HOLOCAUST P4.1

Question 1

Source

Answer 1

The Holocaust was a significant challenge that the Jewish people faced from 1933-1945 when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party forced the Jewish people to live in ghettos followed by deportation to concentration or extermination camps eventually killing over 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children, in their attempt to commit genocide. “The Nazis proceeded to eliminate the Jews from every area of German economic, social and cultural activity” from ‘The Jews in the modern world’ by Paul Mendes Flohr.

Question 2

Aspects challenged

Answer 2

Beliefs existence and nature of God
→ That God is just and merciful. - What kind of God would have meted out such injustice?
→ That God has a covenantal relationship with the Jewish people. Where was God when His people were being exterminated? Des the Shoah indicate his impotence, his absence or a break in the covenantal relationship
→ That suffering is a consequence of sin. How can this explain the death of more than a million children?

All aspects - Entire fabric of Jewish life and practice.
Ritual (Spiritual and physical)
- Practice forbidden

Texts (Physical)
- Torah Scrolls, Books that are the teachings - instruction about Jewish law destroyed

Symbols (Physical)
- destroyed

Social structure of the Jewish community (Physical)
- Decimated as a result of genocide - its very existence and continuity, leadership, Rabbis (knowledge and teaching, spiritual guides) targeted, synagogues, houses of study, cemeteries destroyed

Physical
- Attack on Jewish people in attempt of genocide - destruction of the entire community - no future

Spiritual
- Practice weakened

Created a crisis in faith

Question 3

Significance

Answer 3

• Historically unprecedented
• Scale and Nature
• Barbarity
• Rabbi Eli Brackman - “the old Jewish life of Europe was not only extinct physically but also spiritually”

Question 4

Type of challenge

Answer 4

Continued Existence - external threat
- How will the religious tradition survive / continue into future / after it has been decimated?

Theological challenge - internal threat “theological silence” faith in the future
- How could a loving God allow such suffering? How can the Jewish people believe in God after this?

Question 5

Stance

Answer 5

Acknowledgment of the challenge and determination to resist from leadership (authority structures) and members
- To bring about change → beliefs need to change

Question 6

Supporting response
Theological not unique

Answer 6

• Holocaust was not a unique event in Jewish history, rejecting the notion that the Holocaust is a challenge, resisting change to the religion and maintaining the status quo.
• Rabbi Yoel Teiteblaum, an Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi (Satmar Rebbe) and survivor of the war was a supporter of this stance. He affirms the Jewish belief that suffering is mipnei chataenu (because of our sins) as “There is no suffering without iniquity” (Talmud Shabbat 55a).
• the Holocaust was a punishment for the sin of Zionism, the premature return to Israel before the Messiah, as this is a violation of the oath to God and rebellion against Him, as expressed in the Talmud (text).
• In order to survive according to Teitelbaum, the Jewish people should continue to follow God’s law (ethics) in the diaspora.

Question 7

Supporting response
Theological unique

Answer 7

• Holocaust was a unique event in Jewish history and therefore cannot be understood in light of traditional theological beliefs as they are inadequate.
• To restore faith in the community, and ensure the continuity of Jewish practice and identity, the Holocaust demands new ways of thinking about God, the covenantal relationship between God and the Jewish people and suffering.
• Rabbi Richard Rubenstein took the action to reject the traditional Jewish belief that death is tziduk hadin (a righteous judgement of God) as he is unable to accept the death of 6 million innocent people as part of God’s plan.
• Disagrees with Teitelbaum’s belief that the Holocaust occured as a result of divine retribution, that suffering is a consequence of punishment, rather stating that ‘God is dead’.
• Rubenstein advocates for a strong community and the notion of peoplehood (social structure), particularly in the State of Israel, as well as participation in rituals for the sake of the continuity and survival of the Jewish community, rather than for the religious meaning.

Question 8

Supporting stance
Rebuild

Answer 8

• Rebuild the community decimated by the Nazis in order to ensure the continuation of Jewish practice and identity. - Many survivors demonstrated the affirmation of life by having large families (social structures). This was a concrete attempt to compensate for their loss and undo the dehumanisation and loneliness experienced during the war. “The children were often viewed as a symbol of victory” (Sandra Williams ‘Impact of the Holocaust’) over the Nazis by demonstrating the continuity of Jewish existence.
• Rebuild their lives by building synagogues, schools and houses of Torah learning to ensure their future prosperity and an existential affirmation of Jewish life.