Yom HaShoa

This evening marks the beginning of a very special 24 hour period of time for the nation of Israel, a day known as Yom HaShoa, or the Day of Remembrance. It is a time when the Jewish people stop and recognize those six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust of World War II.

This "final solution" plan created, authorized, and carried out by the Nazi Germans is still perhaps the greatest act of genocide that this world has ever seen. Its purpose was the systematic elimination of a group of people, not based upon any type of national or tribal identity, but upon a religious identification - they were Jews. There were Hungarian Jews. There were Polish Jews. There were French Jews. There were Italian Jews. There were Russian Jews. There were German Jews - Jews who had helped Germany begin to rebuild after the devastation of World War I. There were Jews who were bankers. There were Jews who were businessmen. There were Jews who were engineers and technicians. There were Jews who were musicians and artists. There were Jews who were public officials. There were Jewish infants and children. There were Jewish mothers and fathers. There were Jewish grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles. There were Jewish brothers and sisters. Age, nationality, professional skills made no difference. If you were a Jew you were a wanted person. And either you were murdered immediately upon your surrender, or you were sent to an extermination camp - Auschwitz, being one of the major ones - where you were either worked until you died, or sent to the gas chambers for a quick death. And six million were murdered.

And so the people of Israel will remember. Tonight a special service will be held at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and Museum. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Peres will give speeches. Six torches will be lit, commemorating the six million who died. Each of the torches will be lit by a survivor of the Holocaust. And tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., across Israel sirens will sound for two minutes. Everything in Israel will come to a complete standstill - literally. On the freeways, cars and buses and trucks will stop with their drivers and passengers getting out and standing at attention for those two minutes. Business will stop transactions as employers and employees stand at attention out of respect for those whose lives were so brutally snuffed out.

And so the people of Israel will remember. And you might ask, "Max, why is it so important?" The answer is rather simple: If we fail to remember, then we will forget. There are voices crying out loudly today denying that the Holocaust actually happened or, if it did, it was not as bad as we have made it out to be. Friends, I have walked the ghost-filled streets of Auschwitz and entered into those rooms that still echo the screams of pain and sorrow of those whose lives had no value. It was an experience I shall never forget. We must remember...we must!

And as I think of Yom HaShoa, I am reminded of how often God tells us to remember. In Joshua 4, after the miraculous crossing of the flooded Jordan River, the people of Israel were commanded to erect a memorial so they would not forget what God had done for them. Even the Lord Jesus instructed us that as we partake of the bread and cup that we were to remember His death until He comes. Why do we celebrate Communion? It is because God does not want us to forget the price paid for our salvation.

So I was thinking, perhaps tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., it would be good if we all just stopped briefly what we are doing, and remember our Jewish friends and also remember the great gift God has given to us in the person of Jesus Christ. We must remember...we absolutely must!