Show Me the Freedom

By Brielle Goodman
Johns Hopkins University
(KOACH-On-Campus Editor)

Freedom is a part of life which many of us in America take for granted on a daily basis. We are lucky enough to live in a country where most of our choices are permitted by law to be our own. This month's theme is Freedom because we mark both Passover and Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) in Nisan. Rather than focusing on the tragedy of the Holocaust, I tried to find a more positive spin on a month fraught with misfortune.

After many, many centuries of being ruled by foreign powers, we, the Jews, finally have our own land, with the freedom to celebrate and observe our religion however we please. For a people who has been oppressed for so long by so many different groups, there is no greater achievement.

Personally, I find it very important to keep things in perspective. I've just been reading a book about the Nuremberg trials. It has sparked a very interesting thought process in me, much as it did with the prosecutors at the trial. We must ALWAYS remember what happened, as well as how it happened, so as to prevent the same thing from happening again to any people anywhere. But at the same time, we must also honor those who perished by remembering the positive outcome. We must not only learn a lesson from the events of Nazi Germany, but also keep faith in ourselves as a people. The Jews pulled together more than in any other time of persecution, and from this great disaster, came a beautiful triumph! Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel)! Our ancestors had to struggle long and hard to achieve all that they did, so that we may live in (or at least visit) a land that is all our own. It is specifically for Jews. Others are welcome, but it was created with Jews in mind. Others died so that we may live. What more special gift could they give us? We will never forget how many people died in both the Shoah and the battle for Eretz Yisrael. We mourn them on Yom HaShoah, and Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day, on the 4^th of Iyar), but for the rest of both this month and next month, I propose that we celebrate our freedom.

We celebrate our Exodus from Egypt, we celebrate the fact that we still live and that we now have our own land to live in as Jews. There is a time for mourning and a time for celebration. Let's honor those who gave their lives for us, by honoring and celebrating the cause that they died for: our freedom to live Jewish lives.

[Posted 3/21/04]