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From the Desk of Rabbi Marvin Hier
I am writing to wish you and your family well as we face the enormous challenge unleashed
by the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which threatens, not only the United States, but the
entire world. ❉ In my six decades of communal service as a Rabbi, which included times
of war, natural disasters and terrorist attacks, including 9/11, I have never experienced a
crisis of the magnitude of the Coronavirus we now face. It is certainly the modern version
of the Bible’s Tower of Babel story, where a robust modern world, with all its sophisticated
spacecraft capable of ascending the heavens, suddenly comes tumbling down without
warning, threatening the entire planet. ❉ Without a doubt, solving this crisis should be everybody’s top priority. All of us must
take seriously the recommendations made by the CDC and our Federal, State and Government Officials. ❉ At the same time,
we must not panic, nor lose faith, that in the end, this too shall pass. Let us remember that we are the people whose ancestors
experienced Auschwitz and the Holocaust, yet still taught their children and grandchildren never to despair. ❉ All of us share
a deep belief that we will come out of this, and when we do, we must make sure that institutions like ours, the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, which is fighting the world’s oldest hatred, remains vibrant and strong. ❉ Indeed, our sages teach that the Almighty
created many worlds before ours, but he still said of his new creation, Earth, “Behold it is very good indeed.” So, must we come
out of this challenge by continuing to teach our children and grandchildren that, behold, “Our future shall be very good indeed.”
Rabbi Hier to
Pope Francis: “Let Us
Unite In The Battle
Against Anti-Semitism
and Hate”
Excerpted below is the speech delivered
by Rabbi Hier at the Vatican:
Your Holiness, we are grateful for your kind
invitation to, once again, visit with you here
in the Vatican. We remember fondly our
first visit just weeks after your election as
Pope. Sadly, our visit today comes at a time
when anti-Semitism and bigotry has again
taken center stage threatening our world
and the future of humankind. ❉ Today
we are facing another worldwide epidemic of anti-Semitism and hate… We have come to ask for your help, as the leader of
the Christian world, to help us to confront this debasement of humanity! ... In 2020, anti-Semitism and bigotry are present
everywhere. In the heart of our democracies in London, Paris, Berlin, in the Parliaments, and here in Rome, where an 89-yearold
Holocaust survivor needs police protection to go shopping. This hate has now crossed the Atlantic and infected America
and her prestigious learning centers like Columbia and NYU, UCLA and Stanford…in the halls of Congress and in the corridors
of the UN. … Worse, reminiscent of the Holocaust years, religious Jews identified by their skull caps, or by their beards, are
particularly vulnerable… In Montreal, it was a taxi driver who punched a young Jewish man in the face because he was wearing
a yarmulke. In Miami, a 68-year-old Jewish man was shot six times. His crime: walking into his synagogue. ❉ Your Holiness,
we seek your help in teaching our world that while we may not be in the Garden of Eden, indifference is too high a price
to pay for men and women created in the image of G-d. We have the ability and the responsibility to stand up to the evil
that threatens us. Let us remember what Winston Churchill said, had the world challenged the Nazis in the early 30’s, tens
of millions would have been spared from making the ultimate sacrifice in the 40’s. ❉ And the words of Simon Wiesenthal
who reminded us: “Freedom is not a gift from heaven, it is something we have to fight for each and every day.”
Pope Francis:
“A Barbaric
Resurgence of Cases
of Anti-Semitism”
During a private audience at the
Vatican, an international leadership
delegation from the Simon
Wiesenthal Center met with Pope Francis
on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the
liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death
camp. In his remarks to the 54-person
group, Pope Francis warned, “If we lose
our memory we destroy our future ...
may the anniversary of the unspeakable
cruelty that humanity learned of 75 years
ago serve as a summons to pause, be still,
and to remember. We need to do this lest
we become indifferent.”
In response to the speech by Rabbi Hier,
who spoke about their meeting coming at
a time when anti-Semitism and bigotry has
again taken center stage threatening our
world and the future of humankind (see
pg 2), Pope Francis went on to denounce
“… a barbaric resurgence of cases of anti-
Semitism, adding, “I will never tire of firmly
condemning every form of anti-Semitism.”
Your Center, active throughout the world, seeks
to combat all forms of anti-Semitism, racism
and hatred. For decades, you have maintained
contacts with the Holy See … you help keep
alive the memory of the Holocaust.…” - Pope Francis
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