"By facing suffering I learn"
I learn to accept that we have to share our love with the whole of creation. (Etty Hillesum)
Jewish-German-Palestinian
holocaust memorial ritual
In the Spirit of Etty Hillesum
Invitation to a shared ritual in Tantur – Gilo, Jerusalem
Yom Hashoah 2010, Monday, April 12th, 4-7pm
Etty Hillesum was a Dutch Jew from Amsterdam. She was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943, at the age of 29. Her diary, written during the last two years of her life, is a testimony of love and compassion, of trust in life and deep spirituality. In the darkest time she urged to prepare for the new to come:
“And you must be able to bear your sorrow; even if it seems to crush you, you will be able to stand up again, for human beings are so strong, and your sorrow must become an integral part of yourself; you mustn’t run away from it.
Do not relive your feelings through hatred, do not seek to revenge on all Germans, for they too, feel sorrow at this moment. Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is it’s due, for if everyone bears grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge- for which new sorrows will be born for others - then sorrow will never cease in this world. And if you have given sorrow the space it demands, then you may truly say: life is beautiful and so rich that it makes you want to believe in God.”
In this spirit, we want to connect and to face the wounds of the holocaust. we wish to open our heart for the sorrow and to share our visions for a better future. We wish to do so through a ceremony that includes reading, sharing, chanting, praying, and also silent times for inner observation and reflection.
We meet together Jews, Germans and Palestinians because we believe that we have the responsibility, as individuals and as nations, to support each other to go on the path of healing. In the same day there will be held ceremonies in this spirit in katharina werk – switzerland and in Tamera Healing Biotope I - portugal.
The ceremony is free of charge. Donation is welcome.
For further information please contact: Michal Talya mtalya(at)gmail.com 052-34 04 107