The Hebrew Prophets after the Shoah. Hemchand Gossai

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The Hebrew Prophets after the Shoah - Hemchand Gossai


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rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_15e0e1b3-3788-5f93-a415-26bbdb1cec77">13. Kast, Joy, Inspiration and Hope, 25–26.

      1

      The Post-Shoah World

      The issues of understanding and memory are arguably no place more poignantly present and urgent, as in remembering and speaking about the Shoah. The ubiquitous statement “You have to go through it to understand” and the many variations, do have truth, but along the lines of Langer’s observation that in fact while absolute identification is not ever fully possible, the story nonetheless has to be told. One might say with some certitude that no two Shoah experiences are in fact identical; the experiences are also shaped by worldviews, internal capacity for faith, fortitude, religion, etc. Yet, the story must be told and personal identification cannot become a moment of silencing the voice or truncating the story. One must step away from the comfort and boundaries of lived experiences, and modes of thinking, and find a way of entering into the stories so that we might give voices to the memory. We must give voices, for we, unless we are survivors ourselves, cannot remember, and so we give voices to the memory of those who lost their voices, and those who have remembered and left us their memories. Listening to the voices of witnesses, we in turn become witnesses.

      Rarely pursued is the issue regarding the prophets’ voice on behalf of the people to God. In this regard, Jeremiah and Amos are notable exceptions among the prophets, though Abraham, Moses, and Job also stand in the tradition of advocates though the divine responses vary. In the first instance the issue focuses on engaging God, but unlike Jeremiah and Amos, Isaiah is silent! God responded positively to Amos on both occasions, and Abraham stopped asking on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah, not God. So, one is left to wonder about Isaiah’s silence.

      Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

      And he said, “Go and say to this people:

      ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend;

      keep looking, but do not understand.’

      Make the mind of this people dull,

      and stop their ears,

      and shut their eyes,

      so that they may not look with their eyes,

      and listen with their ears,

      and comprehend with their minds,

      and turn and be healed.”

      Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said:

      “Until cities lie waste

      without


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