DENIERS AND DEFACERS
As one of literally a handful of rabbis who met with Professor Deborah Lipstadt last Friday morning, I should have been more attentive. While Ms. Lipstadt was explaining the difference between soft core Holocaust Denial and hard core Holocaust Denial, I couldn’t help but realize that Holocaust deniers and those who spray-paint Heil Hitler and swastikas on buildings are really two sides of the same coin. Both groups want to infuriate Jews by touching upon a most sensitive and volatile subject. Every time Jews respond (typically through contacting the police and reaching out to the media), the deniers and defacers are granted a victory. Accordingly, whether Ms. Lipstadt agrees or not, Jews must totally ignore both the deniers as well as the defacers. It’s high time that a completely different modus operandi be embraced.
Wiedergutmachung is the German term for reparations. Literally translated as making good again, Wiedergutmachung came to serve as the German word for reparations in 1953. It was an attempt on the part of the German government to reach out to Jews worldwide who somehow managed to show contempt to Hitler by surviving the Holocaust. Tens of thousands of Jews led by Menachem Begin staged a massive protest at the time. They were adamantly opposed to “blood money.” I would like to believe that I would have been one of those protesters – for a different reason, however. True Wiedergutmachung must not be limited to any financial arrangement. In retrospect, the nascent Israeli government should have extracted a pledge from German people throughout the world to confront deniers and defacers throughout the world.
“We love Israel” is the contemporary mantra taken up by countless Christians – Evangelicals and others. Personally, I embrace the Evangelicals and others and love them in return, regardless of the real and ultimate reason for their love. Christian lovers of Israel must bear in mind, however, that Israel was established as a homeland and a haven for the Jews while the chimneys at Auschwitz were still warm from turning our people into smoke. True love for the Jewish people is a sine qua non for true love for Israel. The two are inseparable. If Evangelical and other Christians truly love Israel, then they must take up the cudgel against deniers and defacers. Recent events in Whitefish, Montana serve as a case in point. Once again, anti-Semitism reared its ugly head when White Nationalist Whitefish resident Richard Spencer planned an armed march through the town of just over 6,000. Governor Steve Bullock, Attorney General Tim Fox, Senator Jon Tester and Senator Steve Dalnes immediately denounced Spencer and his planned march. Evangelical Christians, along with others who profess strong love for Israel, should have descended upon White Fish delivering the following message: Either Spencer, leaves taking with him his vitriolic poison, or we stay and proceed to infuse mega doses of Christian love into Whitefish.
Americans are up in arms over refugees seeking to cross into this country. As a result, there are marches and demonstrations from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Regardless of how one feels about the topic, one would do well to ask the marchers and demonstrators, where is their concern for humanity when Holocaust deniers and defacers rear their ugly heads and carry out their despicable acts? Isn’t protesting acts of Holocaust denial, as well as demanding that justice be meted out for the defacing property with Nazi slogans, equally as necessary as the current cause in which they have involved themselves?
Germans and Evangelicals, as well as other Christians and concerned Americans: In addition to the status quo of Wiedergutmachung, love for Israel and marching and demonstrating for refugees, I ask that you speak out against the deniers and defacers. You might very well be surprised at what you are able to achieve.
