Night

I’ve always had an interest in Israel but mostly because of the Biblical significance and how it relates to my Christian faith.  However in recent days I’ve been very intrigued by its history in the 20th and 21st century.  I’ve been absolutely fascinated by the Jewish people and their struggle to exist as a people and as a nation.
I recently have been reading books and getting documentaries from Netflix about their war for independence and then the 6 day war.  I guess what has fascinated me the most is how despised of a people they have been.  A good portion of the world would like to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth completely.  What I find interesting is that the world for the most part stands by and for the most part idly accepts those feelings.

I just finished reading Night by Ellie Wiesel which is a first hand account of someone who lived through the holocaust.  I can’t remember reading a book that was so chilling and numbing.  Probably like much of the world thought at the time, my mind did not want to believe what I was reading.  I had the benefit though of historical fact, other testimonies, and the privilege of walking through the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem to aid my understanding.

Reading that book has given me a deeper perspective on what it must mean to be a Jewish person.  They fight against those memories every day.  And each new day is a fight to make sure it doesn’t happen again.