By Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz
Last Saturday afternoon, a group of masked demonstrators carrying a white supremacist banner protested in Greenwich for about an hour.
Video taken shows them yelling “Sieg Heil” while raising their arms with the Nazi salute.
The Nazi Party in Germany adopted the phrase “Sieg Heil” because it translates as “Hail Victory.” It was their most widely used phrase, along with their arm-raising Nazi salute, and continues to be utilized by white supremacists worldwide.
This local incident co-occurs with the antisemitic tropes commonly utilized by the Pro-Hamas/Anti-Israel protesters at universities throughout our nation, heightening fear amongst Jews and good people all over.
It feels as if America is much closer to 1933 than anyone would have imagined was possible.
Our annual communal commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, will take place at Temple Sholom on Monday, May 6 at 7:00 pm. Presented by UJA-JCC Greenwich, we gather in solemn remembrance, and this year, we will listen to the testimony of Holocaust Survivor Irene Zisblatt while she shares her personal story.
Irene was born in northern Hungary and, at the age of 13, was sent to Auschwitz. She was the only survivor of the Holocaust in her entire family.
The opportunity to listen to firsthand testimony from a Holocaust survivor is an essential reminder of the atrocities of genocide and the gaping hole left by each of the Six Million Jews murdered.
However, soon, there will be a time when there are no survivors left. The average age of a Holocaust survivor today is 86 years old.
Losing the ones who directly experienced the Holocaust, combined with the rise of Holocaust Denialism, is especially scary. Increasingly, holocaust symbols, such as swastikas, are carelessly utilized by ignorant, insensitive individuals, or worse, people who harbor antisemitic beliefs.
Too often, enemies of Israel reverse Holocaust imagery and apply its motifs to Israelis attempting to keep the Jewish Nation’s border secure and peaceful.
Those who ask how the Holocaust could occur can look at how easily and quickly the rise of antisemitism is taking root in our nation, along with the world at large.
Neighbors stood by while European Jews were led into cattle cars and sent to their deaths.
The Holocaust occurred as the Nazi’s “Final Solution,” but it was a horror that came about while nurtured in an environment of apathy, ignorance, prejudice, and hate.
Locally, the First Selectman’s office has led the way to combat antisemitism by creating a town task force.
As a task force member, I am especially pleased to see the active engagement of the Greenwich Public and Independent Schools.
But, we all need to take more significant note that we cannot ignore well-documented warnings on the considerable rise of antisemitic incidents.
Those who take exception to how Israel is attempting to fight a war against an enemy sworn to destroy her right to exist often apply double standards to Israel versus how other countries might operate in similar circumstances.
Iran, a country often declaring its desire to “remove Israel from the map,” launched over 200 drones and missiles at Israel.
Immediate guidance by other ally nations was to counsel diplomacy.
But, one might quickly wonder how these same countries would react under similar circumstances if such a blatant attack of war had victimized them.
Fortunately, Jews who are not blessed to live in countries where they are welcome possess the option of living in their historic Jewish homeland of Israel, protected by a Jewish army.
The time when Jews cannot defend themselves has passed.
It is purposeful that the Hebrew date of Holocaust commemoration falls on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
Discrimination, dehumanization, and senseless hatred are vital ingredients that brew the dangers of antisemitism.
But ignorance and apathy are what allow the brew to boil most easily.
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize honoree Elie Wiesel Z’L said in 1986: “The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.”
The oft-cited refrain, “Never Again,” isn’t meant to be a prayer but a call to concerted action.
We honor the legacy of Holocaust victims and survivors when we quickly speak out and act against all forms of discrimination whenever we hear or witness it.
Doing or saying nothing is not a moral option because silence normalizes immoral acts.
The world can debate the politics of Israel, but not the right of Israel to exist.
When Jews conclude their Passover seder, we pronounce “L’Shanah Ha’Ba’ah B’Yerushalayim” — “Next year in Jerusalem,” an ancient prayer that came to fruition after the Holocaust.
A safe and secure Israel, sharing peaceful relations with her Arab neighbors, remains the ideal all should wish to pursue actively.
But peace is earned, not gifted, and we all need to endeavor a lot harder at the sacred work required by which Shalom – Peace – is permanently obtained.
Temple Sholom’s Senior Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz is a scholar, teacher, community activist and preacher, and is recognized as one of the prominent religious leaders in the Greenwich area and beyond. A frequent guest speaker at synagogues and churches, study groups, community institutions and universities, he is a charismatic personality who engages individuals and stimulates hearts and minds. His teachings can be found in Greenwich Sentinel and in other local and national publications.
