Holocaust Memorial Day

"Paschal Lamb" at our dining room

Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day where 6 million jews were exterminated by the Nazis. It's a horrific crime of human evil to kill someone out of hatred for race, language or religion. And don't forget that besides the 6 million jews, 5 million others were also killed: gypsies, Poles and other slavs, LGBT people, physical and mentally handicap persons, africans, Jehovah Witnesses, Protestants and Catholics. We have  Maximillian Kolbe, Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), Titus Brandsma, Bernhard Lichtenberg, Johannes Prassek and countless other priests and nuns who resisted the Nazis and were executed. At 10am sirens sounded throughout the country and people stopped for 2 minutes silence. This is the least we can do for the dead. "Never Again" is the call ... but will the world ever learn? ISIS continues to slaughter christians and other minorities today ... and this is just the tip of the iceberg.  http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/WATCH-Israel-comes-to-a-halt-as-sirens-mark-Holocaust-Remembrance-Day-488802

During this period of Easter, it's our tradition to bake "paschal lambs" - made of marzipan and almond paste. All our monasteries do this ... and the lamb is eaten bit by bit during the course of our meals during the Easter season. It's a good reminder for us today of our martyrs who were killed in the Holocaust but also in the Middle East ... that death leads to the Resurrection. Well I don't eat the paschal lamb because it's got almonds and I'm allergic to it.

Ironically here in this country where jews find safe haven from such monstrous evil, hatred and hate acts are also perpetrated by themselves. The Israeli Secret Service has arrested several jews including soldiers who have attacked arabs and other minorities.  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4952528,00.html  and  http://www.timesofisrael.com/6-israelis-including-2-soldiers-charged-with-attacking-arabs/   They were supposedly perpetrated to stop jewish girls fraternalising with arab boys ... well just read this blog and you'll understand the tension between love, race and religion in a tongue and cheek way    http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-arab-asked-me-if-he-could-use-my-sunscreen/

Cloudy gloomy skies on
Holocaust Day

Likewise yesterday saw an arab stabbing and wounding 4 people in a Tel Aviv hotel area, and this morning an arab girl wounding a soldier at Qalandya checkpoint. And while I just arrived home at our doorway, my security friends standing there told me they were receiving news that a man was seen walking with a knife just 30 meters from me. He was arrested immediately.

The temp. continues to hover around 14 degrees today despite the sun shining brightly behind dark clouds. It's cold especially when the wind blows. It's Holocaust Day weather.