THE HOLOCAUST IS OVER WE MUST RISE FROM ITS ASHES

all the highly motivated ones who are often unaware, who seek as bestthey can to forget and even succeed in forgetting. The conflict . . . isvery painful to both sides. The weak side loses in this unspokendialogue.” 3Like any victim of a violent crime or other trauma, Israel was transformed by itsexperience. It began small and young, but it was united, and recognized its ownworth. The first Israelis absorbed immigrants in numbers that greatly exceeded theirown, and they assimilated them into their young and not fully formed culture. It was astunning national enterprise, never seen before and perhaps never to be seen again,an epic achievement on a mythical scale. Then, at some point, the roles reversed. Atfirst the native minority, which was united and relatively homogenous, absorbed theimmigrant majority, which seemed divided, broken, isolated and exhausted, and thenewcomers appeared to blend in, adopting the values of the new Israel. But theabsorbing Israelis despised weakness and frailty and lacked empathy for the arrivingJews. As the Israelis absorbed the Jews, they fused into one silent, insensitive society.In time, Israel became a multi-trauma society, a coalition of all its victims thatharnessed its worst experiences and turned them into its central existential experience.The founding generation exuded a confidence that often covered fundamentalweaknesses, but the next generation, their heirs, represent the dimension oftemporary existence and insecurity, hiding nothing. The result is a national doctrine,aptly defined in Yiddish by the late Prime Minister Levi Eshkol as Shimshon hagiborder nebechkicker, literally, “mighty Samson the weakling.” The ironic genius behindthis phrase can only be understood by our generation. This national condition includestwo contradictory elements that are derived from our history: excessive power anddesperate weakness. It makes sense to Israelis, but not to others, who may interpretit as something between hypocrisy and madness. The wisdom is self-evident in thenonscientific expression “a battered boy will be a battering father.” Few succeed inbreaking the vicious cycle of pathology in their relationships with their parents. Israelarms itself to the teeth like the weak boy who comes to class equipped with a bat, aknife and a slingshot to overcome his real and imagined bullies. In our eyes, we arestill partisan fighters, ghetto rebels, shadows in the camps, no matter the nation, state,armed forces, gross domestic product, or international standing. The Shoah is our life,and we will not forget it and will not let anyone forget us. We have pulled the Shoahout of its historic context and turned it into a plea and a generator for every deed. All