{"id":835,"date":"2013-04-06T15:42:18","date_gmt":"2013-04-06T19:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/?p=835"},"modified":"2015-11-30T16:40:25","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T21:40:25","slug":"where-was-god-during-the-holocaust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/04\/where-was-god-during-the-holocaust.html","title":{"rendered":"Where Was God During the Holocaust?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This evening begins a modern Jewish holiday. It is not a holiday of celebration. It is one of memory. We remember the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

What did not die, however, is hope. The Holocaust exemplified the enormous evil humans can inflict one another. We must not be blind to it. Yet, Israel exists, and Hitler does not.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"god<\/a><\/p>\n

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks put it, \u201cJewish faith is not about believing the world to be other than it is. It is not about ignoring the evil, the darkness and the pain. It is about courage, endurance and the capacity to hold fast to ideals even when they are ignored by others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The most difficult question in the world<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What challenges me each year during this time is the question I am asked more than any other. \u201cWhere was God during the Holocaust? Why did not God not stop it?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I do not have a set pre-formulated answer to these questions. They haunt me every day. Anyone who claims to know the answer lacks the humility demanded of any person of faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I can offer, however, are premises I affirm. They shape the way I think about this question. They can guide each of us in our own struggle.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The better question is where were we?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God did not murder six million Jews. God did not start a destructive war. Human beings did. Since Cain and Abel, we have known human cruelty. God gave us the gift of free will, and we cannot blame God for the way we use it.<\/em> The Holocaust challenges humanity not God.<\/p>\n

2. God cried alongside the Jewish people.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A rabbi named Kalonymous Shapiro was imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto between 1941-1943. He wrote a journal in the evenings, and buried it shortly before he was deported to a death camp. In it he records the his mounting losses.<\/p>\n

He describes his family being taken away, his community, his neighbors. His pain reaches a peak as he writes of God crying in the heavens, with His tears carrying such power that if one of them were to escape from heaven to earth, it would destroy the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Never Again<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is hard to escape the connection between the Holocaust and founding of the state of Israel. The war ended in 1945, and Israel was founded in 1948. Yes, Israel existed during the age of the Bible, and modern Zionist movement started in the 1880s.<\/p>\n

Yet, for those survived, Israel became a refuge of hope amidst despair, life amidst death.<\/em> Israel reminds the world of the Jewish people\u2019s will to live, and its strength declares that genocide can never happen again.<\/p>\n

4. The best answer we give is the way we live<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

After the Holocaust, some survivors felt inconsolable pain. They had lost their families, their hopes, their dreams. They could no go on. Others, however, felt a stronger imperative to live. The only way to challenge the horror they experienced was to live with greater fervor and higher ideals.<\/em> In the face of death, they sought to bring the Jewish community back to life.<\/p>\n

Perhaps they took guidance from a story of the 18th century Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. He once saw a man whose house had burnt down. The man had been crying terribly about his losses.<\/span><\/p>\n

As he began looking through the rubble, he found bits and pieces of wood and metal to start rebuilding. One by one he made a pile of pieces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Nachman said, \u201cSee how he is collecting pieces to rebuild. Even when we think there is no hope, we are already collecting pieces to rebuild.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To connect with Rabbi Moffic and\u00a0receive his weekly digest of Jewish wisdom, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This evening begins a modern Jewish holiday. It is not a holiday of celebration. It is one of memory. We remember the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. What did not die, however, is hope. The Holocaust exemplified the enormous evil humans can inflict one another. We must not be blind to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere Was God During the Holocaust? - Truths You Can Use<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where Was God During the Holocaust? - Truths You Can Use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This evening begins a modern Jewish holiday. It is not a holiday of celebration. It is one of memory. We remember the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. What did not die, however, is hope. The Holocaust exemplified the enormous evil humans can inflict one another. We must not be blind to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Truths You Can Use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RabbiEvan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-06T19:42:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-30T21:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/files\/2013\/04\/little_boy-300x208.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evan Moffic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@chicagorabbi\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where Was God During the Holocaust? - Truths You Can Use","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where Was God During the Holocaust? - Truths You Can Use","og_description":"This evening begins a modern Jewish holiday. It is not a holiday of celebration. It is one of memory. We remember the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. What did not die, however, is hope. The Holocaust exemplified the enormous evil humans can inflict one another. We must not be blind to…","og_url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx","og_site_name":"Truths You Can Use","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RabbiEvan\/","article_published_time":"2013-04-06T19:42:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-11-30T21:40:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/files\/2013\/04\/little_boy-300x208.jpg"}],"author":"Evan Moffic","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@chicagorabbi","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/04\/where-was-god-during-the-holocaust.html","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx","name":"Where Was God During the Holocaust? - Truths You Can Use","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/files\/2013\/04\/little_boy-300x208.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-06T19:42:18+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-30T21:40:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/#\/schema\/person\/55ddc5e03d79abbfcc6d4f944687d65d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/files\/2013\/04\/little_boy-300x208.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/files\/2013\/04\/little_boy-300x208.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Judaism\/Galleries\/Where-Was-God-During-the-Holocaust.aspx#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where Was God During the Holocaust?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/","name":"Truths You Can Use","description":"Jewish Wisdom, Jewish Blogs, Daily Jewish Inspiration and Jewish News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/#\/schema\/person\/55ddc5e03d79abbfcc6d4f944687d65d","name":"Evan Moffic","description":"Rabbi Evan Moffic writes for people of all faiths. His book, What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus was a 2015 best-seller. His upcoming book of devotions\u2014Shalom for the Heart\u2014takes short biblical passages and show they way they can help us make better choices and live with fewer regrets. With Rabbi Moffic, you will find an open, accessible guide to life\u2019s deepest truths. A husband and father, he graduated from Stanford University in 2000, and was ordained a rabbi in 2006. He leads a congregation in suburban Chicago. You can connect with him directly at emoffic@gmail.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.rabbimoffic.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RabbiEvan\/","https:\/\/x.com\/chicagorabbi"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/author\/emoffic"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1204,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions\/1204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}