THE HOLOCAUST IS OVER WE MUST RISE FROM ITS ASHES

prime minister with Germany’s president, a common humanitarian treaty, or any otherpractical step that will spur both countries to cooperate in the repair of the world willconstitute an almost prophetic fulfillment of the vision of sublime humanity of theJewish people at the hand of “modern Persia.” The last two verses of the Bibleexpress it.Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of theLORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, theLORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made aproclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing,saying, “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earthhath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me tobuild him a house in Jerusalem, Is. 44.28 which is in Judah. Who isthere among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him,and let him go up.” 6Haman’s Persia was about destruction and hatred, but there was another Persia, ofCyrus, that was about tolerance, restoration and building. There was a Germany ofHitler, and it is up to us if there will be a new Germany, a generous one. Perhaps aJewish-German vision for a better world is possible, a vision that will continue thewonderful German Jewry from the point of its extinction. This was the most amazingJewry we had ever had, its dreams were as long as the knife that slit its throat. It wasa Jewry whose ideals are missing here, whose prophets, writers, and artists havenever received much recognition in Israel. It was a Jewry that was based onpeacefulness, reconciliation, high culture, identity, and integration, roots andmodernity, Judaism and universalism, and faith in man and endless innocence until itsend. And now, when Germany is different and can absorb the ideas of its Jews, theyare gone. They are lost and forgotten.On the day that the Shoah is no longer part of our daily lives, we can recite theKaddish for its victims and for ourselves. The prayers will transition from the mournfulyears of bereavement, suspicion, and anger to the age of memory, optimism, trust,and hope.