I disagree. By stressing the importance of Holocaust educators teaching the similarities between the Holocaust and other genocides we are diluting the significance of the Holocaust. The aim of the Holocaust was to murder every single Jew in every single country throughout the world.
While it is important to stress that we should not be bystanders while others are murdered or discriminated against, we should remember that the Holocaust was anti-Semitism carried to the extreme of total annihilation. Unless we preserve the memory of the Holocaust and tie it to Jewish observance and ritual by including the Holocaust in prayer services, the Holocaust will become a mere date in history. It will be regarded as just another genocide in the history of genocides.
To preserve the memory, I created a Holocaust Haggadah, most recently translated into Spanish. Hopefully, families will read the excerpts pertinent to the Holocaust as they read the Haggadah, remembering to honor the six million who perished.
My parents of blessed memory were both Holocaust survivors. I was born in a displaced persons camp and came to the United States as a refugee. Growing up without grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, made me the person I am today.
The memory and lessons of the Holocaust will be kept alive by future generations if we have pride in the accomplishments of the survivors and preserve Judaism through education.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Edison, New Jersey
