Yom Hashoah Holocaust Memorial Day 2010 Remarks Presented by Rabbi Perl at Nassau County Legislature 2010
So, as we turn from past to a future, having known the worst, let us never give way to a sense of powerlessness, of problems too great to solve and hatreds too deep to cure. Our sages said: One life is like a world. Change a life and you begin to change the world, the only way the world can be changed, one day at a time, one act at a time.
Senator Robert Kennedy once said –
‘Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.’
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt said – ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ – he was speaking a truth that still speaks to us.
The only antidote to fear is responsibility: the refusal to believe that there is nothing we can do; the decision never to take refuge in blaming others, making them scapegoats for our frustrations and fears. It is easy to complain: to say it’s someone else’s fault.
Courage is born the moment we decide not to complain but instead to make a personal protest against the evils of the world by doing good, however small. An ethic of responsibility yields people of astonishing resilience –able to survive any setback, and face any future without fear. ‘A little light’ said the Jewish mystics, ‘drives away much darkness’.
I make no claims to wisdom, but this I have learned, from survivors of the Holocaust, and particularly my father of blessed memory, first chosen at Auschwitz by the infamous Dr Mengele for the labor camps, becoming a slave in Nordausen and Dora and later Thank G‑d to be liberated by the US Army;
that each of us is here for a purpose; that finding that purpose takes time and honesty, knowledge of ourselves and of the world; that where what we want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where God wants us to be;
Some months back… I was visiting patients at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola … when I walked into the room of an elderly Jew a holocaust survivor… who was obviously quite sick, surrounded by his entire family... I spent some time with him.. He told me it was his father’s words to him on the last night before they were separated... “he sat me down and said to me… Life is like a play... Every one of us plays a part... Not just us, but our parents and grandparents… they’re parents and grandparents, all the way back to Abraham and Sarah... They’re all part of this production.. Each of us plays a part, And then, when your part is over, you go backstage... You’re not gone, you’re still there, looking, cheering, helping out in any way you can from behind the scenes”
And his mother grabbed his hand, looked me in the eye, and said: “MENDELE, I don’t know what’s going to happen… how long we’ll be together… whether I’ll survive this or not… But one thing I ask of you, If you survive... Don’t give up, play your part... You might feel sad and lonely but I beg of you- don’t give up... Play your role as best you can... Live your life to the fullest... I promise you, you won’t be alone… Mammy and me, grandma and grandpa, we will be with you forever, we’ll be watching you from backstage... I’m sure you won’t let us down and you’ll play your part... By the time the man finished the story, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room…
And I said there is a postscript to the story... What happens at the end of the play… All the actors come back out… Right? Everyone comes out on the stage to give a bow... It is a basic Jewish belief that all the souls… all our parents and grandparents all the way to abraham and sarah are with us… cheering us… helping us with our contribution to life…
today as we gather dear fellow human beings ... Let’s resolve to sincerely remember all those lost in the holocaust proud... let’s promise to keep their spark alive… Let’s make this the year when each of us reaches our potential… when each of us lives each day to the fullest, When we realize the beauty of every moment... when we appreciate the G‑dly purpose we have been privileged to be a part of.
And while we’re at it, let’s ask all those souls lost, to send an email a text message or even an old fashioned phone call to the producer… Or maybe even pay Him a visit...the Almighty G‑d, Tell Him, please. We’re ready. We’ve done our job. Enough with the tzoros, shoin tzeit, it’s time already... We’re ready for the final bow. We’re ready for the time when there will be no more warS, illness and strife but a world filled with goodness and kindness.
Thank you!