"In every generation, one is obligated to view himself as though he came out of Egypt." Just one week ago, we sat around the Seder table, fathers and sons, families and children with the goal of seeing ourselves as if we ourselves left Egypt. Seventy-seven years after the Holocaust, which decimated no less than one-third of our people, this sentence has taken on new meaning.
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Every single Jew is obligated to see themself as if they survived as if they were "there" and struggled for the continuation of our existence. In our generation, we remember and commemorate while continuing to fulfill the eternal promise: "Never again."
On the eve of World War II, Jewish leaders around the world warned of the volcano about to erupt. The repeated calls to take responsibility for the fate of the Jews, however, fell on deaf ears. Those knocking at the gates were seen as pessimistic and delusional. With the weakening of the local leadership during the Holocaust, the antisemitic octopus' tentacles penetrated the Jewish community, crushed their humanity, and prevented them from having any hope. The scale of the horror drove people out of their minds. The Jews pleadingly raised their eyes, looking for someone to lead them, protect them, and offer them hope. The incompetence of the countries we depended on to prevent the worst from happening left the Jewish people abandoned to their fate.
For over two months now, millions of people, including many members of the Jewish people, have become refugees on European soil. Yet the world is silent.
We are a nation well-versed in suffering. A people that, despite all the difficulty, have seen our own leaders emerge to guide and accompany us on our journeys and through hardship. Out of the depths of the darkness, huge changes took place during the Holocaust, the likes of which impacted the fate of every Jew. Local leadership groups were established, armed, and fought just to defend the honor of our downtrodden people. Others provided spiritual hope through attempts to maintain our humanity through mutual responsibility and a shared fate.
Throughout all its years of existence, including in the darkest days of the Holocaust, the Zionist movement served as an inspiration to many leaders and played an important leadership role.
Our existential dependence on other nations' benevolence receded with the establishment of the Jewish state in Israel. Local organizations, unarmed and undefended, were replaced by a strong and moral military. On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, we take an oath in the name of all those who were and are no longer: We are here to talk about what happened and to continue to defend every Jew, no matter where they may be.
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