Normandie and Tough Questions.

Ok, so I have a ton of little posts to make. It's been a while since I last posted, and I want to write it all hehehe. IES sponsored a weekend trip to Normandy a few weeks ago; we went to the WWII Memorial museum in the city of Caen (pronounced kinda like con), the Bayeux Tapestry exhibit in Bayeux, Omaha Beach and the American military cemetery, Point du Hoc, and finished up with the German cemetery. Of course we had a lot of fun, as usual, but I think all of us also did a lot of thinking and discussing. No one could go to any of these places (except maybe Bayeux--tapestries are great, but not the most philosophical of subjects) without taking a hard look at the world.

Like most people, the Holocaust draws my attention like no other historical event, and it weighs heavy on my heart. Many ask themselves what they would have done in that situation--if they would have leaned out the window and cheered on the German soldiers carting away their neighbors, or if they would have stood up and fought, hid them in their cellars or attics. I think that's a good question. But I think an even better question is to ask myself what am I doing now? Our world has not changed, and until it is redeemed, there will always be evil, always be injustice. The 27 million human beings imprisoned in the horrors of human trafficking are evidence enough. I say this because when I think of the Jewish people--persecuted, hated, treated like animals, massacred mercilessly--I feel anger and deep sadness. But I do not want it to go to waste. Compassion is great, but if it does not result in action, it counts for nothing. We say we study history to learn from it. So let's do it for a change. These are just my thoughts.