Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
The Holocaust: Who or What Was to ‘Blame’?
Whenever the topic of the Holocaust is brought up, you can feel the tension rise in the room. The small Jewish group I facilitate was no exception. In pursuing the topic recently, I learned a great deal, not only about others’ thinking, but about the issues I had been struggling with for years.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the Germans and the war and atrocities they committed; I’m referring specifically to whether G-d was to “blame” for letting the Holocaust take place, or whether the Jews were responsible, at least in part, for their own deaths. As you can imagine, it can be a pretty dicey topic to tackle, but I believe that it was worthwhile.
Almost everyone in our group believed that G-d should have interceded before 6 million Jews and a total of 12 million people died. I was prepared to present a more complex point of view, and I proceeded to lay out my own thinking.