Monumental -yet devoid

Warsaw is full of Holocaust history, the building where the S.S. was located, the mass grave of 10,000 people who died in the ghetto, the site of the last bunker used during the Ghetto Uprising . . . yet for some reason, a massive monument in the middle of a park made in the 1950's is the place for tourists to commemorate Warsaw's bloody past. Go figure . . .
A bunch of half naked supermen armed to the teeth like Rambo always seemed like a more accurate depiction of the war . . .
*Ach*
Anyhow, a large a group Israelis -over ten charter buses showed up.
They were typical Israelis . . . a few guys came over and rolled up their sleeves right away, most of them told us to come back when the ceremony was done (which we couldn't -as it was very close to sunset), and the rest told us to get lost -and that was when they were being nice.
When they started with a song -however- that was the clincher . . .
For it was not 'Ani Ma'amin' -sung by Jews as they marched to the Gas Chambers.
Nor was it 'Kel Maleh Rachamim' -the traditional prayer for the dead.
Not even was it one of the many songs created by the Partisans.
It was the Theme Song of "Schindler's List"
Now, don't get me wrong -I happen to find John William's soundtrack for the movie to be both haunting and poignant . . . but still . . .

This was little more then the 'religion of the Holocaust' -a chance to remember the past how we'd like to remember it then how it really was . . . A self-serving move that enables us to feel good (or rather feel bad -which then in turn makes us feel good . . . avout feeling bad.)
Instead of saying that the Holocaust will motivate us to "end all genocide", we must bring it down to a practical level . . .
Why not help a sick person in the hospital?
Put on the Tefillin that so many who died could not?

But then again, that would require us to do more then feeling good that we feel bad.