Never Knew vs Never Forget

Very few people have not heard about the Holocaust. We watch movies and read books. The museums keep the stories in our sights. But what about our children. The line, or paragraph, or chapter, talk about Hitler, the Holocaust, and the second World War. But what do our children really understand? What can they comprehend? Columbine? 9-11? They were sudden and violent and real. The numbers are manageable. Most of us have been in a crowd of 100 or 1000 or 5,000. In a sports stadium, crowds can mean 75,000. But what is 6 million? Who can comprehend that number, child OR adult?

That is why what happened in a small town in Tennessee is so special. A new documentary tells the story of how the students of that small town responded to what had been to them a completely unfamiliar chapter in human history, with a promise to honor every single soul lost in that horrible event by collecting paper clips to represent each individual exterminated by the Nazis. Their dedication was absolute. Their plan was simple but profound. The amazing result, a memorial railcar filled with paper clips which stands permanently in their schoolyard, is an unforgettable lesson of how a committed group of children and educators can change the world one classroom at a time.

Take a look at the trailer for PaperClips. Go and see the documentary, and never forget.

Is there a difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism?

Many people would have you believe there is. For many reasons, some people abhor the State of Israel. At the same time, they say "we have nothing against the Jews, some of our best friends are Jews." Historically, there has not been a difference. Before the State of Israel existed, the Nazi's railed against the Zionist-Jewish conspiracy. Today, many people mask their prejudice against Jews behind their political opinions on Israel, but in France today, Jews are being targeted because they are Jews, and Israel is the land of the Jews.

All that being said, how do you explain Jews who are anti-Zionist. There is an extremely religious group, the Neturai Kartah, who believe that Israel is "traif" not permissible, because it is the product of man, not the product of G-d. Many of these Jews will not visit the holy land, and the ones who do live there will tell you they live in the holy land or Palestine, but not in Israel. They have as little as possible to do with the Israeli government, and support those who would eliminate the State. (Of course I always wondered if they realized they would be pushed out of their holy land and holy city right along with all the "traif" Israelis.)

I recently received an incredibly depressing series of photographs. I thought at first that they were the product of photoshop, but I am sadly coming to realize that in fact the people who purport to worship the same G-d as I, were indeed standing vigil with the Palestinians outside the hospital where Yasser Arafat lay, hoping that he would not die, so that he could continue his fight to dismantle the State of Israel. For more information, take a look at www.netureikarta.org.

Just looking at the ideas promulgated on this site makes me feel dirty.... Please know, these are not my Jews!!