Holocaust museum, Israel

Yad Vashem

Here the victims of the holocaust have been given a place and a name. Ezekiel 37:14. I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.

How does one describe the scent of a rose, the colour of a rainbow, the laughter of children, the sadness of the mourner?

I have, you have, we all have smelled the rose, seen the rainbow, heard the children and experienced grief. Our reactions remain our own. They become part of us. We may feel some communion with people who have had a similar to our own but.... One's words are not able to express fully and accurately the inmost feelings of the individual.

A walk through the concrete triangle at Yad Vashem leaves us all with emotions which cannot be communicated. They will remain with us and.... and then what?

Yes, a highly emotional experience,

a compelling educational experience,

a deeply challenging experience

and for me also a many-questioning experience.

A Time for thinking and remembering.

Yes, I came away with many questions in my mind. And yes , many were WHY questions. They have been asked time after time and I wonder if anyone has ever received  satisfying answers. I'll pass on them this time. Instead, I want to share an IS question with you, an IS question in various alternatives.

Is murdering a child more monstrous than-

euthanizing an aged person,

or aborting a pre-natal life?

Or speaking numerically: Is taking one life less sinful than taking two, or ten or a thousand?

Perhaps speaking nationally: Is there a hierarchy of mass murder? Or being specific, which should be judged the more barbaric -

Russian tanks killing fleeing German citizens?

British Lancasters bombing German cities?

Nazi Germany's warped ideology murdering Jews?

Israelite swords slaughtering the residents of ancient Jericho?

How the lists could go on.

The evil that initially forcefully ruled in the triangular tunnel of Yad Vashem was finally defeated. That evil which did not overcome those people who were seen speaking about their ordeal in the memorial, is now seen as a black page in history. Thank God for that.

It is right that the past should be remembered, and that victims of injustice be honoured. In all of this it is important also that optimism for the future be not forgotten.

Through the Memorial and Oh! the spectacular vista, not only for the visitors but also for those who in the words of Ezekiel  "are now settled in their own land" .