Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012

Yom HaShoah  2012
Temple Emanu-El Waterford, CT

Some things resist our words, especially on an occasion like this Remembrance Day 2012. I find that I am at a loss for words.  I search for the words but they seem so trite, so incomplete.  I have even begun to think that words escape us most at the moments of greatest joy and the times of unbearable pain.

Of course the Psalms (tehillim) set a good example for us.  The tehillim remind us that we must not remain silent even at the moment when we have sensed a loss of words.  The tehillim are bold and sometimes audacious.  The tehillim transform everyday experiences so that we can more adequately express the greatest joys and deepest sorrows of our lives. When it comes to speaking on the occasion for which we are gathered here this evening words often inadequately express the grief so many have experienced at the hands of other humans. 

Those of you who have experienced directly the horrors of the Holocaust may have even greater anguish, if not anger, that sometimes seems inexpressible.  Yet listen to the words of Holocaust Survivor Estelle Laughlin.  It is “… not enough to curse the darkness of the past. Above all, we have to illuminate the future. And I think that on the Day of Remembrance the most important thing is to remember the humanity that is in all of us to leave the world better for our children and for posterity.”  Estelle’s words shatter any hesitancy we have to express our deepest thoughts.

Those of us who come here this evening because we are the indirect, if not direct, descendants of those who have perpetuated the atrocities often stand dumbfounded and at a loss for words.   Fortunately some of Christians did not remain silent but acted as did Irena Sendler, recipient of the Righteous Among the Nations medal in 1965. It is this resistance to words that brings us together for this occasion of remembrance.  We must be reminded that despite the Holocaust we continue to see what happened in Bosnia, what happened in Rwanda, what happened in Darfur. There are still millions of people being killed.

We must this evening remember that indeed we do have each other and that presence should give voice to all our efforts to resist anything that would ever again tear us apart.  As Jews and Christians we have at least one library of books that reminds us of a common bond that we can never let be torn asunder.  That is the Hebrew Scriptures.  They hold together the common words expressed over time that we ponder, pray and perplex over together again and again. 

And this year as the theme of rescue focuses our attention we must remember the words of our common book, the Torah.  The ones I am thinking of have just been spoken at the Passover Seder with the four cups of wine, “I will free you….; I will redeem you….; I will take you….; I will bring you…..”  This is our hope.  So as Holocaust survivor Estelle Laughlin, says, “Memory is what shapes us. Memory is what teaches us. We must understand that’s where our redemption is.”  And I say we must not resist words and remain silent.

Mystic, CT - Signs of the Times

I really liked the old sign identifying Mystic that you see in this blog.  I assume that the first sign one sees coming off of I-95 that has been taken down will be replaced by the style of the new sign at the train station.  I have no objection to the new sign.  I also do not think that the citizens of Mystic need to hold an election to express our opinions and decide the way the sign should look.  That would be a fine New England custom.  However, the power of graphic representations is widely acknowledged.  What does our town and the institutions in it symbolize to ourselves as well as to outsiders?  At the same time I asked this question I have wondered how the change in population since 1990 might affect our answer to the question.  1990 - 2,618; 2000 - 4,001; and 2010 - 4,205  Population change is only one of the factors that causes shifts in our perceptions of ourselves as well as the way people perceive us.

Light and Darkness - Holy Week

. The image on the right demonstrates how contrast and comparison exceed what can be accomplished by placing light and darkness side by side.  Just showing light or just showing darkness is less evocative.  Placing them together exceeds what either light or darkness by themselves can effectively communicate.  So it is with metaphor.  The words, "Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:13) demonstrates how the metaphor of light and darkness along side wisdom and folly provides the reader with an "excess."  For many Christians this Holy Week is a time when the movement from light (Palm Sunday) to darkness (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday) to the brilliant light of Easter creates an excess of meaning. 

Bagels

Given the local discussion of bagels especially around the superb bagels at Wide World of Bagels http://www.wideworldofbagels.com/ I thought people might be interested in the article in ConsumerReports May 2012 pp 8-9 that gives a rating of national brand's of bagels.  Therefore our own WWB is not included.  It would be interesting to see if people agree with the definition of a "proper bagel."  Of course taste is a relative matter.  I will stick with WWB.  Bring on the bagels. 

(Note: I wonder if ConsumerReports realized that they could not be objective since the second letter in their name as depicted on the magazine and online is a bagel.  Just a little fun for Monday morning.)