Thursday, April 27, 2006

Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Rememberence Day Was Tuesday April 25

Every day six million murdered Jews speak to me. Some days they scream. Tuesday they screamed. "Do you appreciate the gift of life?" they ask. "Do you make the most of your life?" Are you living to your potential?". Sometimes they even have the nerve to ask if I am enjoying my life! "Well, I guess I enjoy my life overall" I answer meekly. "But you know, some days work is frustrating, and some days the kids are difficult - those days are very trying".

The response is harsh - " My job was taken from me, and my children were ripped from my arms and killed right in front of me" say my murdered brothers and sisters. "I wish I had a job to be frustrated about, you see a man does not feel like a man without a job". "And I long for the days when my kids were difficult, that is part of life - the life that was stolen from us". "A man who is robbed of the ability to provide for and protect his own family, one who sees the corpses of his children in front of him is dead even before his soul leaves his body".

They don't stop there either. "What do you do with the life that you have, with the opportunities you have been given?" "Do you do what is right and good?" "Do you use your good fortune to help others?" "Do you comfort those in need?" "Do you stand up for the oppressed?" "Do you take a stand against evil?"

"And what of us?" "How can you, with your comfortable life, safeguard our heritage?" " Will you sacrifice any of your comforts to protect your own people?" " Will you work to right the wrongs of a world that ignored our cries?" " A world that sacrificed us to the idols of indifference and outright hatred?" " Even now your people are being murdered for the very same reason we were - because they are Jews". "What are you going to do about it?"

It's that last question that stings the most - "What are you going to do about it?"

What can I do about it? What do they want from me? I am only one person. Do I need to speak out more against the murder of innocent Jews? Should I volunteer my time? Should I donate my money?

I don't know what they want, but the question still rings in my ears - "What are you going to do about it?"