In a Holocaust Remembrance Day interview Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi HaGaon HaRav Yisrael Meir Lau Shlita commented on Jews living in Berlin today. “Any Jew is a Holocaust survivor” exclaimed the rav, who himself is a child survivor of Buchenwald. Speaking with Walla News the former Chief Rabbi of Israel explained he lost his parents and an older brother in the Shoah. He opted to address the trend of those who leave Israel to live elsewhere, especially Israelis moving to Germany.

“As one who loves Eretz Yisrael and as one who sees his home and future here, I did not leave the Diaspora to return to it. All the children living in Israel are their children. There is no doubt that we did not return home to cut ourselves off.”

“It is very sad and it shows we have not learned the lessons of history. There are struggles and dilemmas but we do not have another Homeland. This is our home. To the young returning from the March of the Living I say they should kiss the ground. You simply do not know how to appreciate this but I do.

Are you pained on a personal level?

Rav Lau:

Quite. I see them turning away not only from the past but the future. The moment one assimilates chas v’sholom, the moment one cuts oneself off from one’s homeland, ones nationality and Jewish heritage represents a loss with oneself. It represents a spiritual loss, suicide. We have this strong core that remains, one that is difficult to maintain”.

When asked about Israel’s future Rav Lau remains optimistic, acknowledging “yes we take a blow here and there” but he explained to the secular Israeli news agency that HKBH remains here for us and he is confident that the future is a bright one.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)