Fact: During the years 1933-1945, Germany, aided by other European countries, willfully murdered six million Jews.
Nothing in this post attempts to alter that fact in any way.
Looking back at the Holocaust from 65-70 years on, one sees European Jewry in the center of the stage, while the Land of Israel lies somewhere out there in the Middle East background, far, far away, serving as a place of refuge for the lucky few, and connected to the Holocaust only by race and religion - which for Jews are the same, the religion being the practices and customs observed by the race.
But adding a third dimension to that picture alters it greatly.
And that dimension is observed by adding just one word.
Time.
At what time did the holocaust occur: at what point in history?
The staggering number six million was "achievable" by Germany due to technology; the trains in which Jews were transported to the death camps feature in almost every film on the subject, whether documentary or fiction. Communications were certainly advanced at that time. Nothing like today, but neverthelss advanced.
[I have a book named "IBM and the Holocaust", written by a Jew, who says that IBM refused to assist him in his research on the book. During the '30s and '40s of the 20th century, IBM was promoting machines fed by punched cards for processing and sorting data, a process pioneered by Lord Byron's daughter Ada, who died in 1852! The point being that the book documents use of such IBM machines and cards in at least one concentration camp for sorting details about prisoners, with IBM personnel visiting the camp regularly, to service these machines.]
I have emphasised the importance of the part played by technology in the Holocaust, because it is the subject of a “prophecy” – although I prefer the word ‘determination’ - made by the holy book of Jewish mysticism – the Zohar – 2,000 years ago. It says that in the 6th century of the 5th millenium, i.e. the (Jewish) year 5600, which is 1839-1840 C.E., founts of wisdom will open, and this is directed towards Israel’s returning to its Land. In 1840, 9 years of Egptian rule over Palestine were ended by British and Turkish intervention, and the Turks regained control of Eretz Yisrael. The main force that removed the Egyptians was the (British) Royal Navy, in return for which Britain obtained from Turkey freedom to open consulates and embassies, and in general to open Palestine to the western world.
Just a few decades later the movement of Jews from Europe to Eretz Yisrael began, and has not ceased since then.
The ‘founts of wisdom’ thus opened turned out to be the Industrial Revolution, which greatly mechanised factories and improved transport everywhere, making what was then Palestine more accessable.
But technology aside, the word "pogrom" preceded the Nazi regime by centuries - and if not the word, the concept.
So what was so special about the early-to-mid twentieth century, during which the Holocaust took place?
The Return to the Land of Israel.
Theodore Herzl began his Zionistic activities at the end of the nineteenth century. The Land of Israel was already beginning to absorb Jewish immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe. Similar attempts to begin the Return to the Land had been made several hundred years before - students of the Vilna Gaon made Aliyah to Zefat some two hundred years ago. However, at that time the idea did not catch on.
But during the first thirty years of the twentieth century it was slowly but surely becoming clear that the movement of Return to Eretz Yisrael was gaining steam, speed, popularity and success.
I am saying here that the Holocaust was an attempt to prevent Israel's final redemption, which will take place in Eretz Yisrael, by reducing its number. And I'm not the originator of this concept.
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, writes in his commentary on prayer ("Olat Reiyah", vol I, pp. 387-388) discussing the number 600,000, which the Torah states is the number of males at the time of the exodus from Egypt. Rabbi Kook, who died in 1935, said that the redemption of Israel was dependant on the number of Jews in Eretz Yisrael. And that when the number of Jews in Eretz Yisrael would reach 600,000, "the House of Jacob will begin to bloom" (rough translation, but gives the correct jist). That number, 600,000 Jews, although this time including men, women and children, was reached in 1948 at the time of Israel's Declaration of Independance.
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Harlap, who followed Rabbi Kook as Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz Harav until his death in the early fifties, and thus lived through the period of the Holocaust and its aftermath (from within Eretz Yisrael), presents an even wider view of the Holocaust. In his book "Mei Marom book VI, Maayanei HaYeshua" p.213, in a brief chapter named "The Shedding of the Blood of Israel", he says that the forces of evil in this world sense the approach of the Mashiach (Messiah), and are attempting to prevent it happening. In a very similar vein to Rabbi Kook, Rabbi Harlap writes that the final Redemption is dependant on existence of a pre-determined number of Jews. So attempts at prevention of the final Redemption are "realised" by murdering Jews.
When viewed in the dimension of time, prevention of achieving the required number of Jews in Eretz Yisrael was the whole point of the Holocaust. And since the huge majority of the Jewish People at that time resided in Europe - that is where the "prevention" took place.
The relationship between the two numbers mentioned here - 600,000 and 6,000,000, one being a tenth of the other, is too great to ignore. I don't have an explanation, but the inter-connection can't be dismissed as coincidence.
The whole point of 20th and 21st century anti-Israel propaganda, is thus a flimsy smoke-screen. The people who post here and elsewhere on the so-called "suffering" of their Arab "brothers", couldn't really give two hoots about them. Their activities are entirely key-board driven, with the occasional demonstration thrown in for good measure. Nothing more; it's the same with the "Peace Now" movement in Israel. Did you ever see any of them donate large sums of their own money to "alleviate" so-called Arab "suffering"?
They won't understand this - it's way beyond their capabilities, in the same way that the Nazis wouldn't have agreed with one word I have written here.
Makes no difference. The facts are there.
