“There is no precedent in our history for a tragedy like the Holocaust – not in scope, size or magnitude. Never have we experienced such a systematic murder of our people. Laws passed against us, mass deportations, ghettos, concentration camps, killing fields – never have we seen such a complete plan to exterminate us. It is prohibited for any Jew to ever forget what the Nazis – this generation’s descendants of Amalek – did to our people.”
These stirring words were spoken by Rabbi Moshe Malka, a Sephardic-Moroccan Torah scholar who was the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Petah Tikvah in Israel. Born in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Rabbi Malka was not speaking as a Holocaust survivor, nor as a second-generation descendant of survivors. He was speaking as a responsible leader, and – most importantly – as a Jew. His words were born out of the timeless mitzvah and responsibility of collective memory shared by all Jews: “Zakhor – Remember what Amalek did to you…do not forget” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
From Haman to Hitler, “Amalek” is the archetypical enemy of the Jewish people, one who never hides their genocidal aims against Jews. Rabbi Malka feared the trivialization of the memory of Amalek’s most recent manifestation – the Holocaust.
“We have reduced the memory of six million Jewish brothers and sisters to one memorial prayer, once a year on Yom Hashoah” said Rabbi Malka. “Is that really enough to remember this tragedy and to learn its lessons of history?”
Addressing an Israeli audience in the mid-1970’s who gathered in sacred commemoration of the Holocaust, Rabbi Malka proceeded to sound an alarm about a new disturbing trend that was just gaining traction – Holocaust denial:
“What’s worse is that this awful and tragic episode in our history is disappearing from the world’s memory. The plague of forgetting is attacking the younger generations around the world, and life seems to be resuming ‘as if nothing was.’ We must never forget. Otherwise, we risk handing over the memory of our past into the hands of those in the world who seek to erase our past by denying the Holocaust.”
Fast forward to today, when Holocaust denial trends all over social media, is an accepted discourse in the halls of academia, and is common fare in political rhetoric. Rabbi Malka’s words from the 1970’s were prophetic.
“It is our sacred duty to remember and never forget the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Malka.
Let’s take the Torah’s words, and those of Rabbi Malka, to heart. Zakhor. Remember. Never Forget.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Daniel Bouskila is the director of the Sephardic Educational Center and the rabbi of the Westwood Village Synagogue.
