The Hardest Thing To Do

I always say, forgiveness is something that is not for the faint of heart. The truth is that forgiveness is harder than harboring hatred, it is harder than pushing the pain deep inside and burying it, and it is impossible to live without. What the Nazis did is unquestionably evil and wrong, but at the same time by wishing death and pain a thousand times worse upon them, does that make us any better? It does not. The strongest people are people that have lived through pain and let it go. The ultimate pain, to me, would be watching your entire people die and knowing that it is coming for you too. It was a hard fact to face, but it was the reality of the situation. By letting hatred for those who have done you wrong fester inside of your soul, you are letting evil into the most intimate and precious places of yourself. By letting hatred be the root of your existence, you have let the “bad guy” win. To forgive is the hardest thing to do, but to hate is to lose your purpose and your life. We must always forgive, but not forget, no matter how hard it may be because without forgiveness we have become the thing we hate.

-Erika-

Forgiveness

Forgiveness
In the All About God website, they define forgiveness as “giving up my right to hurt you, for hurting me.” I do believe that Elie should forgive the Nazis because many people that were there killing them weren’t doing it because they wanted to, they were doing it because many of them may have wanted to save their own lives. If Elie had the choice to kill or be killed I am quite positive he would have done the same thing that had done. Although he, his family, and friends were treated in the worst way possible, forgiving them could maybe make her life easier. Elie and many others may emotionally and spiritually be set free by just forgiving the punishers that have destroyed their lives and have forever given them permanent nightmares. It may take them much time to forgive the punishers and holding in the pain could make everything worse, but by forgiving they could help release much of the pain inside of themselves. Even though the hurt and pain will always be with them, forgiveness is the key to unlocking the door to a peaceful existence.

http://www.allaboutgod.com/

Forgiveness and the Future

Elie should approach forgiveness of the Nazis thinking of his future state of mind and well-being because forgiveness, one of the toughest choices man must deal with, plays a big role in mental health later in life. Since the Jewish population does not believe God can forgive transgressions between man and man, Elie should forgive everyone who had a hand in the Holocaust, as he himself can only forgive. Forgiveness, the key to future sanity and well-being, will allow Elie to get over his past and become a stable, productive person in society. Elie needs to let go of the past because it cannot be changed in any way; what happened can no longer be taken away. If Elie will not let go of the past, he will never embrace his future; his past will haunt his life, thoughts, and dreams throughout the rest of his life. In addition, Elie cannot hope to receive forgiveness in future situations if he cannot give forgiveness in the present. It would be hypocritical to think one should be forgiven after constantly refusing to forgive another. In conclusion, with his future in mind, Elie should forgive those who have trespassed him so he can be happy in the rest of his life.

Forgiveness bringing Peace of Mind

When it comes to the act of forgiveness you have to put your feelings and past behind you. Forgiving is important because it helps yourself and others move on from whatever situation that has intruded in your life where people may do you wrong, in this case being the Holocaust. Everyone makes mistakes, that is part of being human and no matter how horrible the situation a person has the right to be forgiven at least once. The right thing to do is a different opinion among most people. Everyone has a right to an opinion and relying forgiveness on opinions does not make sense. Once you forgive someone for their actions they can go on living their life and fixing what they did and you can go on living peacefully. If a person asks your forgiveness then they are sorry for their actions and they have courage enough to admit that they have done wrong. Although not all who ask for forgiveness should be forgiven, there are some who only ask forgiveness for their own well being, but they will never change their ways. There will always be different opinions on whether or not to forgive another person but most will find it in their hearts to forgive.

The path to FORGIVENESS is not always the easiest one to take.

When asked about the topic of forgiveness one must understand that it is not always so easy to forgive as it should be; especially, if they have been betrayed by their own human race. In the case of Elie Wiesel, he should not forgive the horrible acts done to him even though some might say forgiveness is the path to inner peace. Elie should never have to forgive the people who took everything from him; his pride, health, even his family, all of which gone in the end without even a single ‘sorry’ by one of the Nazis. In the Jewish religion, since God has no say in whether man can forgive man, Elie has no duty to forgive the Nazis. It has no impact on Gods decision to let him into Heaven or not, so as long as he stayed a good Jew he would still be able to get a free pass into Heaven. In conclusion Elie should not be judged if he decides not to forgive those people, but should be accepted as someone who could not find enough strength to forgive and forget.

In the Search of Happiness

In order to gain closure and move on from an incident causing much pain and heartache such as the Holocaust, one must find the strength to forgive the people who commit such horrible acts. Survivors unable to let the pain go and forgive will physically live on, but mentally and spiritually they will never be alive again. To be a true survivor, one must be able to live a happy life after a terrible event and can only begin to live again once they have achieved peace in their heart and in their soul. A survivor of the Holocaust must fully accept what happened to them and their loved ones in order to begin the process of forgiveness needed to achieve peace within their hearts. Other survivors, like Elie, need to find the strength to confront this inner turmoil. The strength to confront inner turmoil comes from realizing the only way to free oneself of it is to not forget but forgive the tormentors. Forgiving people who have done horrible things to you and ones you love is on of the hardest things you must do, but you have to do it to attain true happiness.

Culminating Assignment

In the light of the Holocaust, the topic of forgiveness might stir some rousing discussion. Wiesel ends Night with his rescue and never addresses the topic of forgiveness until later writings. However, another Holocaust survivor, Simon Wiesenthal, dedicates his entire novel Sunflower to the topic. When Mrs. Bethune and I heard two survivor testimonies this last summer, we were given the chance to ask questions after the speakers had finished. Both speakers were asked if they had been able to forgive those who had persecuted them and both gave diametrically opposing answers. When asked if she had been able to forgive the Nazis, one survivor without hesitation retorted, “Never!” The other survivor described how he went through a “process” of forgiveness. For our culminating discussion of Wiesel’s Night, each of you will examine your personal views on the subject of forgiveness. As you tackle the subject, it is important to understand the Jewish perspective on forgiveness. Jews believe there are two types of forgiveness. There is God’s forgiveness and human forgiveness. Humans cannot forgive transgressions between man and God, and God cannot forgive transgressions between man and man.
For the culminating assignment, you will be composing an essay. The essay will be composed with the following guidelines:
• One paragraph
• 166 – 216 words
• No more than nine sentences
For your topic you should assume the position of Elie Wiesel and determine how you would approach the subject of forgiveness. How would you approach the subject of forgiveness if you were in Wiesel's shoes?Create your topic/thesis statement around one of the following:
Elie should forgive.
Elie should not forgive.
The body of your essay should describe how and/or why.
POST ON THE BLOG
Good luck!

Jews and Gentiles

How did the Nazis determine if someone was Jewish?
They would look back at people’s histories and see if their ancestors were Jews and even if their great grandfather were a Jew they would still consider them a Jew by relation. Also, the German soldiers would walk into the synagogues and demand the membership list from the rabbi. (wiki.answers.com)

If a Christian says they are not a Christian, are they still a Christian?
If a Christian denies being a Christian are they still a Christian? If they deny being a Christian it’s like they’re denying God. And if your denying God your not a true Christian. And you can believe in something else that isn’t God, so therefore you would not be a Christian. But that does not make you a bad person.

If a Gentile marries a Jew it doesn’t make the Gentile a Jew unless they decide to convert to a Jew?
Just being married to someone doesn’t mean you must have the same faith. Many people choose to convert to their spouse’s religion but some stick to their own faith. (wiki.answers.com)

-Natasha A., Wade T., Seyd P., Donnie P., Shelby R.

Which were you?

1. How did the Nazis determine if someone was Jewish?
A. Well you could walk in to any community and tell if it was a Jewish community. Then they could also look at records. And also last names can tell if the person was of which race, sometimes.
2. If a Christian says they are not a Christian, are they still a Christian?
A. Yes and no. It all depends on how you say if you’re not a Christian or not. If you say you’re not a Christian just to cover up so you won’t get yourself in trouble, then yes you are still a Christian. But if you strongly believe that your not a Christian, and you don’t believe in any of the religion, then you are not a Christian.
3. If a Jewish woman marries a Gentile, is the man considered Jewish?
A. It depends on how the marriage goes. He could become a Jew if he wanted to, or it could be the other way around. He could have her become a Gentile instead of a Jew, but it still the fact that she was a Jew, and during the Holocaust, there were many who didn’t even know that they were Jewish till the Nazis showed up at the front door and took them away. So to answer this last question, it could go either way, it all depends on the agreements in the marriage.
McCool Group
Alex Siebert, all alone.......

Us

Race or Religion?

Jews were determined by their backgrounds. They were traced all the way back to their grand parents and great grand parents. They were required to hand in paper work when the Nazis came to each town. They had to prove they were Aryan all the way back to 1750. It was said that later on the Jews were determined by their isolation in the ghettos.
It depends, if you say they you not a Christian there has to be a reason to why they would say something like that. Anyone can say they are or their not a Christian. Only God really knows if that person is truly a Christian or not. Being a Christian is your choice and your choice only. In our eyes to be Christian you should believe in God and practice the faith. The "Torah" forbids a Jewish man to marry a Gentile woman, and if he does, his children will not be Jewish. If the women is Jewish and she marries a Gentile man her children with be Jewish. Some of the survivors probably didn't even have homes to go back to anymore. Some might have went back but all of them didn't. In a way it probably did help them get stronger. After everything they were put through wouldn't that make you stronger as a person? We think if we were in their shoes it would be very hard to get over what we went through, but in the end you realize you made it and that has to make you a little bit stronger.

Resources:

http://www.holocaust-history.org/questions/definition.shtml

http://christianpolitics.today.com/2008/10/30/anyone-can-say-they-are-a-christian/

http://www.beingjewish.com/identity/whoisajew.html

McCool Group- Shelby E., Nikki W., Scott B., Mike M.

Once a Jew...

Once someone in your family was a Jew, even if you didn’t believe, you were still a Jew. They also were prejudice, if you didn’t have blond hair and blue eyes they usually thought that you were Jewish. Abandoned, even if say your Jewish religion was abandoned, say your parents were Jewish, but you didn’t want to, well when it came down to it you were still considered a Jew. Even if you didn’t breath the Jewish life, breath the faith they did, you still lived with the Jewish life. You couldn’t run away from it, you couldn’t hide from it, if one of your parents were a Jew, you were one to. So to determine if they were a Jew, if your parents lived the religion or if your grandparents followed it, they put you as a Jew, they put you down as different.
To say that you aren’t a Christian, is to be scared of his power. If you were once a Christian and then when life is down we kind of just kick him to the curb. He never gives up on us, so why should we have room to? We think that if you were a Christian and then you give up, then it’s kind of a no. If you don’t want God in your life then you deny him. They abandoned him, even though he still accepts them, they gave up, why wait? Once faith is abandoned, life is done, there’s no one to praise no one to thank. So are you still a Christian if you don’t believe?
The torah forbids a Jewish woman to marry a gentile man, but if they do if they have children they are still Jewish. Now if a man marries a gentile woman and they have children they will not be Jewish.
Survivors, when life ends from a sight of hell, life stays in shock. It became a blur. Many of the survivors were homeless, wondering of where to go. They didn’t want to return to that part of home where families were taken property was lost and life ended. Who would want to return to the start of death?
Home, when home is where life ended, they didn’t want to return. It was what was left of a terrible memory. They didn’t want to return to where life was taken over by men who saw themselves as God, where hell became visible, where children were dogs. Where reality didn’t seem real, where it was so real that they could touch it. They didn’t want to touch that part of death anymore though, who would want to return to their grave that took everything?
The international community opened their arms to those children who didn’t want to look at soup, didn’t want to breath death anymore. They took in the Jews like orphans, they cared. In a way it was like a hug from God saying, that he cares and he always will.
McCool Group: Andrea, Lindee, Kyle, Brady

Resources: http://www.beingjewish.com

How did the Nazis determine if Someone is Jewish?

As I read the posts from this morning, I see that the answer to the question of how the Nazis determined if someone was Jewish still eludes those who have tried to figure out the answer. It is a difficult question, but rather than having everyone continue to wrestle with the question, I am linking you to a source that accurately describes German law during the time of the Third Reich. Use this article to guide your group discussions.
The Concept "Jew" in Nazi German "Race" Legislation

answers to questions

One way the Nazis determined if you were a Jew is if people had brown hair and brown eyes and where they lived. If they lived in a Jewish community then they where considered a Jew. Also, by their background like if they where born a Jew or had Jewish ancestors. If they converted to the Jewish religion they where taken to be a Jew.

No, because you can choose to be a Christian or not. It isn't something your born into like being a Jew or Catholic.

No he is not because the Torah says the only way the man can become Jewish is if he converts, he cannot marry a Jewish woman to become Jewish.
(http://www.beingjewish.com/)

Some Holocaust survivors returned home and others did not. Some didn't even have a home to go to anymore. Many Jews went to "Displaced Persons Camps" which became their new home. Also, many Jews moved to Great Britain, France, Canada, and America to start a new beginning. The international community helped them by opening their borders and allowing them to move to their country. (http://night2007.wikispaces.com/Aftermath+of+the+Holocaust?f=print

By:E-Dizzle, Chop Suey, and Ray-D-Ation, Ashtard

Home

1. The Nazis determined whether or not a person was a Jew by official documents such as passports and other government issuances stating their race. Also, there were many all-Jewish communities in Poland and Germany.

2. Christianity is a religion, not a race. Someone who says they are not a Christian means that they are not a Christian. Christianity is strictly a religion, and those people who are Christians would never deny it.

3. If a Jewish woman marries a Gentile, the man wouldn't necessarily be a Jew. We think that the man would still be whatever he was before. Just because someone marries into a Jewish family doesn't mean that person has to share the same beliefs.

After the Holocaust, some of the survivors went home. Others probably tried to make a new life for themselves in other places. The Jews wouldn't have much left from their lives before the Holocaust. It would be really hard to go back to the same life, and bring back memories of how their lives used to be.

By: Elizabeth, Sam, Samantha, Taylor