The Promise

This past Shabbat, Shabbat Lech Lecha, marked eighty-two years on the secular calendar since the Kristallnacht. The day before my youngest grandchild had his brit milah and entered the covenant of Avraham. His birth brought the total of my father’s descendants to thirty souls, none of whom, if the Nazis had had their way, would have ever been born.

This quiet revenge of survivors is a common theme in my writings. It’s common because it’s important. One can’t help but marvel how so many left the ovens of Europe to rebuild their lives and restart beautiful families. Yet, we shouldn’t be amazed. After all, in the Torah portion of Lech Lecha we just read the promise made to Avraham, the father of the Jewish people, is clearly stated. I shall make you a great nation, I shall bless you, and I will make you famous; and you will be a blessing. I shall bless those who bless you and curse whoever curses you.

History has proven the truth of these verses over and over. Where is the Holy Roman Empire? The Golden Age of Spain? The Third Reich?  Kingdoms come and kingdoms go. The Jewish people are blessed and we’ll outlast all who desire to destroy us. My grandson’s birth is just one more proof of the truth of the promise HaShem made to Avraham so many eons ago.

Am Yisroel Chai. The Jewish people are eternal.

My novel, Growing With My Cousin, a good winter read, is available at Jewish bookstores and on line at  http://www.feldheim.com/growing-with-my-cousin.html or https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Cousin-Ester-Katz-Silvers/dp/194635113X/