When I recently asked some friends which chapter of Jewish history should be mandatory knowledge for all Jews, some chose the exodus from Egypt, others the establishment of modern Israel and some the emergence of prophetic Judaism.
I found it odd that no one selected the Holocaust.
Yet the Holocaust is precisely what American Jews have chosen. After all, Holocaust education permeates Jewish school curriculums, Holocaust museums have emerged throughout America, and Yom HaShoah commemorations, like the ones we will have this month, are ever-present. In turn, Jews, for whom Jewish philosophy remains untouchable, turn to the destruction of European Jewry as their dominant historical memory.
The data concerning the role of Holocaust memory in Jewish identity is staggering. One study reports remembering the Holocaust as the most highly-rated item on a list of components of Jewish identification. In another study, 79 percent of the Conservative movement’s college students rate the Holocaust as reflecting the meaning of being an involved Jew. And a Brandeis University study revealed that 53 percent of teens cite the Holocaust as what “being Jewish was about.”
This is profound and disturbing. It suggests that we are creating a distorted image of the Jewish past. Jewish history concerns more than Jewish suffering. It contains a story of creativity, community, peoplehood, and, yes, positive relations between Jews and others. Anti-Semitism, to be sure, is a real phenomenon never to be trivialized. But the Holocaust as dominant memory eliminates the importance of say, rabbinic Judaism. It flourished not because of Roman oppression, but because the rabbis of the Talmud had made their peace with Rome, and some even enjoyed friendly relations with Roman rulers.
As we distort the Jewish past, we distort the Jewish present. No society in Diaspora Jewish history has been more welcoming of Jewish participation as the United States. Yet the same above-cited study of American Jewish teens found that remembering the Holocaust and worrying about anti-Semitism constitute the two most critical Jewish priorities in their minds.
This emphasis on the Holocaust has diverted us from critical questions of Jewish continuity and ties to peoplehood – ties that need to be based on Jewish aspiration and hope, rather than fear. And yet, almost every Jewish high school features the Holocaust as central to historical study. By contrast, the other seminal event in modern Jewish history – the birth of Israel – rarely merits adequate attention. So fixated have we become on how Jews died that we have neglected the most critical Jewish achievement of twentieth century history, the rebirth of a strong and secure Jewish state.
We have, unfortunately, become embroiled in an unseemly competition for “victim status,” a status which traditional Judaism saw no merit and took no pride. Jews become shrill in their denunciations of President Roosevelt’s failure to rescue, while ignoring his achievement of leading America out of her isolationist mindset and, like Winston Churchill, to recognize that Western democracy could never coexist with Hitler’s Germany. Similarly, we hang our heads in shame over the Jewish community’s failure to rescue, ignoring how little actual influence American Jews exerted over American policy in the 1930s.
To be sure, some focus on the Holocaust is necessary. The Holocaust represents the most horrendous chapter of Jewish, if not of all human, history. Far too many nefarious individuals have sought to deny its proportions or to relativize them as one tragedy among others. We need to rebuke these disturbing voices. But we must also tell the story to the next generation lest we, as theologian Emil Fackenheim constantly warned, “grant Hitler any posthumous victories”.
Holocaust history is significant, but needs to be set within the larger context of modern Jewish experience. Building strong Jewish identity depends on Jewish teaching and values rather than the image of terrible things happening to Jews. Nations, like individuals, need to pride themselves on their achievements and successes rather than their defeats.
Steven Bayme is AJC’s Director of Contemporary Jewish Life.
I am a Christian and cannot join with you in building a “strong Jewish identity” for myself, but I respect the Jewish people and I strongly agree with Steven Bayme, that while the Holocaust should be emphasized, Jews indeed need to pride themselves on their achievements and successes. I join with many other non-Jews in recognizing that those “achievements and successes” have affected mankind in so many positive ways that it would be virtually impossible to number them. I will join with you in fighting anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it rears it’s ugly head.
Steve,
I think an essential question that must be explored is why do so many American Jews who remain uninterested, or distant, or unknowledgeable about Jewish living, cite the Holocaust and secondarily anti-semetism as such an important part of their Jewish identity.
Understanding the psychological reasons for it may help us to figure out how we can promote other touchstones of Jewish identification and engage Jews in the positive aspects of Judaism.
Lynn
I agree with you Mr. Bayme. Jewish young people must take pride in their Jewish background and not identify soley as Jews because of the Holocaust. However, I think you need to place the issue in context. American adolescents, both Jewish and non-Jewish, spend a lot of time in class studying the Holocaust, and so they are conversant more with what happened to the Jews in the ’30s and ’40s than they are with Jewish historical achievements. It is quite possible that young Jews are learning about themselves and their mid 20th century victim status from contemporary American education and culture. As a teacher of Critical Writing and Holocaust Studies at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, I know of many non-denominational, secterian organizations as well as Jewish institutions that promote strategies for teaching the Holocaust. The students, Jews and non-Jews, focus on the Shoah because that is what their teachers are exploring with them. Many states mandate the teaching of the Holocaust.
To help Jews and non-Jews understand the Jewish experience, more emphasis needs to be placed in education on the contributions of Jewish culture over the milennia and how the great Jewish thinkers of the past have contributed to our rich legacy now. Young students must understand that the Holocaust is simply a horrible, unprecedented tragedy in Jewish history but not the defining one to identify with for all time. When teachers expose their students to this concept, perhaps Jewish young people and others will have a deeper appreciation of their faith.
I thought author Steve Bayme was very “right” on the issue of Jews giving excessive focus on the Holocaust as central in Jewish history. Among other interesting things Bayme says, he questions why the founding of Jewish State of Israel wouldn’t hold a more important position than the Holocaust in Jewish history. Wasn’t the Holocaust precedent to the Jewish State, and would the Zionists have been able to create the State had there been no Holocaust. If the legitimacy of the State did not depend in large part on the Holocaust how would Holocaust deniers otherwise refute the right of Israel to exist?
Mr Bayme,
Yes, we need desparately to educate all Jews to the beauty of Judaism, and to our incredible history, values, and contributions to the world. Where is the education, both here and in Israel, regarding what Israel stands for? However, I do not think you fathom the profound psychological effects of the Shoah, too numerous and complex to go into here. Today’s rebirth of intense hatred towards Jews and Israel, accompanied with overt acts, stirs and brings forth to the surface unease due to the experience and memory of the Shoah.
I do not believe that the Shoah is thought of as history. It is still too real, and in today’s climate it is a possibility that it could happen again. So whn you asked your friends which chapter of history should be mandatory, I do not think they feel the Shoah is history. It is entirely something else.
It’s good to see that Jews are really backing away from the house of cards they know the holocaust to be, Good luck in getting away with this.
I enjoyed Steve Bayme’s perspective. I’m a non-Jew; although I’m a New Yorker and many often consider that enough to be at least half Jewish. Humor aside, I admire Judaism for many tenets which Mr. Bayme touched upon, primarily the sense of compassion, community and family. I also cherish the long and rich history of Judaism which reaches thousands and thousands of years. I also appreciate the moral understanding I’ve achieved from reading passages from the Torah from time to time and from conversations I’ve had with a good freind who happens to be a Rabbi. In fact it is the Torah which Mr. Bayme left out of his list of essential elements of Judaism that has me confused. It made me wonder about Mr. Bayme’ ideas. I believe the Torah is the second most important and mandatory piece of knowledge Jews should hold dear to their heart. After all, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a scenario were a Jew could be left without a synagogue or family or freinds, perhaps even the entire state of Israel could catastophically slip into the Mediteranean, and what a saving grace a Jew might have if left only with the Torah and it’s ultimate message of life and spirit. I say the Torah is the second most essential aspect of Judaism. The most important aspect of Judaism which Mr. Bayme also carelessly left out of his choices for the reader to ponder is a Jew’s relationship with G*d. A Jew’s relationship with G*d, as with all mankind’s relationship with G*d, is quinessential because even if calamity falls upon all Jews or all mankind, if entire nations slip into the sea, if immmoral governments wreak havoc and persecute innocents, if the pages of history including the holocaust and the ever enlightening Torah were burned to ash, the only thing left for a Jew would be his/her relationship with G*d. How Mr. Bayme left this out of his otherwise thoughtful piece is unsettling. If I may, I’d encourage him to rewrite it beacuse I believe the topic is very important at the moment given the state of affairs in the Middle East and the potential for the rise of anti-semitism. I believe a clearer understanding of Judaism for all peoples of the world would only bring more hope and compassion. Too often I hear individuals talk about Zionism (idolatry, worship of state) in the same breathe as Judaism (worship of G*d), and too often they’re angry. There is clearly a difference. It appears the anger is directed at Zionism. Much of this anger seems justified in light of the militant and brutal governments which at times control Israel’s foriegn policy. To clear the air and help avoid pain and suffering for so many, I urge Mr. Bayme to rewrite this piece with perhaps an emphasis on the differences between Judaism and Zionism. My heart tells me he is close to the right path.
Holocaust Memory is NOT for Jews to feel “less than”. It’s for the World of non-Jews to know what evil looks like. The inhumanity of man cannot be more profound than the Holocaust.
It’s a universal message, and has allowed all faiths and non-believers in any faith to comprehend the horror of hate.
Professor Fackenheim didn’t merely warn, he legislated a commandment. Was it cultural pride which brought the American Jewish Committee into existence? What motivates Jews to support causes like AJC, WJC, ADL, the State of Israel?
Would Professor Bayme still agree with Arthur Hertzberg’s declaration, “there’s no business like Shoah business?” As the Holocaust recedes in memory and is increasingly less compelling as a source of Jewish self identification and interest, which distinctive core values does he perceive as preserving the Jewish future?
Right on target! Speaking very broadly, many of us American Jewish post baby-boomers are looking to hang our hats on something richer than our victimization during the Holocaust.
Are we ethically compelled to remember the Holocaust and its victims? Absolutely. But, the anger and outrage that the Holocaust engenders are intense and addicting highs that make us unable to experience the more subtle bliss of love, compassion and a connection with Adonai.
Bayme is correct about dialing down Holocaust rememberence. But let’s not continue to overemphasize our ethnic status at the expense of our religious experience. I would prefer to see the Jewish community get more comfortable with religion and G-d. Connecting with Judaism does not need to be a return to orthodoxy. The Pittsburgh Platform and others like it from a hundred years ago set a blueprint for religious experience that could even exist without ethnic identity. We don’t need to go that far, but among the non-orthodox the current imbalance lies to the ethnic extreme. To continue to ignore Judaism (the religion) is to lose the root source of what makes being Jewish (the ethnicity) special.