The sirens will sound across Israel on Thursday morning, and for two minutes, we will all stand still, our hearts heavy with memories both decades old and painfully recent.
As we observe Yom Hashoah, this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day feels different. We carry not only the weight of our historical trauma, but also the fresh wounds from October 7, 2023, which still wake many of us in the night, tears streaming before we even realize we’re crying.
The Holocaust represents the systematic extermination of six million Jews – men, women, and children whose only crime was their identity. Today, we honor their memory and renew our sacred commitment – “Never Again” is not merely a slogan, but a national imperative that guides Israel’s very existence.
Just over a year and a half ago, this vow was brutally tested when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli communities, slaughtering over 1,200 civilians in their homes, at a music festival, and on the streets.
Families were executed together, young people massacred while celebrating life, and hostages dragged across the border. The cries of mothers searching for their children still echo in our hearts.
The remaining hostages
Of those hostages and those held prior to this massacre, 59 remain in enemy hands to this day. The rest returned by foot or in coffins.
While the scales are incomparable, the parallel with our darkest history cannot be ignored. Both the Holocaust and October 7 share the same deadly logic: that Jews may be killed with impunity simply for being Jews. This ancient hatred persists despite the decades separating these atrocities, leaving us to wonder if the world has truly learned anything from our suffering.
On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, as we recite the names of those lost to Nazi genocide, we also remember the names of those taken from us – not nearly as long ago, but already far too long ago.
Their memories intertwine to strengthen our resolve, even as we struggle through tears to say their names. Israel exists precisely because history has taught us the cost of defenselessness.
Our national day of mourning reminds us why Israel must remain strong, not just for ourselves, but as guardians of a promise made to past generations and kept for future ones. “Never Again” means securing our homeland against those who still pursue the unthinkable.
This is not only in the Land of Israel, but worldwide. Following the October 7 attack, the gigantic waves of antisemitism have been a regular flow, pouring over and drowning Jewish communities worldwide, who are feeling cornered, defeated, and alone. And here, again, they are targeted simply because they are Jews.
During the Holocaust, the world was indifferent to the mass suffering of the Jewish people. While Jews were being burned by the millions and persecuted beyond all measure, the world turned a blind eye, and it was only after the release of the Jews as a victorious act of war that the world recognized that the Jewish people were victims and that justice leaned towards our people.
But now, despite surviving the worst pogrom since the Holocaust, the world is not seeing that same image. How can we, as a country, attempt to recover from old scars when the new injuries that have marred the skin above them continue to fester and bleed?
On Wednesday night, as we lit memorial candles in our own homes – we watched our children’s faces illuminated in its glow and thought of all we have lost, but also all we must protect.
This flame connects us to our past and guides us toward our future. Through our grief, we find strength. Through our memories, we find purpose. This is our covenant with history, written not in ink but in tears and determination, and we shall honor it with every breath we take.
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