My father's tenth yartzeit starts tonight. I like that it begins with Maariv. He used to say the Shma with me at bedtime, then tell me fantastic stories of kabalistic angels masquerading as lions.
If you are interested in remembering him with me, please consider...
Good deeds: Listen to someone who needs to be heard; share a kind word to change someone’s life. Or learn with a friend! Study this week’s parsha, or a Chassidic tale or one of my father’s teachings. Share with us in the comments what you're reading, or ask for a recommendation.
Prayer: If you would like to pray but don’t have a regular practice of doing so, you can follow his guidance -- “If the only prayer you say throughout your life is ‘Thank You’, then that will be enough”.
Charity: Please consider following and supporting @eliewieselfdn. We are amplifying young moral voices, fighting hatred in the media, and connecting educational initiatives across the United States and Israel.
Thank you to all who continue his legacy in ways large and small.
What an incredible display of unity, love, and resilience as tens of thousands of New Yorkers turned out for the Israel Day Parade in NYC!
Today, we boycotted antisemitism and sent a powerful message: New York will always stand with its Jewish community, and New Yorkers will always stand with Israel.
🇺🇸🇮🇱 עם ישראל חי 🇺🇸🇮🇱
Super disappointed in @SouthwestAir . My nephew has an anaphylactic reaction to pistachios, which he disclosed at booking and called ahead for, and they are still serving them on this flight. Really??? You can’t sub these nuts for one flight? That you knew about in advance?
So much love from across Europe and around the world last night 💙🇮🇱
Huge congratulations to Bulgaria and DARA for BANGARANGA 🇧🇬✨ Truly deserved 👏
And judging by the votes… looks like Europe couldn’t get Michelle out of their heads 😉�
I’ve got to give some praise to @Marriott. My 20 year old is traveling and would either be on the road till 5am or need to find a hotel tonight. Most American hotels require you be 21 to check in. There are some that allow 20 year olds, but in the area she’s in those were not great options for a single 20 year old female. The Courtyard by Marriott near where she’ll be driving was the only hotel that was willing to make an exception for her.
“A tragic optimist”. That’s how Rachel Goldberg-Polin describes herself. To the world, she’s the embodiment of strength and courage. We discussed her new book, When We See You Again. It’s a searingly painful love story that finds a home in your soul. Our conversation airs Monday.
"I had no strength to cheer. I was too weak to rejoice and too tired to be excited."
Zvi Michaeli was liberated at Bergen Belsen #OTD 15 April 1945.
This is his story.
“I have no more earth to cling to” 🎗️
Yosef Wiener, a Holocaust survivor who lost his grandson Yahav, his granddaughter Hadar, and her husband Itay on October 7th, has passed away. Before his passing, he wrote these inconceivable words:
"My name is Yosef Wiener, and I am 97 years old. I was saved from the fire of the Nazi beasts; my entire family was annihilated in that terrible inferno. I was severed from my deep roots, and I erected a monument of basalt stones in their memory.
Out of total exhaustion, out of despair, while drowning, I clung to the earth and planted myself in Zion.
I married Aviva, and together we raised two magnificent children, Ofer and Nurit. From Ofer and Michal, four grandchildren were born to us in Kfar Aza. From Nurit and Miki, six grandchildren were born to us in Kfar Aza. I had reached the stage of a family tree firmly planted in the soil of the homeland, bearing fruit.
But suddenly, from within the fences of evil, October 7th, 2023, arrived. The terrifying sights of fire and dust, the slaughter and horrific murder of innocents reached me once again.
My grandson, dearer to me than all, Yahav (of blessed memory), was murdered while protecting his wife, Shaye-Lee, and his one-month-old daughter, Shaya.
My granddaughter, dearer to me than all, Hadar (of blessed memory), and her husband Itay (of blessed memory), were murdered while protecting their ten-month-old twins, Roee and Guy.
Once again, I am at the end of my strength, in despair, drowning.
And I have no more earth to cling to."
💔
I'm not Jewish, but I'd like to remember a Holocaust victim on Yom Hashoah. My favourite artist, Charlotte Salomon, who produced the largest body of work by any Jewish artist killed by the Nazis. She was gassed upon arrival at Auschwitz in October 1943. She was 5 months pregnant.
Truly incredible stuff here. This is such an egregious error for the A section of the NYT (not a typo, genuinely not knowing what NATO stands for) that it should lead every piece on the decline in journalism
Today is the anniversary of my mom’s passing.
It always feels like there is a hole in my heart, and the sadness is familiar.
Today is also Passover.
It has always been my family’s favorite holiday.
It is a celebration of the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt, and the long exodus back home to Jerusalem. It is a holiday that celebrates freedom over oppression & persecution. It is a celebration of the decolonization of our ancestral homeland after years in exile, but never without hope and faith.
We gather not only to commemorate this particular event, but every single time over 3000 years that we have been banished, persecuted, murdered, burned alive, by people who refused to acknowledge our humanity and peoplehood, who blamed us for every ill in the world—- and, each time, with resilience and light, we survived. And moving forward, thrived.
This has happened continually, through every human advancement, the ancient hate and attempted erasure of our People. That is why every Passover Seder ends with the final words of the Hagaddah prayer book, with us reading —“Next year in Jerusalem.”
Because for 3000 years we never stopped fighting to return home to Jerusalem. Whether we were enslaved in Egypt, or as a non citizen dimmi facing yet another pogrum.
Today is particularly painful. To see history repeating itself, the demonization, the dehumanization, the thirst for Jewish blood.
May we all pray for all the innocent civilians in this horrendous war. May this year see the Iranian people freed from their decades long struggle against oppression, torture, murder, stripping of human rights for all women and people not afraid to love who they love. Even in the face of death.
May the US soldiers be kept safe as they bravely fight alongside the IDF to finally bring peace to the entire Middle East.
Like Pharoah, may the IRGC, become just a footnote in history.
What a celebration that will be. BH.
Happy Passover from Elsie and me.
She is helping me make my mother’s Charoset.
And yes, it is the best in the world.
All my love, D
We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it. But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On the side of Israel!