We Didn't See God

All this destruction in Eicha reminds me of the Holocaust. Then I was reminded by this text we read on Bronfman by Aharon Appelfeld, an Israeli novelist and Holocaust survivor. 

"God did not reveal himself in Auschwitz or in other camps. The survivors came out of hell wounded and humiliated. They were betrayed by the neighbors among whom they and their forefathers had lived. They were betrayed by Western culture, by the Germans, by the language and literature they admired so much. They were betrayed by the great beliefs: liberalism and progress. They were betrayed by their own bodies

What to hold onto to live a meaningful life? It was not clear to many that the denial of one's Judaism, which characterized the emancipated Jew, was no longer possible. After the Holocaust, it was immoral. No wonder many of the survivors went on to Israel. No doubt, they wanted to get a place where they could leave their victimhood behind and assert responsibility over their fate...

But this is not a story with a happy ending. A doctor who survived, from a religious background, who sailed to Israel with us in June 1946, told us: "We didn't see God when we expected him, so we have no choice but to do what he was supposed to do: we will protect the weak, we will love, we will comfort. From now on, the responsibility is all ours."" 

What do you think of this text? Does it speak to you?

Look at the first paragraph again. Doesn't it kind've remind you of perek aleph? God turned away and didn't help them, yes, that's been reflected everywhere so far. But this sense of "betrayal" that was expressed in perek aleph is also very prominent in the first paragraph of this. They were betrayed by the "Western culture, by the Germans, by the language.." just like the Jews all the way during the time of the destruction felt betrayed by the nations they had trusted. "They were betrayed by their own bodies"- Do you think that means that they betrayed themselves? How did they betray themselves? Is it wrong to trust other nations?

The last paragraph reminds me of Perek Bet. They were expecting God to help them out, but god wasn't there. God, instead, decided to act like the enemy. In Eicha, the women and children are then left to fend for themselves. In the piece above, they took all the responsibilities that had once belonged to God. Do you think that Eicha will come to a similar conclusion? Completely different? Is such a statement sacrilegious? 

Comic Time!

Charlie Brown is Yerushalayim in Perek Bet and Lucy is Hashem. Lucy is turning into the enemy and purposefully making things difficult for poor Charlie. 

Later, the narrator/Linus understands that Charlie is going through a lot of suffering and lets him cry it out, confirming his frustrations, so Charlie can continue talking to him.