Editor’s Note: East High Synagogue recently sent 20 high schools seniors to Poland. Zach delivered this speech in shul this past Shabbat after the group’s return.
My grandparents and my great aunt live in Englewood and are survivors of the Holocaust. I wasn’t really sure how I would feel when I actually made the trip but I think it has been truly life changing. Before the trip I was apprehensive about going, because I was nervous how I would react. However, after going to the town of Jedwabne, I realized that this trip was more than just seven days in a foreign country.
The tour guide told us the story of this town. He began by describing life in the town pre-war. He told us of the thriving Polish Jewry and the harmonious relationship between the Polish people and the Jews. However, the tour guide explained that when the Nazis started to take over Eastern Europe, the attitude of the Polish people of the town suddenly changed. The Polish people became heavily anti-Semitic and began beating and persecuting Jews. This once civil town became a war zone. One night the Polish people grouped all the remaining Jewish people of the town into a barn. The Polish people then doused the barn with kerosene and lit the barn on fire. The barn went up in blazing flames and so did the remaining souls of the Jewish people of Jedwabne.
After grieving over the innocent Jewish lives lost, one thought kept coming to my mind. How do I know if this very thing happened today, that my neighbors would not turn a blind eye or, even worse, volunteer in the genocide? I realized the only place in the world that I can definitively say that I would be safe even if these horrible things are happening is Israel. The people, the government, would never turn away, but they would take charge and fight against the persecutors.
As a Jewish man, I have always felt a deep connection to Israel but I have severely underestimated the importance of standing for Israel. On campuses and all around the
world we are bombarded with anti-Semitism, whether it’s the BDS or just simply my fellow college students. As the next generation of college students we are uniquely responsible for combating anti-Israel sentiment wherever we see or hear it. Israel advocacy is so important, whether we are involved with AIPAC, Norpac or other political groups, we need our voice to be heard in support of Israel. The Asher Strobel leadership program is training us how to speak up and be heard. This program is strengthening our confidence that each one of us is capable of making a difference. We have the ability to help the Jewish community here and around the world to fight anti-Semitism.
By Zach Cohen
Zachary Cohen, 18, lives in Englewood and attends the Frisch School. Zachary will be attending yeshiva in Israel next year and then go on to New York University’s Gallatin School.
