Shabbat, the War, and John Lennon

So, the weekend continued, we had Shabbat dinner- I left with a protruding belly and a new family of amazing people. The boys then took us out to a bar and a Russian club, both interesting experiences in the heart of Jerusalem. Russian immigrants here (Olim Hadashim=New Immigrants) are everywhere, and throughout the city you can see the effects of each homeland of the Jews and the richiness it weaves into the tapestry of the Jewish Homeland. Ethiopoian Jews, Russian Jews, American, Australian and French Jews. They all come with the same passion, wanting to share the dream of a unified Jewish people- a land where the Jews are safe.
Interestingly enough, I often talk to my friends here about contentious Jewish issues. The question that intrigues me most is ‘Do you think the Holocaust can/will happen again.’ Every time the answer surprises me- a resounding ‘yes.’ “It happened once, it can happen again. “ Or “it only happened 60-some years ago.” Maybe because I didn’t experiene this horrific event in the same way my friends here had, I still am in shock that a thing like this could happen again. I see Rwanda, Darfur, Armenia- all these devastating instances of humanity at its lowest and I wonder. If the world could let something as atrocious as the holocaust happen once, Darfur happen again, when will we learn to stand up and say no? At what point is intervention necessary to avoid things like this? At what point in history will this ever stop?
It makes me thing of Imagine- by John Lennon.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

“Never forget, always remember.” As I sat in the bus station in Jerusalem, a sweet elderly Israeli Lady leaned over my shoulder looking at my flashcards. I was learning the word forget. She looked at me and said “Never forget, always remember,” (referencing the holocaust) She said, “honey now do you understand the phrase? Remember your past. Never forget the tragedies of the world. This is what the Jews mean. This is what we mean.”