Letter to the editor

Israel provides Jews haven from Holocaust A
week after Holocaust Remembrance Day, on which we remember the 6
million Jews, in addition to the other minority groups slaughtered
not much more than half a century ago, we celebrate the birth of
Israel as a Jewish country. Why is Israel so important? Aside from
its religious significance and its highly cultural atmosphere, it
provides something else: security for the Jewish people. Why were 6
million Jews killed during the Holocaust? Such an outrageous number
is unimaginable to Jews and others today. This number could not
have been reached had it not been for the silence of many
countries, including the United States, which drastically limited
the immigration of Jews who were fleeing Adolf Hitler. Even the
land of Israel, which was under British rule at the time, had
quotas on the number of Jews who could immigrate. Thus the Jews
were forced into a slaughter with nowhere to turn. For many Jews,
Israel represents the “never again” result of the
Holocaust. If there were to be another Holocaust, Jews would now
have a place to go, as well as a land from which they could defend
themselves and fight as a unified people. The fear of such a battle
is justifiably in the back of many Jews’ minds; as we
celebrate Israel’s independence, we are celebrating our
freedom to be Jewish. Jews around the world should unite in
celebration of our beautiful culture and heritage, not to mention
our freedom to express these things in a place of our own.

Daniela Karlin First-year, Jewish studies