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This year, as always, we spoke about the lessons of the Holocaust, a thread woven through every speech. We were weak during the Holocaust, without a national home, and therefore without protection. In our long exile, we dispersed into thousands of communities, which often helped us survive, if there were pogroms in one place, other communities were spared. For the most part. Until the Holocaust, which marked the ultimate attempt to annihilate all Jews, in every community, in one systematic blow, so none could escape. This is the fate of a people without a homeland.
The State of Israel was not established because of the Holocaust. On the contrary, it was born despite the effort to halt the historical process of Jewish return through systematic extermination. Israel is the answer to the Holocaust, the physical and ideological triumph over all efforts to harm us throughout history, culminating in the Shoah. This is the fundamental lesson, one we must continue to teach our rebellious youth, lest we become complacent, and so that we appreciate the very fact of our life here in a sovereign Jewish state. From Holocaust to rebirth, from the ashes of the camps to the building of the state, from mourning to a national holiday.
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At the same time, we must always remember the second lesson of the Holocaust.
The Shoah closed the chapter of exile. From now on, there is no future or hope for Jews outside their historic land and state. Today, Jews are under attack around the world, subjected to venomous incitement by our enemies and detractors, especially in democratic countries. The world is outraged that we did not remain victims on October 7, but rose from our grief and struck back, not merely to defend ourselves, but to destroy the enemy. That, in their view, is unforgivable.
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The Jewish people have contributed more to the world than any other nation in history. Jews living in various countries enriched science, economics, culture, philosophy, ethics, politics, the legal system, and more. Rarely were we thanked. Often, we were forced to convert or die, or at best, expelled. Enough.
Is it not time to stop living on borrowed roots and building futures for others? What more must happen before the Jews of France, for example, leave their homes and come to Israel? And British Jews, what are you waiting for? Haven't you seen enough on the streets of London and other cities that have become Islamized? Jewish leaders warned the Jews of Europe to flee before the Holocaust. In vain. Have we learned nothing?
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Jews outside Israel lose their identity far too easily, especially those without a traditional or religious background. They vanish, assimilated into the broader society by the second generation at alarming rates. This is the quiet Holocaust. Most of the Jewish people disappeared this way over the centuries. Only in Israel can our national and religious identity be fully and safely preserved.
Dear Jews, wherever you are in the world: come home. This is your one true homeland. Come build your future here, the future of your children.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we vow: Never again. Never again will we be harmed without fighting back. But also: Never again will we live in exile, at the mercy of others. This is your home. Make Aliyah.
