Yom HaShoah. Today is the anniversary of the biggest genocide against the human race, especially the Jewish people. This year, more than ever, we know what it means. We’ve lived it on a smaller scale. Actually, I made a calculation on two grounds. Number one: according to the numbers we have, the most exact number we have is 6,029,500 Jews who were murdered. And something hit me. We always say 6 million Jews. What about the 29,500? Nobody talks about them. “6 million Jews”—you’re going to tell me, “Well, compared to a loose number, 6 million Jews.” October 7th, they murdered 1,200 Jews. 29,500 Jews above 6 million is huge. 29,000. We just don’t talk about them. So again, it’s 6,029,500 Jews who were murdered.
To put it in perspective, because today we’re living days of a smaller Holocaust again, I made the calculation: how much is 6,029,500 divided by 1,200, plus 250 soldiers who died, plus 250 people who were hostages, 1,333 are still there, plus a few more who unfortunately committed suicide. I made a round number of 1,700. 6,029,500 divided by 1,700. The number is 3,546.7, October 7th. The disaster that is going on in Israel today, the sequels that will be left over, the PTSD that people are going through, the shambles, the balagan that the state is going through for an attack of the size of 1,200 people, plus to make it to 1,700, which is huge. Every life counts, of course. 3,546 times October 7th was the Holocaust. And today we live the hatred that is still anchored in the blood and DNA of those who hate us. It’s not understandable.
At the beginning, you try talking to anti-Semites. You tell them and you try thinking, why is there anti-Semitism? But when it becomes ridiculous, to the point that there’s no sense at all, for me, everything changes. As long as there’s some logic. Our Hachamim (sages) compared Egypt with Amalek. The Mitzrayim (Egypt), they had a reason why they hated us. We started becoming strong and numerous, and we took over the land. I’m not saying they were right. It’s anti-Semitism based on a reason that became real anti-Semitism. Amalek, there’s no reason. There’s nothing plausible. There’s nothing logical. And when there’s nothing logical, what do you do? There’s nothing to discuss. With the other ones, it doesn’t say, “Go away, talk, negotiate.” Whatever, you’ll find ways how to survive it. But Amalek, there’s nothing to talk about, because there’s no logic.
Our Hachamim tell us: in the world of love, if someone marries for money, if someone marries for beauty, the reason why they marry, the reason why they love each other, is over. Batel davar batla ahava, that there’s no more love. There is such a thing as love for the sake of love. L’shem love (love for the sake of love). Then nothing will shake that love. That’s what Pirkei Avot tells us. We could do the opposite now. Theoretically, you could say that sin'a, the hatred, is based on something logical. So then you could discuss it. You could sit around the table and negotiate. Batel davar batla sin'a, if that reason is over, you negotiate, you get to a middle point, you could get rid of the hatred. But sin'a she'eina teluyah be davar: The hatred that doesn't, is not based on a good reason. There’s no way to get rid of it.
When you see what’s going on in the universities outside of Israel, in the United States, in Europe, these people have nothing to do with this conflict. And you have people from the LGBT community: “Oh, from Palestine, we are Hamas, you are Hamas.” You wouldn’t last two seconds in Hamas. Take a one-way ticket there, because you wouldn’t come back. What kind of logic is that? Once you go into the world of the illogical, that’s real hatred. And that real hatred has nothing to discuss. There’s no verbiage. There’s no conversation. There’s nothing going to be exchanged. And that’s the scary part, in a sense. Once it is there, the conversation is shut. There’s nothing. We could only rely on Hashem. And Hashem gave us a Beracha (blessing).
And I’ll end with the following. Imagine World War II, if we had an army. Imagine. It’s 1939, Hitler comes into power, and he starts taking all the Jews of Germany and Poland. He starts sending them to concentration camps and then to extermination camps. And the State of Israel, powerful, on point: Hashem started the State of Israel in 1902, and they have a strong army. What would have happened? We wouldn’t have been mourning six million Jews today. Today, says the Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Lau, today is different. Hashem gave us a Beracha that the Holocaust should have been a lot more. It’s small. Why? Because Hashem gave us the Beracha that we’re able to defend ourselves. And because of that, today we’re living in a small Holocaust. It’s a big difference. And we have to count our blessings and compare the situations. But they’re both very, very sad. And we will never forget. We will never forget. The world forgets completely. But we don’t.