Passover, Holocaust, Rebirth

The new Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) in Jerusalem is arranged so that those exiting the exhibit emerge onto a platform overlooking a valley to the new neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Out of the ashes, a nation arose.

March and April mark a season connecting Passover, Holocaust, and the birth of Israel. It is during the Omer, the fifty days of counting from Passover to Shavuot, that the Jewish calendar now includes Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance) and Yom HaAtzma’ut (Remembrance of Israel’s Birth). As the Omer marks time between the Exodus and Mt. Sinai, it is also a fitting time to bridge between the affliction of Nazi terror and the joy of new nationhood.

MJTI is committed to serving a vision of an ultimate rebirth for Israel, that which Moses spoke of to the second generation, “The Lord God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring” (Deut 30:6). This ultimate rebirth in the reign of the offspring of David is much prayed for in the Siddur. After the affliction of Passover, the people of Israel received Torah. After the horror of death camps, the people of Israel repossessed the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. May God speedily cause to flourish the reign of the Son of David and the greatest rebirth of all.