For Yom HaShoah: A Journey of Return and a Search for Bones
On Yom HaShoah, which falls on April 28, I will remember the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust – and I will be thinking about a little town in the northeast corner of Lithuania, and a white-haired man searching for a
Giving Meaning to Holocaust Remembrance
Much ink has been spilled since the release of the Pew Research Center survey on Jewish identity in the United States.
Yom HaShoah: A Call for Memory that Animates Action
Zachor. A powerful imperative to remember. An anthem in opposition to forgetting. A symbol of the Jewish approach to history: zachor, remember, remember as if you experienced it yourself.
To Honor, To Bless, To Name
Recently I read about a newly published book that lists every single one of the six million people killed during the Holocaust.
Bread and Jam: A Story of Two Families for Holocaust Remembrance Day
During World War II in Lithuania, the penalty for hiding Jews was death. Nonetheless, Jura’s family extended a helping hand to mine.
Facts Make You Free: A Reflection on the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz
Today, as the world marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I am thinking of my father, of blessed memory. He was among the Jews forcibly marched through the camp's entrance gate under the cynical Nazi motto: Arbeit Macht Frei, Work Makes (You) Free.
Discovering Israel Beyond Its Borders
Growing up in rural Massachusetts, Judaism held a much different context in my life than it does now. Until college, I did Judaism, mimicking the motions of being a "good Jew." I didn't combine milk and meat in my house because my father told me not to.