In October of 1916, with regard to the domestic issue of temperance, the Reverend Charles F. Aked stated that: “It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.”
I find it ironic that this quote, which is so adaptable to a host of social & political issues, was not applied to the Armenian Genocide (read holocaust if you like) in which the Ottoman Empire undertook the systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects from their historic homeland. Armenians were not the only Christians to be targeted this way; the Ottomans also attempted to exterminate Christian Assyrians and Ottoman Greeks as well.
This policy of annihilation began in 1915 & continued throughout World War One; the precise era in which Reverend Aked’s quote concerning the evils of alcohol was issued. This systematic extermination of innocent people has a distinct religious component that would manifest itself again, 25 years later with the Nazi’s final solution for the Jews in Europe. I do not know to what extent, if any, the Armenian Genocide influenced Hitler, but I would suspect that, at the very least, he was certainly aware of it. As far as I know, modern Turkey, successor to the Ottoman Empire, still denies that the Armenian holocaust was a genocide.
The Armenian Genocide & Hitler’s final solution are not the only attempts to exterminate a group of people. The list, sadly, is much larger and includes at least one other attempt on the Jewish people. Why are such tragedies tolerated? Perhaps it is human nature that when such devastation occurs far away or concerns others, good people put the carnage out of mind. That is to say, “That for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.”
I think, currently, we are witnessing a resurgence in fanatic genocidal politics. Moreover, one has to be blind not to see the distinctly religious nature of these renewed attempts at extermination: Christian school girls abducted, Jewish shops attacked, synagogues threatened. Though I must admit a lack of knowledge regarding what the issue is with the Kurds, it is clear to me that certain religious groups have no fear of targeting for death those whose beliefs differ from their own.
While many of the perpetrators of these senseless acts of terror try to shift the blame for their crimes by claiming that their actions are retaliation for depredations perpetrated by the State of Israel, the truth belies these claims. Leon Klinghoffer was a disabled American appliance manufacturer who was murdered and thrown overboard by Palestinian terrorists who hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985 because he was Jewish.
The recent shooting at the Great Synagogue on Krystalgade in central Copenhagen during a bat mitzvah ceremony attended by 80 people, as well as the recent hostage situation in Paris, testify to the renewed vulnerability of innocent Jews, Israeli or not, as well as others. These are not “anti-Israel” actions, these are “genocidal kill the Jews actions”. To blame the victims for the crimes of the perpetrators is a cowardly canard. “For evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.”
A long time ago there was an attempt to annihilate the Jews of the Persian Empire, not by outright attack but by deceit & subterfuge. A courageous Jewish woman stood up for her people & foiled the plot. These events, if they be history, are recorded in the book of Esther which we read every year on the festival of Purim. Esther was scared but she did what she had to do, expose the plot to her husband the king.
When Esther confessed her fear to her uncle, he councils her: “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” That is to say, she should not think the danger far removed from herself simply because she is royalty.
We learn a lesson from this courageous lady & her wise uncle. We American Jews should not think the threat far removed from ourselves. In a post 911 world, in a post Charlie Hebdo world, it is not safe to shut our eyes & ignore reality. Our most prudent course of action against another holocaust, imagined or real, is a safe, secure & strong Israel. Those Jews who undermine that goal, may suffer a fate for which they are ill prepared.
“It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.”
The time is now to do something.
Shalom uverakha (peace and blessing),
Rabbi Ronald B. Kopelman
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