Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yesterday, May 1st, was the date of the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is an important date for me that leads me into deep reflection on all I have learned and read and heard and seen. It also makes me recall one event in particular.

I will never forget my personal encounter with a Holocaust survivor one winter day in Chicago. The elderly woman was in front of me in the grocery store, and I offered to carry a bag for her. When she passed it to me I noticed the tattoo on her arm. She must have seen me staring at it, for she began to tell me her story. Almost all of her family was killed. She barely survived. But what was most painful to me was the look on her face when I told her that I was in seminary to be a pastor. She looked as if she was going to say something, but simply grabbed her bag and walked away. It was from that moment that I began to study the roots of Anti-Semitism found in the Church, and committed myself to educating others about the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism.

May I each and everyday "Never Forget".