I know that the news of Bin Laden’s death is on all of our minds, and we will have the opportunity to discuss a Jewish response to this moment on Shabbat morning.
But this morning, I want to commemorate that yesterday was Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was my privilege and honor to commemorate this day with our community at the JCC. Over three hundred participants listened to the beautiful singing of our community choir, and we had a meaningful presentation from the Hillel’s Angels- a group associated with the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance who shared of their journey to Whitwell, TN to thank the students and teachers who created the Paper Clips Project (http://www.oneclipatatime.org/subpage.php?pageId=505).
This morning, in Aushwitz, Poland there is another very powerful commemoration that I would like to share with you.
Branko Lustig, the two time Oscar winner for “Schindler’s List” and Gladiator” will celebrate his “Bar Mitzvah” in front of barrack 24, the very barrack in which he was imprisoned at age 13. Lustig will be joined by nearly 10,000 participants in the March of the Living- a very powerful international educational program that brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah to march from Auschwitz to Birkenau and then brings them to Israel to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel independence day.
Surrounded by this incredible community, Lustig will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah that was denied to him during his imprisonment. Like many Bnei Mitzvah, Lustig will give a bar mitzvah speech that will conclude with the following powerful words:
“The message I want to share today is the most important one I learned from my years in the concentration camps. It is the message of tolerance. We must all get along. We must strive to respect and love one another, so that the horrific days of the Holocaust will never visit us again. Tolerance is my bar mitzvah wish today, and ‘Never Again’ is my hope and my dream for always.”
Mazal Tov Mr. Lustig! May the memory of all who perished in the Holocaust live on through our pledge never to forget.
For more on Lustig’s bar mitzvah experience, check out the following article in JTA: