The Holocaust And The Damaged Jewish Identity

The Holocaust has done its number on the Jewish People. I am not referring to the damage that the Holocaust has caused in the simple sense of reducing our numbers in the world, or to the destruction of Jewish communities long present in many parts of Europe. I am not even referring to the actual survivors who emerged intact, but many with serious mental and emotional illnesses and psychoses.

Instead, I am referring to the ongoing moral degradation that many a young Jew has experienced due to this horrific event. These individuals were born decades after the end of the Holocaust and yet the darkness of that set of events has shaped their very identity as Jews. While I believe it to be of utmost importance for curriculum to treat the Holocaust with the respect and sensitivity it deserves, one thing is equally true: an unintended effect is that the Holocaust takes on a central role in the definition of Jewish identity. That is a disaster, and dare I say transports the evil of the Holocaust into the very lifeblood of the Jews long after it has perished. Like a virus, the Holocaust then duplicates the memory of itself into the very self-consciousness of a Jew.

If my observation is correct, the result is very tragic for the self-perception of a Jew, even on the subconscious scale. All he can think about when it comes to being a Jew is that the Nazis tried to annihilate his people, but only succeeded in murdering 6 million. The intellectual and emotional strain, especially for a young, developing mind, can be unfathomable. If so many were so vigilantly impassioned to wiping your grandparents’ generation off of the face of the earth, maybe they were right that there is something deviously wrong with your people. Why should he want anything to do with Judaism under such circumstances? If he's going to alienate himself, it should at least be for something good.

Again, I am careful to distinguish between over-inundation with the Holocaust and with education. The problem begins when a Jew focuses on the grim calamities that began in that morbid generation over the joys of being a Jew. Being a Jew is a great thing and a gift, although it takes a paradigm shift to truly appreciate it. Seeing Jewish identity in terms of the Chosen People versus the Hated People can fill one with a sense of appropriate self-esteem. Perceiving that the single most important event in Jewish history was not the Holocaust on the mountains of Hell, but the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai, can permeate one’s heart with joy. Comprehending and contemplating on the fact that God Almighty drives the events of this world instead of a party of fanatical, murderous apes, is the window to solace.

A fantastically large rock has been dropped in the path of an outstanding source of light. That rock is the Holocaust and that light is the Torah. There is no denying that the Holocaust occurred and that it should be studied. However, today’s Jew is free to side-step that pain and anguish and step into the light. We are detached enough to give ourselves a break and be liberated from the gnawing misery that obfuscates the sensational splendor of what it really means to be a Jew.

I cannot be so pompous as to suggest that my sentiment applies to all Jews. However, part of what pushed me towards the mindstyle of observant Judaism was a distinct feeling that a feeling of self-disgust lingered in the psyche of the Jewish People. If that doesn't apply to you then by all means ignore what I said. If you were mentally healthier than me, I applaud you. Nevertheless, since then observance has provided me with many good things, but at that time its main function was to loosen the restrictions of a damaged Jewish identity.