Why the nightmare?

Evidently Pakistan decided to follow India's example. Yesterday, they tested a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead! The rocket launch by North Korea last week was supposedly disguised as carrying a satellite while in fact it was a test of ballistic missile technology.

Pakistan, North Korea and Iran are backward Third World countries. The pictures seen daily, of widespread poverty in Pakistan and North Korea make one wonder: “Whatever happened to reason and priorities?” These are countries that are still to move into the 21^st century. India too has a majority of its population in Third World living conditions!

Their obsession with nuclear weapons, when the rest of the world seems willing to move away from the falsity of peace by conquest seems to make no sense. Too much of the world resources has gone into the machinery of war at the expense of human welfare.

Today is the 26^th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Twenty six years later, and Pripyat is still a ghost town. Thousands of lives were lost and thousands more altered forever.

In a news segment on NHK World there was a report of a nuclear waste site in Finland which is still under construction. It is believed that burying the waste 420 meters underground, the area will be safe. What is not known is the effect 3,000 years later!

It is a nightmare that will linger for thousands of years and thousands of generations. The people of Cincinnati still remember the secrecy and the poisoning of workers at the Fenald Nuclear facility.

How long will the nuclear nightmare linger on?

Detente by a fifth grader where giants failed

This is not the first time to comment on Samantha Smith, who at age 10 in 1982, wrote a note to Yuri Andropov, then Soviet leader, when the U.S and the U.S.S.R were locked in the hostilities of the Cold War. At the time, U.S president Ronald Reagan had embarked on massive military build-up, supposedly to counter communism.

In her letter, Samantha Smith asked Andropov if it was true that the Soviet Union was planning a nuclear war. She must have been influenced by the anxiety that prevailed at home. She also wanted to know if the Soviets had the intention of preventing a nuclear war.

Here is Andropov's response in a letter released by the Soviets on April 25, 1983: “Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are endeavoring and doing everything so that there will be no war between our two countries, so that there will be no war at all on earth”.

The horrors, fear and anxiety of the “nuclear monster” are still present today. Tomorrow, April 26 is the anniversary of the Chernobyl Accident (see the following article).Japan is still struggling to return to normal life after the nuclear accident at Fukushima-Daichi last year.

In the midst of these horrifying accidents from peaceful “nuclear energy” the world is locked in a struggle to contain North Korea and Iran in their quest for nuclear weapons. And what was that missile India tested last week?

Sometimes one wishes that there would be more Samanthas to soften hearts and reign in sanity.

After tragedy and mourning: Triumph

The cycle of rebirth and renewal after conquest and destruction is a familiar story in the Hebrew Bible. In the Jewish Calendar, two public holidays – in Israel – follow Yom HaShoah.

Today, Wednesday April 25 is Yom HaZikaron, Day of Remembrance of Israel's soldiers killed in wars as well as victims of terrorist attacks. At sundown, Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day celebrations will begin. The holiday is observed on Thursday, April 26.

Cincinnati is home to a large Jewish community, spiritually connected to the Israel. There are also many non-Jews who love the State and land of Israel, and certainly Christians have a spiritual connection with the Holy Land.

Mayerson JCC will host community-wide observances for both holidays on Thursday April 26 at 5:30 pm. Services for Yom HaZikaron will be held in the JCC building courtyard. As was the case with Yom HaShoah, the religious services will include prayers, songs and poems, in addition to lowering the flag and laying a wreath.

Israel's Independence Day – the 64^th anniversary – will be celebrated inside the JCC building. Activities planned for the occasion include a performance by the Israel Defense Force Choir, torch lighting as well as a flag and drum parade.

These observances are open to everyone with no charge. There will also be special events for children and teenagers so that the whole family can participate.

Just a reminder: Mayerson JCC's address is 8485 Ridge Road.

"Touch me and see"

The Gospel Reading for this Third Sunday of Easter is from Luke 24:36b -48. Jesus appeared to his disciples while they were engaged in a discussion of his resurrection. They were "startled and terrified". He asked them why they had doubts about his presence.

Jesus invited his disciples to touch his wounds to experience his presence.

Perhaps we are wondering why he still bore the wounds of his suffering even after the resurrection. Didn't he arise with a spiritual body free from any weakness, disease, suffering or death?

It is true he conquered all those; meaning they no longer have power. But the world is still broken. There is brokenness in Over the Rhine; there is brokenness in our schools; and there is brokenness in homes and in workplaces.

And yes, Jesus is inviting everyone with the same words he invited the disciples: "Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see..." The call is to recognize him in the wounds, in the pain, in the suffering of those around us.

There are many opportunities during this National Volunteer Month to experience Jesus' presence.

Days of Remembrance

As previously pointed out, Yom HaShoah – or The Day of Remembrance (of the Holocaust) fell on April 19, the 27^th of Nisan in the Jewish Calendar. The U.S. Congress established a week-long observance which this year falls on the April 15 – 22 week.

In Israel Yom HaShoah is a public holiday with all public entertainment closed. At 10 in the morning a siren is sounded and all traffic, every activity stops. Everyone stands in remembrance.

In addition to religious services and candle-lighting, songs and poems, there are different community-wide activities. Along with keeping the memory of those who perished during the Holocaust alive, education is another important goal of the day.

There is a need to educate the younger generation, some of whom may even be skeptical as to how the victims were unable to escape. There is need to combat skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the historical facts.

Locally, again, the Mayerson JCC will sponsor a special community-wide Yom Hashoah Commemoration on Sunday, April 22 at 2 pm. As pointed out earlier stories of survivors and others form part of the observance The story of survival during this special event will be by Sigmund Rolat. It is a special opportunity for everyone to hear first hand from one who experienced the Holocaust.

Again, the event is free and meant for everyone. The venue will be 8485 Ridge Road, Cincinnati.

There is still more to come.

Yom HaShoah: Why and how did it happen?

The horrors of the Holocaust were exposed to the world when the Third Reich collapsed marking the end of WW II in Europe. But the process of extermination of European Jews had been carried on for six years. The Final Solution established a system whereby thousands of Jews were killed in a matter of an hour – at industrial rate.

Ultimately, six million Jews – equivalent to two-thirds of all Jews in Europe – had perished by the gas chambers, along with others deemed undesirable by the Nazis: Roma – or Gypsies, Slavs, the handicapped, gays and lesbians, political and religious dissidents.

Why and how could one group of human beings turn against another group and commit such horrors for so long? How did the Nazis succeed to carry out their plan without detection? Did the world abandon the Jews and the “undesirables” of the Nazis to their fate? Could this horror have been prevented, and can a similar atrocity be prevented from happening again?

Those are some of the questions that the world must never forget to ask and to find answers.

The Holocaust Remembrance Day being observed today is a time to reflect on those questions. In addition, it a time to remember the victims, to hear stories from survivors – so that we never forget – and to honor those who acted, in whatever capacity, on behalf of the victims.

Locally, the Mayerson JCC is sponsoring events for this occasion and synagogues will have special services. There is still more to come.

Choosing to Act: Stories of Rescue

Today, Wednesday April 18, at 7 pm the Jewish community in Cincinnati will observe Erev Yom Hashoah with religious services at Congregation B'nai Tzedek.www.bnaitzedek.us Though in remembrance of the Jews massacred by the Nazis during WW II, these remembrances are for everyone, especially if the word humanity means anything at all.

Thus, the services are for eveyone but registration is required.

Yom Hashoah – literally, “The Day of Catastrophe” is also known as the Holocaust Remembrance Day (more on that next). It is observed with candle lighting, stories of survivors, songs, poems and prayers.

Tonight's events at Congregation B'nai Tzedek are being presented by the Mayerson JCC which will present more events during the week -long remembrance.

Mayerson JCC preserves the Holocaust Torah Scroll, which came from the Jewish community of Trest in Moravia. The services will honor the Trest Torah with stories and music.

There is still more to come on this week of remembrance, including the history behind it, educational information and stories of survivors and those who risked their lives as they made a choice to save their fellow human beings in persecution.