On July 2, 2016, the world lost one of the most incredibly resilient and inspirational individuals to ever exist, a man immensely betrayed by humanity and yet so perpetually eager to see the good in people until his very last breath.
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel was a blessing that I would like to think our world did not take for granted, a man who devoted his entire life to reliving the horrors that murdered 6 million Jewish people because he understood the grave necessity in remembrance. To say that Wiesel embodied selflessness would be a vast understatement; he quite literally gave his life to a cause more significant than any of us for the greater good. He purposefully plagued himself with memories of the Shoah because he felt that it was his obligation as a Jew, a human, and a survivor to continue telling the story for those who couldn't in order to ensure that the world will never forget what happened in Europe, and will never allow it to happen again.
As a Jewish woman very connected to her faith and people's history, I was raised with a thorough understanding pertaining to what happened to my ancestors. In elementary school, I had nightmares about Auschwitz. I vividly remember having to sleep in my mother's bed, and waking up screaming in the middle of the night with goosebumps and cold sweat. In middle school I was bat mitzvah'd, and symbolically shared my celebration with a young girl named Emma who perished in the Shoah, and never had the opportunity to become a woman in the face of God and Judaism. Hitler took that away from her. Hitler took that away from millions of children. Millions. In high school, I traveled to Israel, visited Yad Vashem, spent time with IDF soldiers, and prayed at the Kotel.
In college, it all clicked.
Throughout the duration of my freshman year at UC Davis, I was exposed to severe and relentless anti-Semitism disguised as support for the Palestinian movement. My peers attempted to degrade my faith, delegitimize the country that has always been the homeland of my people, and demand that those like myself be eliminated. When I say that "it clicked,' I mean that I finally understood why it was necessary for me to grow up in a Jewish home, at a Jewish school, live a Jewish life. And if I could go back, I would not take away those sleepless nights haunted by genocide, falling ashes, and the seemingly ceaseless spilling of Jewish blood. I would not take it back, not for a second, because the Holocaust is a burden that every Jew must bear. It is a nightmare that we woke up from, but it is one that the world must never forget. It is a reminder that not all leaders deserved to be followed, standing up to injustice is an innate human responsibility, and systematic racism has no place in any country on Earth.
Elie Wiesel understood this.
He gave his life for this. He is a hero, and it is every citizen of Earth's obligation to carry on his legacy so that he may rest in peace after serving his life in pursuit of a mission more monumental than we can even begin to understand.
I believe that the majority of us lack the capacity to truly grasp the sacrifice that Wiesel made. After growing up in devastation, starvation, and desolation, after having lost his family, his religion, his God, and his hope, Wiesel not only survived, he thrived. When the camps were liberated and the war drew to a close, Wiesel vowed to never turn a blind eye to what he saw. Moreover, he made it his personal responsibility to uphold the horror of the Holocaust, and bear the unshakable burden not until he couldn't bear it anymore, but until his time on Earth was complete. No matter how difficult it was, Wiesel practiced what he preached, holding true that "without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future."
So as painful may it be to bear witness, that is what we must do in order to truly learn from our mistakes, identify the error in our ways, and grow as a united people. Elie Wiesel understood the value in history, the unification of people across all walks of life through remembrance, and the power of story telling. Wiesel pledged, "I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead (...) and anyone who does not remember betrays them again." When I first read that quote, my mind remained stuck on the word "betrays" for quite a substantial period of time. The severity embedded in that singular word, the urgency and desperation it connotes has left such a powerful impact on me. Wiesel paved the way for individuals to take a stand, fight back against what shouldn't be, and utilize their voices and life experiences to promote change and innovation. Wiesel served as a beacon of hope, the most genuine gift that our world could have possibly received. And I know with every fiber in my being that not continuing his life's work would be to betray the fallen, and Wiesel himself.
Many people my age consider the likes of Kylie Jenner, Beyonce, or Kanye West to be their inspirations. Throughout the course of my entire life, I have always admired Elie Wiesel, a modern prophet, as an inspiration for all peoples despite religion, and the most passionate and selfless hero that our world has ever experienced. Wiesel was and will always be the face of the Jewish movement, a reminder that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are on in the same, and citizens of the world must never stand idly by in the face of injustice, because doing so is equivalent to indifference, which Wiesel advocated was the greatest evil fathomable. Millions of individuals were slaughtered by the Nazis for being homosexual, handicapped, Roma, Jewish, etc. Slaughtered for loving who they love, suffering physical ailments, and believing in their God. Six million Jewish people's lives were taken, a number so overwhelming to internalize. Wiesel says, "It's clear to me that one can't be Jewish without Israel. Religious or non-religious. Zionist or non-Zionist. Ashkenazi or Sephardic - all these will not exist without Israel (...) When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming." Being Pro-Israel does not mean you're Anti-Palestine; Wiesel argued for a two-state solution, as most jews do. Being Pro-Israel means that you support the existence of a safe haven and historical homeland for people who were persecuted, starved, and systematically murdered for unjustifiable reasons.
Honoring Elie Wiesel means that you support the state of Israel, you will not betray the memories of the victims of the Shoah, that you will work every day to keep Wiesel's dream alive and secure his legacy, that you will not stand idly by even if you're opinion may be an unpopular one, and that the notion of "never again" is imprinted in your brain, your friend's brain, your children's brain. Remembering Elie Wiesel in the way that he deserves an needs to be remembered is to continue in his work to fight injustice in the form of anti-Semeitism so that he many rest easy and make amends with the God who's existence he doubted for so many cold and miserable years, while we on Earth continue fighting the good fight, and teaching generations to come about the brutal and unimaginable days of the Holocaust, and how Elie Wiesel survived and continued to tell the story because to forget is the most deceitful betrayal of all.
Silence is a sin.
We must speak about the unspeakable.
We must remember.
"For the dead and for the living, we must bear witness." Rest in peace Elie Wiesel, and may your memory be a blessing. I will never forget. Am Yisrael Chai; The Nation of Israel Lives.
