The convergence of the important Israeli holidays of Spring: Passover, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror), and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) has just concluded.

From Passover, the celebration of the Jewish people escaping slavery in Egypt, to the horror of the Holocaust and the memory of the six million, and the sirens blasting throughout Israel while people stand in silence honoring those fallen soldiers and victims of terror, to the celebration of Israel becoming its own state, and the joy of Jews returning to their homeland, battered though they may be, it’s a month of heavy reflection dense with memory, grief, resilience, and resolve.

The video above is on Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror). It makes me cry. When will humans learn not to hurt one another on either side?

These days remind us that Jewish history is not abstract — it is lived in bodies, families, and names. Together they form a narrative spine: the trauma we remember, the lives we mourn, and the nation that rises — imperfect, beloved, and still insisting on its right to exist. Once again, the war with Iran and its proxies confronts Israel with an unmistakable existential threat. From the diaspora, we declare: Am Yisrael Chai (The People of Israel live)!

As Tevye’s wry complaint to God in Fiddler on the Roof says, “I know we are the chosen people. But—once in a while—can’t You choose someone else?”

Yom HaAtzmaut arrived, but war overshadowed what is meant to be a day of unrestrained celebration.

And we cannot ignore the festering wound Palestinians call the Nakba. No one can dispute — life is complicated and can be deeply painful. It is essential to acknowledge differing vantage points with honesty and courage, even when doing so is uncomfortable.

Stepping beyond the comfort of our own mirrors, we must ask: how—and why—do Palestinians and other Arab countries view Israel as they do?

Israel’s own citizens protest loudly against the war, filling streets and public squares with dissent. Can those voices translate into political change at the ballot box? And beyond Israel’s borders, how does the rest of the world perceive the Jewish state in these confusing and volatile times? It’s concerning and ugly, and requires far more study than most of today’s society is willing to give it. How else can such disparate voices be evaluated fairly? And at what cost if they are not judged by factual experiences?

Why Part I? I chose to create a series as a memorial to Holocaust survivors and victims —honoring them and the families who carry their legacies forward.

I attended a Yom HaShoah event where children of Holocaust survivors shared their stories—voices shaped by inherited trauma and resilience.  L’dor v’dor—from one generation to the next—the weight and wisdom of survival are passed down.

Do you ever wonder about the impact of surviving the Holocaust and what it is like to be raised by these traumatized survivors? Hitler and his henchmen silenced their parents before, and I refuse to ignore all their voices here, due to constraints on the length of the blog. Thus, I turned this into a series.

Although these stories are hard to hear, intertwined amongst their telling is a very loud SHOUT of resilience, my parent(s) made it regardless of the weight of a world set against them. Sorry for the vulgarity, but FU to the world that wants to eradicate us.

And the terrorism continues today. As reported by The Times of Israel, “Standing outside the gates of Auschwitz on Monday, Abbie Talmoud told The Times of Israel that she was coming to terms with the fact that the attacker murdered her colleagues, and tried to kill her, “because of antisemitism.”

“I have to be stronger, and I have to love my Judaism more than they will ever hate me,” she said.

Catherine Szkop and Abbie Talmoud were colleagues of the Israeli Embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were fatally shot outside the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. They marched together with Holocaust survivors outside of Auschwitz on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 13, 2026, for the 38th International March of the Living. They attended the event together with survivors of antisemitic terror attacks this year in Manchester, England, and Sydney, Australia. There seems to be no end to the hate, no matter where we are.

No one should ever forget. As we see antisemitism rise, spewing out like an erupting volcano, will we be able to stop the scourge from trying to annihilate the Jewish people this time?

Additionally, I attended a fabulous play, The Messenger, that I highly recommend. It has closed at the Chance Theatre, but hopefully it will pop up somewhere again soon. It’s been touring across the U.S. for a couple of years now. It’s the true story of a math teacher in Pasadena, California, who is also a Holocaust survivor. She taught from the late sixties when Peace signs and protest lines were king through 1990. She also shared her Holocaust experiences with her eighth graders. It caused an uproar in the community, and Georgia M. Gabor was later maligned and subjected to dangerous antisemitic harassment.

Beyond the play, I read Ms. Gabor’s memoir, “My Destiny,” and interviewed her daughter, and she’s one of the Holocaust survivors I am honoring in my series. There are topics not covered in the play that deserve attention. Suffice it to say, Ms. Gabor was one strong Jewish woman.

Do you remember what is often referred to as “The Voyage of the Damned”

The M.S. St. Louis sailed from Hamburg in May 1939 with 937 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.

The ship was denied entry by Cuba, then by the United States, and finally by Canada.

Forced to return to Europe, many passengers were later caught in Nazi-occupied territories; more than a quarter were murdered in the Holocaust.

The St. Louis has become one of the most powerful symbols of:

Global indifference to Jewish refugees before the Holocaust

The consequences of closed borders during humanitarian crises

The desperation of Jews trying to escape Nazi persecution

It is one of the most documented failures of international refugee policy in the pre‑war era. In fact, our beloved Cantor Shula Merton’s aunts, uncles, and cousins were on it. I’m telling her parents’ story as well.

The Claims Conference, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, as of January 20, 2026, reports there are an estimated 196,600 Jewish Holocaust survivors globally, living across more than 90 countries.

17% in Western Europe

97% are “child survivors” (born 1928 or later)

So, time is running out to hear live survivors’ testimony, although we are privileged to have thousands of their testimonies recorded. Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial, has documented 15,000 testimonies from survivors and maintains the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names, which includes 5 million names of Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, located in Washington, D.C., holds thousands of Holocaust survivors’ stories dear. I’m proud to say my alma mater, at the USC Shoah Foundation, holds testimonies of Holocaust survivors, October 7th survivors, tracks antisemitism, and also documents other worldwide atrocities such as in Cambodia, Rwanda, Armenia, Guatemala, Nanjing, Rohingya, Northern Syria and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Fight on!

What is taught about the Holocaust and antisemitism is still in the news today. The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) in California was sued and later settled a lawsuit in February 2025. It was about antisemitic content and procedural violations in certain ethnic studies courses, including how Jewish history and Israel were portrayed.

I’m anxious to share these stories and give voice to their experiences. There is a sixth- century Talmudic teaching (Sanhedrin 37a). Every person is a new door to the world. I hope you’ll join me throughout the series to unlock what each sacred soul has to teach us.

Staying present in today’s world, we see Israel is at war. This tiny nation, since October 7th, has been attacked on seven fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Yemen, Iraq militias, and evil incarnate Iran. Hail, hail, the gang’s all here.

As of 2026, Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel is now confronting the “Iranian axis” on four fronts:

There may be fewer players, but they have developed into much stronger combatants.

The IDF’s stated reason for striking first is that it faced an imminent and unacceptable threat from Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, while outside analysts describe the attack as a pre‑emptive escalation shaped by intelligence fears, deterrence strategy, and political calculations.

And Israel has a new dance partner — the United States. United? Oh boy, don’t place your bets. Despite some people’s insistence that we are single-minded, we are a diverse nation. Not exactly a steady hand. Commentators sometimes liken the changes in Trump’s positions to a kid chasing the next shiny balloon — moving quickly from one focus to the next.

Worldwide, Israel now wears the cloak of the diabolical antagonist. How dare Israel defend itself from annihilation? After all, Israel truly is led by Jews, unlike so many tropes disseminated by antisemites. Apparently, this fact is unforgivable from so many angles in their viewpoint.

Israel is a nation battered and torn — but still standing. Founded after the Shoah — the Jewish catastrophe of six million killed by Hitler and his industrialized assailants. Still today, some promote ill-conceived, insidious beliefs denying that the Holocaust ever happened. The ADL estimates that 4% of the world’s population believes this lie. What does that translate to? 324 million people worldwide do not believe the Holocaust happened! 15–33% of the world’s population believes that the numbers killed are exaggerated. That means 1.2–2.7 billion people worldwide minimize what truly happened.

Jews are only .2% of the world’s population. That’s not a typo — .2%. So, a few are not only noticed but villainized. One must attribute this to beyond ignorance — is it just your vanilla antisemitism?

As I write this, I can’t ignore: Shoah means catastrophe. Nakba means catastrophe. Both peoples have suffered so much. At times from within, and sometimes, from outsiders. Why can’t similar wounds be used to help heal each other? As you can read, Peaceful coexistence is never far from my mind.

I’m also reminded of how Palestinian refugees have been turned away by their Arab brethren in Egypt and Jordan. Lebanon and Syria have also historically rejected offering a home to Palestinians. They state that they don’t want to create a second Nakba. But researching deeper, PBS and AP reveal that they fear destabilization, importing terrorists, and the carnage that always follows.

How are those who have made it to their countries treated? Even though there are hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, the other Arab countries often keep them in camps and don’t allow them to become citizens and part of their country’s fabric.

Once again, I must point out how both our peoples have suffered some of the same injustices and feel that the world, even their Arab brothers and sisters have turned their backs to them. The systemic rejection feels disturbingly similar. Is there room for empathy?

As I wrote in my last blog, Israel–US–Iran War: Exposing a World Already Burning, it is a miracle that any of us survived. When Israel declared independence, six Arab countries immediately attacked: Egypt, Transjordan (Jordan), Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.

Great Britain, the United States, the United Nations, and Russia all knew what was coming; the Arab states had openly warned of their intentions. No country came to the aid of the newly established state. Hitler may have started “The Final Solution,” but were these countries helping to close this chapter on Jews’ survival?

Or that we have survived our liberators…

Referenced by the Jewish Chronical:

General Patton, who liberated the concentration camps was a known antisemite:

Patton described Jews as “sub-human types” (direct quote).

He blamed Jewish survivors for the poor conditions in the DP camps.

He resisted improving those camps until ordered by Eisenhower.

Can you imagine once the camps were “liberated,” by Patton, unlike at other freed camps,

as of September 27, 1945, 4-5 months after the prisoners were “freed,” a  JTA investigation reported that in the area governed by Patton’s Third Army:

Jewish displaced persons were “still confined behind barbed wire.

Armed American soldiers guarded all entrances.

Survivors were “not permitted to leave the camps except in the most drastic emergency.

They “feel themselves, generally, to be prisoners.”

During Peace negotiations, so many times Israel is forced to negotiate not only with their enemy, but also with the mediators who have publicly stated their bias against Israel. This time it’s Pakistan, a country that describes Israel as purveyors of genocide. Pakistan historically does not recognize Israel as a nation that has a right to exist. How many nations would agree that the mediator of these so-called Peace negotiations should be someone opposed to the existence of one of the parties? Time after time, Israel is forced to negotiate under these types of circumstances. How can anyone talk about this with a straight face?

So many throughout the centuries have treated Jews as if we were the Plague — something to eradicate at all costs, as quickly as possible. I, for one, am proud to be Jewish for so many reasons. From the kindness of our teachings, starting each day by being grateful, to our resilience, intelligence, and accomplishments, Kol Hakavod (Well Done)!

May their memories be a blessing, and May You Live in Peace, שלום and سلام

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)