Before I look back at the ancient history of Israel, I begin with two events from more recent times.

On 9 May 2024, roughly six months after 7 October 2023, the ‘International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen 2024’ was awarded to Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), and to the Jewish people in Europe. The Charlemagne Prize is awarded to individuals or institutions that have rendered outstanding services to Europe and European integration.

On the day before the official award ceremony, a panel discussion with Mr Goldschmidt took place at RWTH Aachen University. During this event, I had the opportunity to ask him publicly:

“You mentioned earlier the situation 100 years ago. That is important. The Jews in Germany at that time were not outsiders, but were very well integrated and highly educated. They revered German culture, Goethe, Schiller and other idols. And as you know, it was all over 10 years later. It began with the small sign at Wannsee reading ‘Bathing forbidden for Jews’. Just as the Jews of that time upheld German values, so you now uphold Western values and are honored for doing so. My question is: against this backdrop, do you see a connection between what is written at the end of the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy (‘blessing and curse’) and 7 October? To put it another way: why did God not prevent 7 October?”

After giving a linguistic explanation of the Hebrew language, he responded with a surprising question:

“The question is not: ‘Where was God in Auschwitz?’, but: ‘Where was man in Auschwitz?’

A few years earlier, Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had been asked a similar question (not by me):

“Mr. Wiesel, to what degree would you be willing to acknowledge that the sufferings that we have experienced as Jews, in all of the calamities of our history........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)