One Passover Night…

     There are many horrifically graphic and disturbing specials on TV right now as we mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. As hard as these programs are to watch, we need to, otherwise we won’t learn our lessons from one of the darkest times in history. Instead of sitting comfortably in our warm homes watching the horrors, we may end up living the nightmare again. Let us not kid ourselves; persecution to the point of genocide is still happening far too frequently all around the world. We have yet to learn our lessons. Perhaps it’s because as we freely move through our days and nights, doing most anything we please, eating what we’d like, sleeping warmly in a bed that isn’t crowded with 7 other starving and ill people, it’s easy for us to sweep that unpleasant business of concentration camps and mass extermination right under the rug and out of our minds. I’m guilty of it, I’ll admit.


     Most days of the year, I don’t give the holocaust much thought, however, there are times when I do. It may be brought on by someone talking about a kosher dinner, or it may be brought to mind when I hear the name Lorraine, and then that Passover night so long ago, when I was just 11, comes to mind. I wrote a piece about it a few years ago, and it seems like the perfect time to add it to my blog. So, in memory of all of those souls who walked into the death camp and helped the place live up to its name, here is the article, Perls of Wisdom. And to Lorraine, and especially her mother, Mrs. Perl; thank you for sharing such a dark time with me, while sitting in the comforts of your modest home, as we shared your wonderful dinner. Your story has lived in my heart for 45 years, where it has been carefully and thoughtfully brought out and looked at from time to time. It touched me beyond words, but because of yours, I write children’s stories today of love, tolerance and respect for each other and each other’s differences. So, all things considered, 2 hours at your dinner table shaped a lifetime of trying to build bridges between people, and for the gift of your story, I shall always be thankful. And the greatest thing I can do to reciprocate is to never forget, and I pray that the article attached may help that be so for others, if only in a small, small way.