There will always be deniers, those who manage in the face of the most overwhelming evidence to deny what is patently obvious. We are seeing it today on a surprising level, in regard to the atrocities of October 7 with too many in the world accusing Israel of lies and distortion.
But we should not really be surprised. People deny even the Holocaust so why not the seemingly isolated events of October 7?
Denial is a strong coping mechanism. Perhaps we see it more where Jews are concerned. Perhaps we see it more in this case because its horror causes us to question our most basic humanity. Perhaps we see it more today because while the Internet provides us with so much information and news, much of that information is video based. And video, especially with AI, can be easily manipulated and distorted. So it may be reasonable to question or dismiss much of what we see.
What cannot be questioned and dismissed as easily however, is eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness testimony, especially when it comes from hundreds or thousands of people corroborating the same reality without the filter of video, is far more difficult to dismiss. That may be why so much time and effort has been put into documenting the testimonials of those who endured the Holocaust.
For this reason, it is fascinating to note then the timing of the these tragic events. We stand at a moment in time when the final survivors of the Holocaust are still alive. They were the last generation to eyewitness the devastation of mass antisemitism. And soon they will be gone.
A new generation to witness the horrors of antisemitism
And remarkably, just as they go, a new generation comes. Ours. A new generation who saw with their own eyes, heard with their own ears, suffered with their own tears. New survivors to tell their story, to document reality in a way no video can. A new generation to make sure our children know and that the world never forgets.
We Jews know too well the suffering of antisemitism. We recant every Passover that in every generation we are threatened with violence and potential extinction. But living in the prosperity of the modern Western world, it has been easy for Jews to deny potential antisemitism and lull ourselves into the belief that it is a thing of the past, relevant only to the generation of the Holocaust but no longer real for Jews today.
We say we will never forget, but we Jews ourselves did start to deny. We recant every Passover that in every generation we are threatened with violence and potential extinction, but how many of us feel that as an actual possibility? Antisemitism on a national level seemed a thing of the past and our modern reality seemed somehow uniquely disconnected from Jewish history.
October 7 proved us wrong. It showed us brutally that antisemitism is not a story of the past. It is not only history but our reality. It threatens us today just as it did then. The eye witness accounts of the survivors have served not only to challenge deniers in the world at large, but also Jewish denial as well.
The timing of these tragic events seems to suggest that God will not let us forget even if we try to. By creating a new generation of witnesses just as the previous generation passes, God ensures the continuity of our awareness, that we cannot deny even if we want to. The world may have the luxury to do so, but denial is not a luxury we Jews can afford.
In truth, to be strong and prosperous as people and a nation, we cannot deny. We cannot pretend. We must face reality if we are to change it and it seems God is forcing us to face it anew in our generation. While that reality may feel tragic, facing it can also be an opportunity to change it, so that not only will we never forget, we may also never again have to endure.
The writer is a freelance writer and the best-selling author of Off the Derech and Hayotzim.