The Impact of the Holocaust on Jewish Theology

Chapter 16. Educational Implications of Holocaust and Rebirth

Chapter 16 Educational Implications of Holocaust and Rebirth Tova Ilan I want to begin by acknowledging the humility demanded of me when we discuss such an explosive topic as the implications of the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel for our spirituality and religious concepts.1 I am aware of the fact that great respect is due both to those who were killed and to those who survived. I know that when we deal with these topics, due to the magnitude of the questions and the doubts to which they lead, and due to the limitations of words and the means of communication , often silence is preferable to speech. I am well aware of the high quality of much that has been said and written on the topic. Indeed, it seems that everything has already been said. Please, therefore, see in my coming words the random thoughts of one whose questions are far more numerous than her answers. In my brief remarks I will relate to two aspects of the subject that bear educational implications. For education is the field in which I have lifelong experience and from which I come. I will ask two from among many questions, for the limitations of time do not permit more. The first question will deal with “how”—that is to say, how we transmit our culture from generation to generation. Jewish culture is characterized, as is well known, as a culture of historic memory. How are we to remember and how are we to transmit the values that stem from the memories of the most recent events of our past? The second subject will deal with educating towards and instilling religious faith in Orthodox society and will address the question of the 287 proper characteristics of that faith after, and as a result of, the Holocaust. In addition, I will add a comment about the moral approaches that are required after the Holocaust. This question is magnified by the additional fact that we now have the responsibility that derives from our renewed sovereignty in our own land, the state of Israel. I will maintain that our subject has implications for the halakah, and for a proper relationship between the halakah and ethics as we understand ethics today. Only I am responsible for my comments. However, to some extent they are reflective of the prevalent mood and attitude in my community, the community of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, and within its periphery in that which is often called modern Orthodoxy.2 My following remarks are not the result of scientific research conducted within these communities. Nor are they the fruit of systematic philosophic thought. But it seems to me that they reflect a complex outlook of a community that merges conservative traditionalism with revolutionary creativity, a community of religious pathos and ethos. The members of this community prefer the traditional halakic component in their lives. At the same time they have internalized the concept of the “holy rebellion” that was, in their opinion, at the heart of the Zionist revolution. This understanding of the Zionist enterprise brought to it a type of religious charisma that enabled the creation of new halakic terms and concepts in various areas that were brought to the fore by the renewal of Jewish sovereignty.3 This complexity shaped people who were more autonomous, less dependent on the ideas and opinions of rabbis and religious and halakic deciders (poskim), people who were willing to question and doubt. These qualities were deepened and sharpened, due to the lessons of the Holocaust . This complexity was also due to a dual responsibility: on one hand nationalism, which is based on a commitment that each Jew can and should feel for each and every other Jew; and on the other hand, a universal responsibility, a responsibility to human harmony and to the realization of human potential. These dual responsibilities were deepened in the wake both of the creation of the state as well as of the tragedy of the Holocaust. I hope that my comments will be expressive of this complex spiritual climate. 288 t o va i l a n A Culture of Remembrance The culture of remembrance of the Jewish people was never merely a passive one. We were not commanded just to remember the Exodus from Egypt. The living memory must be renewed during the Passover Seder every year. On that...