
"Those conceptions where God is
all-powerful, ever present ... those
had to be modified, but not in a way
that eliminates God from our every-
day existence."
Instead, the notion that God was
present in the death camps and

shared the suffering of Holocaust
victims emerged, he said, and simul-
taneously exposed a much deeper
spiritual connection between man's
free will and his religious beliefs.
"The idea that God, even while
standing with us, cannot automati-
cally remove pain and suffering on a
massive level placed the responsibil-
ity in human hands to a degree that
perhaps we never appreciated fully
before," Pawlikowski continued. "We
began to understand that we're not
going to eliminate massive suffering,
massive human degradation simply
by shouting God's name."
Dr. Guy Stern, director of
the International Institute of
the Righteous at the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington
Hills, agreed that perceptions of
God changed as the horror of the
Holocaust became clear. But he took
it a step further, saying the absence
of humanity within the Nazi regime
and those that supported it also
exposed God's imperfection.
"If there is a failure of mankind,
it also must be a failure of God," the
distinguished professor of German
and Slavic studies at Wayne State

Where Was God on page 22

Back to Top

© 2025 Regents of the University of Michigan