Speaking to Holocaust survivors is unlike addressing any other audience. These are people who did not learn Jewish history from books. They lived it. They witnessed a world most of us can only try to comprehend, then rebuilt their lives and helped rebuild the Jewish people.
One survivor shared with me a heartbreaking reality: “I have children, but no family,” having lost her parents and siblings in the Holocaust. For those who lived through that era, the rise in antisemitism can understandably stir painful memories. Hatred against Jews and Israel is once again being expressed openly, even in the streets of America, and some of the rhetoric sounds disturbingly familiar.
Still, the Jewish people are not in the position we were in during the 1930s. Most significantly, there is a State of Israel. For nearly 2,000 years, Jews prayed toward Eretz Yisrael. Holocaust survivors lived to see what generations before them could only dream of: a Jewish state, a Jewish army, Jewish soldiers defending Jewish lives, and millions of Jews living in our ancient homeland.
Jews today are also less likely to remain silent or hidden. At a recent rally outside the New York Public Library in the heart of Manhattan, Jews gathered openly, spoke proudly, and refused to be intimidated into silence. I stood among them and spoke publicly as a Jew. Even when a heckler was arrested during my remarks, the gathering continued. We were not hiding who we are. We were telling the world who we are.
Antisemitism remains real, but it does not get the final word. Holocaust survivors are living proof. Those who sought to destroy the Jewish people failed, as seen in the families survivors built, the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who followed, and the yeshivos, shuls, and communities flourishing today. Yerushalayim is thriving, Jewish children are learning Torah, and Jewish life continues to grow.
Every Jewish wedding, bris, mezuzah on a Jewish home, and family gathered around a Seder table testifies to that continuity. So does every survivor who rebuilt a life after unimaginable loss.
That does not mean we can become complacent. Jews must remain vigilant and prepared to confront hatred when it appears. We must also recognize how much has changed. We have allies, a voice, a homeland, and above all, one another. The Jewish people have endured some of history’s bleakest moments, yet we are still here: living, building, celebrating, learning Torah, raising families, helping one another, and looking toward tomorrow.
For generations, Jews have declared, “Am Yisrael Chai.” In the presence of Holocaust survivors, those words are more than a slogan; they are a fact. Survivors rebuilt, and because they rebuilt, generations came after them able to live proudly as Jews.
We remember history so its darkest chapters are not repeated, while looking toward the future with strength, faith, and hope. May Hashem grant every survivor continued health, nachas, happiness, and many more years surrounded by the families and communities they helped create. May we merit a world of greater peace and understanding, and better days ahead.
The conversation must also continue about whether the Jewish community is fully using the voice it now has. We have organizations that advocate on our behalf, elected officials and community leaders who stand with us, and access to government that previous generations could scarcely imagine. When antisemitism appears, Jews can walk into City Hall, Albany, Washington, police headquarters, and the offices of public officials and demand to be heard.
That, too, is part of what has changed.
Am Yisrael Chai.
By Yaakov Serle
