Yom Hoshoah: The Call of the Siren (An Old Post)

One thing is clear. Yom Hashoah was created by (and for) misguided Jews (many of them well-intended), who required the spectacle of solemn ritual to commemorate the Holocaust. Unlearned people (many who opposed Torah) created a national day of mourning in the month of Nissan. For what purpose?We already have a day of collective mourning that was designated to commemorate every major tragedy in Jewish history. We call it Tisha Ba'av. An unpleasant day, when we recreate the horrors of the past and repent. A time to absorb Jewish lessons, and return to The Almighty, lest another horror befall us.

Flawed as the day is, only an automaton is unaffected by the blaring of the siren that sounds throughout the country. If only the siren stood for something more. With this in mind, I am reposting a piece that I wrote last year, immediately after hearing the siren sound for the first time. It conveys my immediate feelings and the reflections that followed.

I heard the siren go off this morning. Not the code red siren of an incoming rocket, thank G-d, although we will surely be hearing those again in the future. The siren of Yom Hashoah. As the siren moaned it's mournful reminder, I listened carefully and reflected on that dark period in history when the human monsters of Europe devoured my brothers and sisters. I conjured up images of nightmares. Mountains of Jewish bones. Furnaces black with Jewish ash. Skeleton men staring at the living. Pictures of screams, tears, and Hell. Six and a half million Jewish men, women, children, infants, and fetuses, exterminated by European Amalekites. I reminded myself of the promise of Jewish fire and blood. Never Again. An oath I will keep until my last breath.

Obsessed as I am with Jewish survival, I cannot help but note the irony. The siren is meant to remind us of an unimaginable nightmare that became real. While the siren screams at us, the insanity of Oslo continues, a madness that guarantees another Shoah in our times, Heaven forbid. Israel's leaders continue to supply weapons and money to Fatah. While the siren blares its somber message, the jackals with citizenship destroy the country from within. The "Israeli-Arab" also hears the siren. It means nothing to him.

Abdul the citizen hates Jews. He hates Israel and he hates Yom Hashoah. He doesn't hate the Holocaust. Abdul thinks the Holocaust was a great thing. Hitler, the Mufti, Arafat, these are his heroes. The siren annoys him terribly, but he derives comfort from the fact that things are rapidly changing in Israel. The Jews are destroying themselves with unprecedented speed, and if things continue as they are, there will be no siren in the near future.

Abdul understands the math. Demographics guarantees an Arab majority in the future, even if Israel imports another million non-Jews from Europe. His wife Hanan knows that the Israelis are tired of fighting. The two of them will have many children who will have many children of their own. They will teach these children that the dream of "palestine" is becoming reality.

Haziz knows that when the Knesset has a substantial number of Arabs, the country will drastically change. The infrastructure will completely break down, while the Jewish political parties eat each other alive. There will be pogroms against Jews to rival those of the 20's and 30's. This is a pleasant thought for him. Many Jews will leave, and those who haven't will wish that they had. Haziz waits patiently. He will also have many children and he will raise them to be proud Arabs. He will teach them to dream the Jewish nightmare.

While Israel's enemies grow stronger and bolder, the might of the IDF is tempered by the cowardly politicians, and a frightened populace that has learned to accept the unacceptable. The neighboring Islamic/Arab countries are carefully observing what is happening. They have seen the debacles of Lebanon II and the self-imposed defeat of the war in Gaza. And it is not just Iran and Syria. Take a look at the Egyptians who practice shooting down Israeli planes in mock military drills. Peace with Egypt? Of course there is. Try visiting Cairo with a kipa or Magen David.

The siren is like a shofar. The purpose of a shofar is to jar your senses, and to make you reflect on the past, present, and future. I heard a shofar this morning. Very moving. But utterly meaningless if it doesn't wake us up. I don't know if Bibi heard the same siren that I heard.

I heard the siren today. I listened and I repeated the vow to myself. I remember what Amalek did and I will never forget. I also know that the bastards show up in every generation, and that the Mufti's children are salivating.

Return to G-d.

Never Again.