This evening I will also remember those families who were killed in the Holocaust, whole communities of Jewish people, over 11 million. That's a lot of killing.
I went to visit a Holocaust survivor yesterday. She's 95. She told me that her whole family were killed by the Nazis.
"There's only me!" she said and she held out her hands and shrugged. I don't want to try and imagine such pain but I will, tonight, when we share a special Seder meal with friends because only by remembering can we hope to stop the slaughter of humans by humans.
And now to accept the Reality Award from Anne and Lizy. I have questions that must be answered:
1. If you could change one thing what would it be? I would change our ability to hate and hurt.2. If you could repeat an age what would it be? I'd like to be a kid again, that age when I truly believed that my Mother's kiss would cure everything.
3. What one thing really scares you? The unknown.
4. If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be? This is a toughie but I wonder what kind of world we'd be living in now if I chose to be Eve and I refused to be tempted by that serpent?
Passing on the Award:
It's really, really difficult choosing people to pass awards on to. I don't like missing people out. It feels a bit like choosing your teams at school so I apologise if I've not included you, but on this occasion I'm going to indulge myself and choose the three bloggers/tweeters who keep my spirits up when I'm low, keep me grounded when I'm in a flap and who have become my genuine friends even though we've never yet met in real life. They are:
Anne Mackle at Is Anyone There? and @cassam101
Carol Hedges at Carol Hedges and @carolJhedges
Jo Carroll at gapyearsthebook and @jomcarroll
Happy Passover, Rosalind. Enjoy your sedar meal. I visited Dachau Concentration camp years ago when I was on holiday in Germany and it was so sobering. Humanity should never, ever forget.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog and will be back.
Thank you, Maria, I will. I've never been brave enough to visit a Concentration Camp even though I know that burying my head in the sand doesn't make it go away.
DeleteI love learning about other people's traditions and beliefs. Thanks for sharing this. Can I ask what the different foods are, and why you eat them particularly?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure whether it's appropriate to wish you a 'happy' Passover - given that it's a time for remembering such distressing events. Is Shalom right?
Because flour is not allowed a lot of food is made with ground almonds (very rich) and we have matzo meal that is a course type of flour. My favourite is a pancake made with course matzo meal and egg that's called bubelas. And happy Passover is more than acceptable. Thank you :-)
DeleteHappy Passover Ros. I too love hearing how people celebrate and we should never forgot the holocaust, it's still so hard to comprehend how human beings could treat others so badly.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for my blog award,I glad to be considered a friend and I'm sure we will meet one of those days.
Thank you, Anne. I never cease to be shocked at what one human can do to another. At the risk of sounding 60s hippie - Peace! And meeting up would be good... one day!
DeleteThanks for the compliment, dear friend! I shall be delighted to accept!. Do you remember having to learn the 'ma nishtana? just in case you were ever the youngest at table' I could recite it word perfect at 5. I taught it to Hannah, who can still recite part of it.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the Mah Nishtana. I thought I could still recite it by heart until last night but I now realise that the memory is failing me!
DeleteHi Ros .. interesting read - I don't like to think about the Holocaust - as I'm a wimp and it appals me ... I really don't think I could visit a Concentration Camp or similar ...
ReplyDeleteThe Passover Seder Plate is interesting - I hadn't come across it before .. symbolising eggs, parsley, bitter herbs, lettuce, special piece of meat (eg a shankbone), fruit and nut paste, and finally unleavened breads ...
I went to a Russian Evening Paschal Vigil years ago ... very memorable ...
With thoughts for a peaceful Easter week ... Hilary
Yes, everything represent the bitter times, the tears and the re growth and rebuilding. Have a lovely Easter, Hilary.
DeleteOooh Eve... that's definitely a question worth pondering!
ReplyDeleteI suppose it's a bit like a historical 'sliding doors'.
DeleteHappy Passover.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a proponent of teaching my Sunday school students about other religions, so would prepare a seder for them and teach them about what the traditions represented. There's so much we can learn from each other. Then again, if you'd been Eve and made a different choice, who knows where we'd all be today...?
Teaching different religious practices is such a great thing to do :-) and if I'd been Eve we might still have been in the Garden of Eden but I bet it wouldn't have made us happy!
DeleteHaving the ability to change people's ability to hurt each other would be so amazing.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed Passover. :-)
It would mean the end of all wars! And thank you, Misha.
DeleteHow very kind, Ros - I'll have a Good Think on answering those great questions.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. I look forward to reading them.
DeleteThese are great comments. How I wish we could stop hurting each other. I visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem a couple of years ago and couldn't stop crying. What a great answer that you'd be Eve for a day :-) Happy Passover.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan. I couldn't bear to go to the Holocaust Museum. You're very brave.
DeleteHappy Passover. Your answers are rather deep and thought provoking. Here's to peace and no hate.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joanne, yes I did have a bit of a serious moment there :-)
DeleteCongratulations on the award. You know, I was five when the second world war ended and the only war memory I have is of a little Jewish girl that came to stay with neighbors of ours. She had black hair and large dark brown eyes and she never played with us. I don't know why, I don't know what her story was, I don't even know how long she stayed with that family, and I don't know what became of her. I was only four or five, but I have never forgotten her and she has come to represent the horrors of the Holocaust for me. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's how I feel.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know I'm number 320. I have to go and check out the A to Z site, I haven't been there for a while. it's getting closer.......
What an amazing memory. I find it particularly moving that you say she came to represent the horrors of the Holocaust for you. I wonder what happened to her.
DeleteHappy Passover, and thanks for explaining its meaning. We have Easter next weekend - they always come close together, don't they!
ReplyDeleteThis is something that I've never understood. Both festivals rely on counting the moon in some way each year to establish their date so they neither of them correlate to any date on the Western calendar and yet they're never at exactly the same time as each other. Strange.
DeleteWhat a wonderful post about the meaning of Passover. This is the first year that my family was unable to share a Seder meal together. My husband has been out of town for three weeks, trying a murder case, my elder father couldn't make the trip and my kids and I are in Florida for spring break. I missed it. I think it is wonderful that you had the opportunity to visit a Holocaust survivor. Far too soon, there will be none living. The tragedy of the Holocaust makes my heart cry and I want to ensure that our generation and those behind us, continue to spread awareness so that the horrific time in history is never forgotten and never repeated.
ReplyDeleteI love your answers to the questions, especially the one about changing our ability to hate and hurt.
I am a new follower. I am making the rounds and trying to meet all of the 2013 A to Z blogging challenge helpers. Thank you for your part in this awesome challenge and I will be back next week to read your post.
Sorry to hear that you've had to spend your Seder evenings without your husband. It should be a time for family but that can't always happen. Thanks for the follow and I look forward to seeing you in the A to Z.
DeleteJust wanted to answer your question re. diabetes. I have adult onset Type 1, which is pretty rare. I was 49 when I got it. I am glad I didn't get it as a child or young adult. That must be so very difficult. But easier now with the pump. I think the worst is when they get to be teenagers and have that need to fit in and the belief that they are invincible. I've had a pump since 2000 and it really helps so much to control it. Are you ready for the A to Z? I have the first half of the alphabet done, hopefully, the rest will all work out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response, Inger. I've emailed you. And in answer to your A to Z question, I thought I was getting on fine with the planning until someone pointed out to me on Twitter that it's this coming Monday! Now I'm panicking!!
DeleteIt's so nice that you spent time with the Holocaust survivor. It's such a tragedy that she lost her whole family. There are survivors who have only recently begun to share their experiences, as they were far too painful to talk about. Congrats on your award! Happy Pesach Rosalind!
ReplyDeleteJulie
It's truly was a tragedy, Julie. I hope you're having a great Pesach too.
DeleteWhat a great award! I love the message/meaning of Passover. It is only the the remembering that we have a chance of not repeating the past. It is something we all need to do.
ReplyDeleteIn theory it's right but in practice there are still far too many atrocities going on in the world. Too distressing!
DeleteSo sad about what happened in the holocaust. I have many frinds who have memories pertaining to that dreadful time. One neighbor, who left Poland and came to England, has approached me to write about his life. I'm considering doing just that.
ReplyDeleteYou should write it, Francene. He has a story to tell and you have the skills to record it. I look forward to reading it.
Delete