There are two official dates in the yearly calendar for the commemoration and collective remembrance of the Holocaust. According to the Hebrew calendar, Yom HaShoah is commemorated on the 27th of Nissan and marks the date of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (which was not exactly on that date but on the eve of Passover - however, it was decided to mark Yom HaShoa on a different day in order to separate it from Passover). The second date of collective remembrance of the Holocaust occurs on January 27 on the Gregorian calendar, and takes place on the day that the allied troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp from the Nazis, freeing the prisoners. Both of these historical events happened 77 years ago.
But, what is the difference between these two dates, besides the fact that they were marked by different bodies – one by the UN and the other by the state of Israel? In my opinion, these two dates give us two opportunities to remember, speak and commit ourselves to the memory of the Holocaust, one for the entire world and another, internally, for our people.
Today, January 27, 2022, the responsibility to speak to the world about the Holocaust is more important than ever, as cases of antisemitism grow steadily not only in Europe or the United States, where in recent weeks a reformist synagogue suffered an antisemitic terrorist attack, but throughout the entire world. Antisemitism is not a thing of the past, not a chapter in the history books, but it exists here and now today. For years after the Holocaust, we believed that antisemitism was a thing of the past. After the horrors of the Holocaust, who could declare themselves to be an antisemite, or simply be one? No one! But it was only a matter of time before antisemitism expressed itself again. 77 years later, hatred of the Jews is reborn, without shame and sometimes disguised as anti-Zionism, but always with the Jew as a target at the center.
For this reason, on this January 27, 2022, our responsibility as a Tnua is to fight against antisemitism with the best and most effective weapon we have, education and struggle. Education in-house, within the Jewish community, and education outdoors, creating ties and opening ourselves to the world.
The struggle in public expression and the condemnation of antisemitic acts are fundamental, expressing our disagreement and making ourselves heard, marching and protesting is part of the ideological base of the youth movement.
On the other hand, one of the consequences of antisemitism worldwide is that it has led the Jewish communities of the world to close in on themselves, to build walls, to put security at their doors. These are necessary actions to protect Jewish life, but at the same time can create separation from the world. For this reason, I see 02.27.2022 as an invitation to get out of those walls, to meet the non-Jewish world to educate, to break myths, to show our traditions and our culture to those who do not know us or have prejudices.
Habonim Dror around the world assumes, once again, the commitment to fight and to educate, to not be silent. Do not remain silent in the face of the new outbreak of antisemitism and any expression of racism in the world. And we invite all Jewish and non-Jewish institutions to be our partners in this fight.
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