Posted on April 23, 2025 by Rabbi David Katz
Tonight is Yom Hashoah, when we remember those who died in the Holocaust. There will be a service at the Flemington Jewish Community Center at 7:00 p.m. I will be attending. I hope you will come, as well. (more about the program)
For the last number of months how to remember the events of WWII has been on my mind. At the Academy Awards ceremony this year two films about the Holocaust were competing for Best Picture: “The Brutalist” and “A Real Pain.”
Both films raised questions about these tragic years and especially its aftermath. How could the world have allowed such demonic acts to transpire? Where were the good people and why did they not stand up to evil?
But we must also ask how some found the courage to subvert the goals of the Nazis. What motivated the “righteous gentiles” to help save Jews?
This last question is important to ponder because to this day we are surrounded by righteous gentiles who help our people to survive. They are the spouses, the mothers-in-law, the step relatives, the grandparents, the uncles and the aunts – all the members of our families who are not Jewish – but take on the task of helping to support raising Jewish children.
I watch our children come to Hebrew School and I see mothers and fathers who are waiting patiently for them to finish their classes. Most are Jewish; some are not. The parents who are not Jewish were raised with Christmas trees and Easter eggs and are now surrounded by menorahs, challah covers and Shabbat candle sticks. How amazing that they would enter into the Jewish world, into a culture and tradition that was not theirs growing up, and devote themselves so wholeheartedly to raising their children as Jews.
Each and every day we should be thankful for those in our community who are not Jewish, but who drive their children in car pools to Temple, who sit next to their children at Shabbat services, who dress up their children as Mordechai or Esther on Purim – who are there to make their children happy and confident in their Jewish identity.
It is time to extend the definition of the “righteous gentile” to include every person who is not Jewish who helps to strengthen the people of Israel. We are blessed by the sacrifices they make and are grateful for the gifts of their hearts.
L’shalom,
Rabbi David Katz
