RIP Simon Wiesenthal
Simon Wiesenthal Dies at 96
Simon Wiesenthal was a Holocaust survivor who dedicated most of his life to tirelessly tracking down Nazi war criminals and making sure they were prosecuted. He was the loudest voice there was to "never forget", to stop neo-Nazism and its offshoots from gaining any ground, to stop anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice. I did at times disagree with him, most notably on what I believe to be minimising the effect of true anti-Semitism by equating it with disgust at the actions of the Israeli government and refusing to consider that any modern genocide could be as terrible as the Holocaust; but there were other times when he took unpopular stances such as not condemning everyone who took part in the Nazi war effort where my respect for him, always great, grew ever deeper. With his death, I have to wonder who will now be the voice for six million murdered Jews and who will continue to remind us not to forget.
Unfortunately, my keyboard can't do Hebrew letters, so this transliteration of the Mourner's Kaddish will have to suffice:
Yit-ga-dal ve-yit-ka-dash she-mei ra-ba be-al-ma di-ve-ra chi-re-u-tei,
ve-yam-lich mal-chu-tei be-cha-yei-chon u-ve-yo-mei-chon u-ve-cha-yei de-chol beit Yis-ra-eil,
ba-a-ga-la u-vi-ze-man ka-riv, ve-i-me-ru: a-mein.
Ye-hei she-mei ra-ba me-va-rach le-a-lam u-le-al-mei al-ma-ya.
Yit-ba-rach ve-yish-ta-bach, ve-yit-pa-ar ve-vit-ro-mam ve-yit-na-sei,
ve-yit-ha-dar ve-yit-a-leh ve-yit-ha-la!
she-mei de-ku-de-sha be-rich hu,
le-ei-la min kol bi-re-cha-ta ve-shi-ra-ta, tush-be-cha-ta ve-ne-che-ma-ta,
da-a-mi-ran be-al-ma, ve-i-me-ru: a-mein.
Ye-hei sha-la-ma ra-ba min she-ma-ya ve-cha-yim a-lei-nu ve-al kol Yis-ra-eil, ve-i-me-ru: a-mein.
O-seh sha-lom bim-ro-mav, hu ya-a-seh sha-lom a-lei-nu ve-al kol Yis-ra-eil, v-i-me-ru: a-mein.
Simon Wiesenthal was a Holocaust survivor who dedicated most of his life to tirelessly tracking down Nazi war criminals and making sure they were prosecuted. He was the loudest voice there was to "never forget", to stop neo-Nazism and its offshoots from gaining any ground, to stop anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice. I did at times disagree with him, most notably on what I believe to be minimising the effect of true anti-Semitism by equating it with disgust at the actions of the Israeli government and refusing to consider that any modern genocide could be as terrible as the Holocaust; but there were other times when he took unpopular stances such as not condemning everyone who took part in the Nazi war effort where my respect for him, always great, grew ever deeper. With his death, I have to wonder who will now be the voice for six million murdered Jews and who will continue to remind us not to forget.
Unfortunately, my keyboard can't do Hebrew letters, so this transliteration of the Mourner's Kaddish will have to suffice:
Yit-ga-dal ve-yit-ka-dash she-mei ra-ba be-al-ma di-ve-ra chi-re-u-tei,
ve-yam-lich mal-chu-tei be-cha-yei-chon u-ve-yo-mei-chon u-ve-cha-yei de-chol beit Yis-ra-eil,
ba-a-ga-la u-vi-ze-man ka-riv, ve-i-me-ru: a-mein.
Ye-hei she-mei ra-ba me-va-rach le-a-lam u-le-al-mei al-ma-ya.
Yit-ba-rach ve-yish-ta-bach, ve-yit-pa-ar ve-vit-ro-mam ve-yit-na-sei,
ve-yit-ha-dar ve-yit-a-leh ve-yit-ha-la!
she-mei de-ku-de-sha be-rich hu,
le-ei-la min kol bi-re-cha-ta ve-shi-ra-ta, tush-be-cha-ta ve-ne-che-ma-ta,
da-a-mi-ran be-al-ma, ve-i-me-ru: a-mein.
Ye-hei sha-la-ma ra-ba min she-ma-ya ve-cha-yim a-lei-nu ve-al kol Yis-ra-eil, ve-i-me-ru: a-mein.
O-seh sha-lom bim-ro-mav, hu ya-a-seh sha-lom a-lei-nu ve-al kol Yis-ra-eil, v-i-me-ru: a-mein.