10 | JANUARY 28 • 2021 

J

an. 27 was Inter-
national Holocaust 
Remembrance Day, the 
date in 1945 when Auschwitz 
was liberated by the Red 
Army. The liberators wit-
nessed firsthand 
the extremes of 
where hate can 
lead. They saw 
human suffer-
ing unlike any 
other, all because 
some people 
could no longer 
see the humanity of others. 
As responsible and ethical 
human beings we must instill, 
through our words and deeds, 
the lessons of the Holocaust, 
and empower people to speak 
up and take a stand. With the 
rise of antisemitism and other 
prejudices in the United States 
and across the world today, I’d 
like to take this opportunity to 
review a few of those lessons.
• First and foremost, we must 

teach the value of all human 
life. We are all created “b’tzelem 
Elokim,
” in the Divine image. 
No one is the Other, and no one 
is less worthy of life or human 
rights. Disagreeing with some-
one about religion, politics or 
anything else is part of intelli-
gent discourse and the sharing 
of ideas. Threatening people 
because of those differences 

is not. Turning people with 
opposing viewpoints into the 
enemy is dangerous. Unchecked 
hate leads us down a very dark 
and dangerous path.
• The second lesson is about 
responsibility and choice. We 
all make choices, including 
how we deal with disappoint-
ment, illness, economic hard-
ship and a million other chal-

lenges. Do we work to make 
life better, or do we blame the 
Other for our misery? Do we 
want to help all people, or just 
ourselves? Of course, we make 
our choices based on how we 
value other members of our 
community. This lesson must 
be built upon the first.
• The third lesson is that the 
words we hear and speak mat-
ter. Developing media literacy 
skills allows us to tell truth 
from fiction, fact from pro-
paganda. It is easy to listen to 
the rhetoric that confirms our 
biases and justifies our preju-
dices; with social media, it is 
easy to repeat these lies to an 
international audience. Using 
our critical thinking skills to 
discover truth is essential for 
demanding accountability 
from our leadership and sus-
taining our democracy.
• The fourth lesson is that 
democracy is hard and messy. 
It requires cooperation and 
working with people we don’t 
agree with. It means some-
times our preferred policy or 
candidate wins, and sometimes 
not. But democracy cannot 

Ruth Weiss 
Bergman

VIEWS

continued on page 12

essay
The Lessons of the Holocaust 
We Need Now More than Ever

living in Metro Detroit who 
is interested to join the 
page at www.facebook.com/
groups/429457763787311

— Betsy S. Heuer 

 President, Women’s Philanthropy

 

B. Siegel 
Correction

According to Mike Smith 
in Looking Back, JN issue 
Jan. 7-13, B. Siegel closed in 
1981. Not so! My late mom, 
Pauline Tischler, worked 

at the Livernois/7 Mile B. 
Seigel until at least 1986. The 
Downtown store closed in 1985.
 One thing is right for 
sure, it was a beautiful and 
classy store. I spent much 
of my childhood and young 
adult years on the Avenue 
of Fashion. I worked at 
Doubleday Book Shop. My 
mom managed that store and 
was a great boss. The B. Seigel 
building is being renovated 
for residential living. I’m 
happy to say that businesses 

have emerged, and it’s a won-
derful place to be. 

— Gaye Tischler 

Via the web

Three Great Ideas
As covered in the Jewish News, 
the community has been pre-
sented with three great ideas. 
The proposed merger of JVS, 
Jewish Family Service (JFS) 
and Kadima makes a great 
deal of sense. It will eliminate 
any duplication of services 
and encourage faster connec-

tivity. 
The “Off-Site” proposal 
from the Jewish Community 
Center also makes a great 
deal of sense with possible 
sites in Oak Park/Berkley and 
Detroit. This, without expen-
sive real estate, is the likely 
future of JCCs around the 
nation. 
Finally, within the same 
thinking, the JCC in West 
Bloomfield would be a tenant, 
rather than a landlord (along 
with the Frankel Jewish 

continued on page 12

LETTERS continued from page 8