Remembering

This evening’s community-wide Yom Ha-Shoah program was most inspiring in spite of the history it recalled. The program, held at Temple Emanuel, drew a much smaller crowd than I had expected, in part because it came out on a Monday night when none of the area Hebrew High Schools are in session. There were very few kids of any age there. Too bad, because the speaker, Rebbitzin Jungreis was riveting.

Driving home I heard the lead story on KYW, about the trial of 2 men accused of killing a 10-yr. old. The proceedings ground to a halt when the prosecution’s star witness recanted during her testimony. Those present said that the witness’s 35-yr. old father, in a voice that the entire courtroom could hear, prodded his 16-yr. old daughter on the witness stand saying, “Just tell ‘em what I told you – you don’t remember a thing.” Now the father has been charged with witness intimidation, solicitation to commit perjury, hindering prosecution, and obstruction of justice. Any other night, I probably would not have given this story a second thought. But not tonight…

We drove on for a moment in silence until I said to Helene, “I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have done the exact same thing.” In the savage world that this family lives in, witnesses are routinely killed for testifying. I thought about that dad and what likely went through his mind. He probably thought that he would rather go to jail himself than make his daughter a target on the streets. And I know that without people having the courage to testify we can’t get bad guys off the streets. Witness intimidation is a very serious problem. But in the end the two suspects were convicted anyhow. This father probably thought, “Let someone else’s daughter be courageous. I just want her alive.” Now that father can sleep a little more peacefully, even if it is behind bars, knowing that he protected his kid.

We like to think that we live in a safe, law-abiding community where justice prevails. And most of us do. But imagine what it must have felt like back in Germany in the late ‘30’s when, as a Jew, you could trust neither your fellow citizens nor the government whose responsibility it was, ostensibly, to protect you. America is, of course, nothing like Nazi Germany. L’Havdil – they are beyond comparison. But as I thought about this father and daughter, and the world of anarchy and lawlessness in which they live, my heart went out to them. If we have learned anything from our suffering during the Shoah, it is that we must work hard to make a better world – not just for Jews, but for everyone. And part of that responsibility means looking out beyond our comfort zone with a special sensitivity to those who suffer right in our own backyards. That a father should have to choose between jail time for himself or painting a target on his daughter’s back?!! We’ve got a problem! Not them – US. And the first step in addressing any problem is realizing that it exists. Being at our community Holocaust Memorial opened my eyes and my heart – and my bet is that’s just what the organizers were hoping for.