Today, Thursday, is Holocaust Day, or as it is called by secularists: 'Ultra-Orthodox Defamation Day.'.
The websites and news will show pictures and report on Haredim not standing at sirens, having barbecues, etc. Oh! Oh! What a media echo this has made, is making and will make every year in the secular discourse, in the media.
Here, the Haredim do not respect the victims. The Haredim deny the Holocaust (yes, I have heard such a statement from secularists).
It seems that people have no shame in slandering Haredi people for no reason, and there is no better time to do so than Holocaust Memorial Day.
These days, the news cameraman rushes to document the ultra-Orthodox who don't stand at the siren. The fact that he himself doesn't stand doesn't bother him. After all, he's 'honoring' the memory of the dead.
How come people aren't ashamed to say that the Haredim deny the Holocaust? So many men and women in the Haredi sector carry a book on their hands. Do they deny the Holocaust?
Or maybe rabbis who went through the hardships of the Holocaust are the ones who deny the Holocaust?
Am I denying the Holocaust? I, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors who went through the hardships of the Nazis and lost their relatives?
So many of our yeshivahs are named after yeshivahs that were closed and burned by the Nazis. Here is a partial list: Ponovizh, Grodno, Chachmei Lublin, Wilkomir, Lomza, and more.
The Father of Mercy in the place of standing still
Journalist Hagai Huberman wrote: "Not a single tear will escape my eyes if I see the yeshivots of Ponevezh, Mir, Slobodka, and Hebron together, standing in the same condition as the yeshivot of the Lublin sages in Poland.".
For those who have forgotten, the Lublin Sages' Yeshiva was closed by the Nazis, and the holy books were burned in a chilling and horrifying ceremony. Is this Mr. Huberman's remembrance of the Holocaust?
It is precisely during the days of counting the Omer, days of free love, that become days of free hatred.
What do you, the secular, even know about us, the ultra-Orthodox, that you think you respect the victims more than we do?
The same applies to Memorial Day. A significant portion of the Israeli public believes that the ultra-Orthodox do not care about secular blood being spilled.
How is this possible? The Jewish people – it should be remembered – have a much longer tradition of hardship and disaster than the 67 years of the existence of the State of Israel.
We, the ultra-Orthodox, honor the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and in Israel's wars, much more than you, our secular brothers.
We do not stand still for one minute as is the custom of Gentiles, but throughout the year we choose to remember the "Av HaRahamim" prayer every Shabbat, as well as the "Yizkor" prayer that raises the souls of our deceased relatives to the sanctification of God. Not to mention reciting Psalms, Mishnayot, and studying in memory of the saints.
So dear secularists, stop thinking because we don't remember.
Because pigeons remember differently.
And in my opinion, our memory is ten times more important than meaningless standing still.
And what about the ultra-Orthodox who "barbecue" on Holocaust Remembrance Day? Well, it's an inappropriate act, but it seems that the secular photographer who wants to photograph the ultra-Orthodox in any case will do it one way or another.
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
