From one 2G to another
So many of the Holocaust survivors in Kansas City who I grew up with have passed away. They were all so important to me and they conveyed a special feeling that no others could. To the second and third generation (2G and 3G) I offer this comfort before the High Holidays.
I have been an orphan too long. My dad died over 30 years ago, my mother over 20. Recently I discovered that in addition to the death of most of my family in the Holocaust, I also had two half sibling. My story is similar to many of yours. I ask that G-d comfort us today as we remember parents and other love ones. For those who possess Holocaust guilt I pray you will listen to me. Most of us were too young to understand the misery experienced by our parents. We could not empathize nor did most of us ask the questions we could have. We simply were afraid of hurting our parents and could not tolerate seeing them suffer.
I have spent a lifetime trying to find out what I simply could of asked them about our family. I am certain many of you are in the same boat. I beg you, your parents and mine lived for us. They sacrificed everything for us. Remember the good you experienced with them.
I will say Yizkor and Kaddish for those of you who cannot go to a synagogue. Love your families and your children and grandchildren. Look at them and have nachas. For those who do not have children or family, please seek friends today and give and receive love. For those who had a different experience, one filled with only joy and good memories, you are very fortunate. For those who experience pain and still do, I pray for you. G-d bless you all and may our loved ones rest in heaven. They already experienced hell. If you still have Holocaust survivors who are alive, give them a hug and a kiss. G-d granted me a beautiful wife, four children and, so far, nine grandchildren. I only wish my parents were alive to witness this nachas.
I am not a psychologist but merely a 2G still struggling. Many of you still have pain because you think you could have done more to help your parents or acted differently toward them. I learned years ago not to generalize 2Gs. It is very dangerous since some become very upset, so I will only speak about myself. My personality manifests itself in me always having to be in control of every situation. When my father was dying 30 years ago I thought I could save his life by literally asking him to live for me. My parents sacrificed everything for me. He died and I still have not forgiven myself for not producing a miracle. Regarding my mother, after my father’s death I did everything possible for her; she lived with us for many years, but I still feel I could have been more understanding and patient with her. Please forgive yourselves. Your parents would not want you in anguish.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Edison, New Jersey
Writer exaggerates Hillary’s accomplishments
Congratulations to Judy Fremerman for confirming how totally worthless Hillary Clinton has been after 25 years on the national scene. After spending over a month of presumably intensive research she could only come up with the laughably thin gruel listed below:
1. Created an advocate for Arkansas children. One advocate! In Arkansas! Big deal!
2. Won a Grammy for an audio of her book. A Grammy! Wow!
3. Worked with Ted Kennedy to expand a children’s health care program. Note: Kennedy’s program, not hers.
4. Got payments for 9/11 victims. All by herself? Really?
5. Played a role in killing in Bin Laden. She was on Seal Team 6? Well, no. But she did watch events unfold on the White House TV screen.
6. Got drug companies to study drug problems for children. Study? That’s it?
7. Sanctions against Iran? Actually, during her tenure, the State Department repeatedly opposed measures put into law by Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
8. “Helped” expand health care and family leave for the military.
9. “Helped” negotiate a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. Actually, the prime mover in this very short-lived episode was Egypt.
That’s it. That’s all. After better than a month of dredging, that’s all the things that can be discovered that Hillary has done in a quarter of a century? How embarrassing! How humiliating!
But while we’re at it, here’s the far more significant list of Hillary’s accomplishments:
1. Benghazi. 2. Libya. 3. E-mails. 4. Clinton Foundation scandal. 5. Missing Rose Law Firm files. 6. Whitewater. 7. Travelgate. 8. Cattle futures scam. 9. Foreign donations. 10. Theft of White House furniture.
What’s that last one? Theft of White House furniture? Of, yes! When Hillary and Bill left the White House, Hillary stole White House furniture to help furnish her home in Chappaqua! She was forced to give it all back. If any episode reveals her basic nature, it is this one.
All she has accomplished in her entire quarter of a century on the public scene is to enrich herself by hundreds of millions while leaving behind the longest trail of scandals and ineptitude in the history of the Republic.
Lee Levin
Overland Park, Kansas
I was profiled!
Several years ago while photographing the Cologne synagogue, two German policemen quickly and without awareness abruptly approached me. They asked me to explain my presence. I responded in German with two simple sentences: “I am taking a picture of the synagogue. I am Jewish.” They quietly thanked me for my response and quickly retreated. My entire body swelled with pride and joy to know that the Cologne police were guarding carefully this holy sanctuary.
Harris Winitz
Kansas City, Missouri