By Brian Pikelny
Yom HaShoah known as Holocaust Day is observed in Israel commemorating the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators. It also commemorates Jewish resistance during that time. In the late 1940s, the Chief Rabbinate proposed a day in late December after Hanukkah. In 1951, the Knesset debated changing the date to the 14th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, which coincides with the day before Passover and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising on April 19, 1943. They also considered September 1st the date marking the start of World War II. The Knesset passed a resolution that the 27th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar would be the annual Holocaust and Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day.
In 1959 the Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day was signed into law by Prime Minister David Ben Gurion,. The day would be commemorated by all work coming to a halt with an observance of two minutes of silence. Public memorial events, flags at half-mast and programs on radio and television relevant to the day would be broadcast in place of entertainment. A few years later, the law was amended to require restaurants, cafes, and clubs to close. In the present day, ceremonies are held at Yad Vashem, the Kotel, and Warsaw Ghetto Square, with flags lowered to half-mast. Speeches are given by the Prime Minister and President of Israel. Holocaust survivors, light torches and the Chief Rabbis recite prayers. Public ceremonies are also held throughout the country. Sirens go off in the evening and at 10:00 a.m. during the day, with everyone stopping what they are doing to reflect in silence. Motorists throughout Israel, driving on the roads, will stop their cars and stand by their vehicles to observe a two-minute silence as the sirens sound.
It has been 80 years since the end of World War 2 and 77 years since the reestablishment of the State of Israel. Yom HaShoah’s purpose is of course to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust but also serves as a reminder of how antisemitism can lead to a genocide of the Jews. On this day we recite Never Again! What does Never Again really mean? On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists from Gaza stormed the border of Israel and savagely murdered, raped and mutilated over 1200 innocent Israelis and kidnapped over 250. A day which has been characterized as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. One may ask with the Jews now having the ability to defend ourselves, why did October 7th happen? I will leave the discussion of the failures that led to October 7th to others. My fear is with all the remembrances and ceremonies and education about the Holocaust, why, after October7th, has there been a resurgence of antisemitism throughout the world and especially on college campuses in the United States?
One of the reasons for this in my opinion is a lack of Holocaust and Anti-Semitism education. Currently there are only 20 states in the U.S. that require Holocaust education. College age students were recently asked on college campuses in states with no mandatory Holocaust education to define the Holocaust and they were unable to do so. College campuses such as Columbia University in New York are filled with faculty that have anti-Israel bias and they teach their students this bias which foments anti-semitism with university administrators turning a blind eye.
The good news is Jewish organizations are stepping up to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel bias. One such organization Herut North America is fighting the good fight. Herut North America’s Mission Statement “is an organization established to provide a home for people seeking a connection to the Jewish homeland and building communities based on the principles of Zionism, human dignity, and indigenous rights. Herut embodies the teachings of Ze’ev Jabotinsky and is committed to molding the next generation of Zionist leaders, promoting the inalienable rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, encouraging Aliyah and educating all things about Israel.”
Why do the teachings of Ze’ev Jabotinsky matter?
Ze’ev Jabotinsky, born in 1880 in Odessa, part of the Russian Empire (now Ukraine), was a Zionist leader, journalist, and orator who founded the Zionist Revisionist movement. Revisionist Zionism promoted the expansion and the establishment of a Jewish majority in the Land of Israel. He advocated a “revision” of the “Labor Zionism” of Ben Gurion and Weizmann who advocated settlement of the Land of Israel by individuals. Revisionists differed by insisting upon the right of Jewish sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel. Revisionist Zionism influenced modern right wing Israeli political parties in Israel such as Herut and the Likud.
Jabotinsky like Herzl witnessed the horrors of antisemitism. Herzl with the Dreyfus affair in France in 1894 and Jabotinsky with the Kishinev pogrom in 1903. These events shaped their ideology that antisemitism will overwhelm Jews unless Jews have self-determination in their ancient and historical homeland.
Jabotinsky anticipated the Holocaust and his plan was to bring more than a million European Jews to British Palestine. He died on August 3, 1940 and was unable to fulfill his dream of an independent Jewish State. His death was two years before the Wannsee Conference in which the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was implemented. Some scholars argue this was the beginning of the Holocaust and others say it was Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in 1933.
Jabotinsky believed to fight antisemitism, Jews must be able to protect themselves and with Joseph Trumpeldor in 1915 were instrumental in forming the first Jewish fighting force in 2000 years, which was a forerunner to the Haganah and present day Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Jabotinsky’s concept of the metaphor of an “Iron Wall” has been misinterpreted to justify the expulsion of Arabs from Palestine by force. Instead Jabotinsky knew the Arabs would never accept a Jewish State unless the Jewish State had the ability to protect themselves from being attacked and defeated. He believed once a Jewish State was established with the impenetrable “Iron Wall” the offering of equality and dignity to the Arab population would ensure that both peoples can live together in Peace.
This concept gives meaning to the words Never Again! Never Again to some may mean with the reestablishment of the State of Israel, Jews now have a place to find refuge unlike before 1948 when Jews had to fend for themselves to escape Nazi murderers. Jabotinsky if he was alive after the Holocaust would probably say Never Again means if a Jew is harmed the person or persons who harmed that Jew would pay the ultimate price thus, we would have an actual Never Again.
I am proud to be on the Herut Noth America Slate as a delegate for the 39th World Zionist Congress. I urge you if you are an unapologetic Zionist and Jew and love and support the State of Israel to vote for the Herut North America Slate #23. To vote click on
https://us.voteherut2025.com/BrianP
