Personally however, I don't deem the article worthy a line-by-line analysis. Instead, I thought to make mention of a message which I have been dwelling on now for a few years.
To the modern Jew, suffering is almost a pillar of faith. To many, myself included, it serves as an ironic testimony to G-d's constant omniscience and intervention in a world where the song of the hour is 'Anything Goes'. Read More
Despite the backhanded role that suffering has played in supporting our faith, I think it worth analyzing whether it truly is in the best intrest of our people to regularly emphasize the hardships and difficulties we experience as the chosen nation.
What I find most troublesome in our endured hatred as a people is the claim of Voltaire: that suffering has molded us into a people. What is most frightening about this proposition is the way in which it negates the values that stem from within our society and claims that our essence is defined by a constant pressure from outsiders. The moment in which we perceive our hardships to be the superglue of our nation is the moment in which we've lost sight of our purpose. G-d's intention in turning enemies against us is not so that we suffer but that we learn. We must learn to care about our relationship with Him, with the world and with ourselves. And for this reason, we occasionally need some reprimanding.
Were we to solely focus on the travesties of our history rather than the grandeur of our purpose, meaning and message to mankind, I imagine G-d would only continue to further the hardships until we'd learned our lesson. We have far too important a role to play in the present than to get caught up in the hurdles of the past - no matter how severe they may have been. The degree to which we forget our responsibilities as a people is the degree to which G-d must send his "Beloved nation" reminders of their sacred relationship, no matter how painful the message. With this in mind, the primary means of evading a repetition of history is not recalling our suffering but recalling our failures to live up to our responsibilities. It is the building of the Jewish child, the Jewish family and the Jewish homeland that is to ensure our survival and protection - not only reminiscing about the past.
Many children of the post-holocaust generation have devoted a large portion of their energies to ensure that the message of "never again" be passed to future generations.However, how many among them have devoted equal energies to ensuring that the message of Jewish identy be passed down to the next generation - let alone their own children. How much energy have we as a people devoted to ensuring that the identity of a Jew remain eternal? How much time and funding have been allocated to prevent the assimilation of our people?Of what use is it to promote the protection of our people when the very definition of our people is ebbing away? Will there be what to protect in 100 years? We are not so much in need of protection from the outside as we are in need of building inside ourselves.
While I cannot agree with the Beacon author's implication that we reduce the degree of our "exaggurated" mourning, I do believe it is essential that we continue to focus on what message we struggle to pass on rather than passing on a message of struggle. We have much to be proud of despite the suffering - not in light of it.
No one has shaped the history of mankind as have the Jewish people. It is our job to bring light to the world and we have much work to do. Let us not get caught up in the past world periods of darkness but focus on fueling our inner spark, achieving our potential and reminding our people, our families and ourselves of what it is that we are responsible to pass on.
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