Never forget

Re “Holocaust’s unholy hold,” Opinion, Nov.16

In 1929, Avraham Burg’s mother, as a child, was saved from a bloodthirsty mob that killed half of his family in the historic Jewish community of Hebron. Today, the ideological cousins of those who rampaged decades ago stand on the border of modern Israel and promise to destroy it. Iran backs terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and its president has advocated the eradication of Israel. Some fear that, daily, Iran moves closer to its goal of obtaining nuclear weapons.

Burg has been seized by the delusions of the Israeli left; they fantasize that you can detach the current reality in the Middle East from history. But it’s not the focus on the Holocaust that prevents an era of peace in the Middle East -- it’s those who, like the Nazis, promise to destroy Jews yet again.

Peace will come only when those with nefarious aspirations realize that they are unattainable. Until then, Burg and other dreamers delude themselves in the belief that a new attitude will change today’s reality, which, sadly, is a reflection of the past.

Rabbi David Eliezrie

Yorba Linda

The writer is the president of the Rabbinical Council of Orange County.

--

The Holocaust is not something Jews can be expected to put aside, like a lost ballgame. We would desecrate our dead if we tried to escape the moral and existential legacy of the Shoah.

We deal with our tragedies by marrying them to our joys. The shattered glass at weddings recalls the destruction of the Temple. Our religion requires us to remember.

Peter Brier

Altadena

--

Burg’s article hit a nerve in me -- a nerve that runs from the brain to the heart. Be patient, Mr. Burg. We, the few survivors, are nearly at the end of the road.

Apart from Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), I could mention a number of other escapes in our history, now remembered during such holidays as Purim and Passover.

The time is near when Yom Hashoah will be like Purim, which is celebrated as a fun day nowadays.

But, for God’s sake, how can I and the other remaining survivors forget, or glibly slide over, the mental, physical and emotional atrocities that we suffered in the camps? I would not be a human being if I could.

Barbara Rona

Culver City

--

I was impressed by Burg’s excellent and honest analysis of the long-lasting and overpowering effects of the Holocaust on Israelis and the Jewish people as a whole.

I hope this message from a former speaker of Israel’s parliament will go a long way toward helping the Israeli government make the hard choices needed for peace and security in the Middle East.

Ted Shohfi

Huntington Beach