This week, as a school and community, we joined the World Jewish Congress’s global campaign to have the largest commemoration of the Holocaust ever by contributing our photos showing #we remember. We remember the victims of the Holocaust, we remember to continue the fight for tolerance and kindness and equality, we remember that we must educate and re-educate future generations.
In this week’s parashah, God tells Moses that He remembers the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He has heard the suffering of the Israelites:
I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their service; I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. I shall take you to Me for a people and I shall be a God to you.
Remembering the story of the Exodus, the plagues God sent to Pharoah and the Egyptians and God’s rescue of the Israelites are at the very foundation of the Jewish people as a nation. The justification given in the Torah for many of God’s commandments is because of the miracles God performed as He took the Israelites out of Egypt.
Remembering the events that shaped us as a people – whether in the ancient past or in more recent history – are essential to our growth and continuity. Not only do we learn from our struggles, but remembering the perseverance, the strengths and the courage offers much inspiration and encouragement.
Elie Wiesel said: Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to His creatures; peace is our gift to each other.
Shabbat Shalom.
