O pinion
Lessons My Holocaust Survivor
Mother Taught Me
BY BENNY GANTZ
I DON’T THINK it would
be an exaggeration to say that
2020 was one of the toughest
years that the world has endured
in recent history. In the wake
of International Holocaust
Remembrance Day and the
76th anniversary of the libera-
tion of Auschwitz, I reflect on
the lessons I learned from my
parents, both Holocaust survi-
vors, who taught me the capacity
for both evil and kindness that
exists within the human spirit.

Even as a general who
witnessed up close the ravages
of war, and as a politician who
engages in challenging political
battles, I couldn’t have foreseen
the current state of affairs facing
the Jewish people today.

For many years, we have
seen the rise of anti-Semitism
disguised in its many faces,
shapes and forms. But nothing
could have prepared me for the
moment when I saw a shirt with
the words “Camp Auschwitz”
at the insurrection on Capitol
Hill, the symbol of American
democracy. At the same time, seeing
these manifestations of hate is
not surprising. Anti-Semitism
always rears its ugly head during
times of stress. Hatred always
thrives when there is a lack of
love; darkness always prevails in
the absence of light.

We can learn this lesson from
the history of 1930s Germany:
Isolated and humiliated,
forced to carry the shame and
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM responsibility for World War I
on its shoulders, suffering from
inflation, unemployment and
poverty, the fractured German
society turned toward violence
and hatred, placing the blame
for their woes on the Jews.

In a report issued this week by
the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora
Affairs, we see an alarming
rise in anti-Jewish sentiment
worldwide in 2021. Especially
alarming is the widespread
growth of malignant conspiracy
theories that often blame the
world’s troubles on the Jews.

We must not allow the past
to repeat itself. We must under-
stand once and for all that
division leads to polarization and
extremism, which in turn lead to
hate and violence. A fragmented
society whose members feel
alienated and marginalized is a
society ready to target those it
holds responsible for its troubles.

My mother endured first-
hand the consequences of the
Nazi ideology of hate in the
Bergen-Belsen concentration
camp. But after surviving and
rebuilding her life in Israel, she
always ensured that she spoke
softly and respectfully, even to
those with whom she disagreed.

In any military campaign
or operation I led, my mother
always asked me if I had remem-
bered to provide humanitarian
aid, medicine and food for
the civilian population on the
other side. I imagine she must
have been very proud when she
looked down at me from heaven
on the day that the Israeli army
offered to treat casualties from
Syria’s bloody civil war; perhaps
even more proud than the day
I was promoted to the rank of
general. I remember she held
me, smiling, and then calmly
said: “Now General — please
take out the trash.” She always
understood the value of human
connection and the perils of
alienation. She understood that
the human fabric of society is
what deters people from turning
to hateful ideologies as a way of
filling the void.

Looking at global trends
today, I am deeply troubled by
the growing social and polit-
ical divisions across Europe
and the United States, even
at home in Israel, and by the
hate-filled online discourse
that, regrettably, we’ve come
to know so well. They repre-
sent the most fertile soils for
xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

As someone fortunate enough
to head the defense establish-
ment of the miracle that is the
State of Israel, I will not know
peace until every Jew, near or
far, feels secure. Protecting the
people of Israel, who lived as
a persecuted minority for over
2,000 years, will always be the
absolute imperative for this
Jewish general.

That was my parents’ legacy
to me. But I know that without
global action to stop extrem-
ists and their attacks against the
Jewish people, we won’t manage
to curb this troubling trend.

World leaders must immediately
and uncompromisingly reject
any expression of anti-Sem-
itism and
anti-Zionism. Simultaneously, they must also
work to advocate for tolerance,
and for creating bridges among
communities. These two efforts
must go hand in hand in order
for us to truly rid this world of
anti-Semitism, bigotry and hate.

So with the spirit of my mother
dwelling within me always, I
remember and remind others
that hatred can only give birth
to more hatred and that darkness
cannot be driven away by more
darkness. No, my friends, that
requires something far more
powerful. That requires light. l
Benny Gantz is Israel’s defense
minister, the Israel Defense Force’s
20th chief of staff, and chairman of
the Blue and White Party. This piece
was originally published by JTA.

JEWISH EXPONENT
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
Torah Portion Makes Hateful Generalizations
UNLIKE MOST OF the Torah portion submissions, Rabbi
Jankovitz’ “The Question of Unity” (Jan. 28) is not a “perspective
on Torah commentary” as envisioned by the Board of Rabbis, but
a shameless excuse to engage in a blatantly political and hateful
rant that has nothing to do with the Torah, but much to do with
the author’s left-wing politics.

Yes, hateful, as the writer manages to demonize half of the
population of this great country while making arguments for
ostracizing them or worse. The article is full of generalizations,
short on specifics and long on outright lies. And it ends with a lie.

No, Rabbi, this Jew who happens to be a Republican, just like
the tens of millions of us, Jews and non-Jews alike, is not part
of some sort of a cabal who “sought to destroy [you]” or eager
to debate civil liberties every four years as you stated — this is
because we believe they are not up for debate, period.

And no, we have nothing in common with few, yes few, idiots
and scum who attacked the Capitol.

And finally, unlike you, we have the decency and common
sense not to equate you and other good people on the political left
with the death and destruction that your fellow travelers inflicted
over the past year.

Isaac Svartsman | Philadelphia
This is the most hateful column I can ever recall reading in the
Exponent. I am surprised that a rabbi would write such a divisive
and mean-spirited column.

Howard Lurie | via jewishexponent.com
Protect Israel’s Reputation
A news outlet that serves the Jewish community should care
about the well-being of the Jewish state of Israel. Part of that
well-being includes Israel’s reputation.

Yet in an online-only article from JTA asserting that a signif-
icant member of Congress was upset with Israel and accused it
of depriving COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinian-Arabs (“Some
Democrats, Including Joaquin Castro and Rashida Tlaib, Criticize
Israel on Vaccines for Palestinians” Jan. 27), author Ron Kampeas
placed the most salient part of the story at the bottom rather than
in the lead and/or the headline: The Palestinian-Arabs do not want
the vaccine from Israel, nor, under the vaunted Oslo Accords,
is Israel responsible for supplying the Palestinian-Arabs with
vaccines. The Palestinian-Arabs are governed by the Palestinian
Authority and Hamas, and not Israel. Furthermore, Castro reveals
his bias by accusing Israel of committing “occupation” in the quote
the Exponent published. There is no “occupation.”
See Letters, Page 17
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FEBRUARY 4, 2021
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