Frank Sinatra sang, “Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again, too few to mention” and Edith Piaf sang, “Non, Je ne Regrette Rien” or “No, I do not regret anything.” I wonder how that could be or should be. Were they so callous that they never regretted their mistakes? If we do not regret our mistakes, how can we learn from them?
Last week Rabbi Dean challenged us to “…make meaning of memory.” How can we do that if we deny the past? Should we forget painful acts done to us and by us? Can we? I know I can’t. I know guilt can be toxic, but isn’t the lack of guilt narcissistic or even psychopathic?
In our Siddur I found the following on the page opposite the K’dusha for Shabbat morning, “We are a people in whom the past endures, in whom the present is inconceivable without moments gone by.” (p251).
We must learn from our past, not deny it, even if it is unpleasant or painful. For example, the history of slavery, Jim Crow, xenophobia, antisemitism, and racism in the US needs to be remembered. Censoring it in the name of patriotism or labeling it “critical race theory” does not erase it. We must take responsibility.
This morning I read the following online in the The Times of Israel.
The head of Germany’s parliament arrived in Israel on Wednesday to participate in a series of events to mark the national Holocaust Remembrance day. Bundestag President Barbel Bas was welcomed at an official ceremony in the Knesset, during which she said, “The lessons of the Holocaust oblige us to give no place to antisemitism. Germany’s responsibility hasn’t ended…I bow my head humbly at the inconceivable suffering of the victims of the crimes against humanity committed by the Germans.”
I find this commendable. Words can never compensate for the horrors of the Holocaust, but maybe by the act of remembering and admitting responsibility and regret, just maybe, some future atrocity may be avoided.
I have regrets, but I hope that my regrets of the past will inform my future actions.
From the President – April 29, 2020
April 29, 2022 by tbhrich • president
Frank Sinatra sang, “Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again, too few to mention” and Edith Piaf sang, “Non, Je ne Regrette Rien” or “No, I do not regret anything.” I wonder how that could be or should be. Were they so callous that they never regretted their mistakes? If we do not regret our mistakes, how can we learn from them?
Last week Rabbi Dean challenged us to “…make meaning of memory.” How can we do that if we deny the past? Should we forget painful acts done to us and by us? Can we? I know I can’t. I know guilt can be toxic, but isn’t the lack of guilt narcissistic or even psychopathic?
In our Siddur I found the following on the page opposite the K’dusha for Shabbat morning, “We are a people in whom the past endures, in whom the present is inconceivable without moments gone by.” (p251).
We must learn from our past, not deny it, even if it is unpleasant or painful. For example, the history of slavery, Jim Crow, xenophobia, antisemitism, and racism in the US needs to be remembered. Censoring it in the name of patriotism or labeling it “critical race theory” does not erase it. We must take responsibility.
This morning I read the following online in the The Times of Israel.
I find this commendable. Words can never compensate for the horrors of the Holocaust, but maybe by the act of remembering and admitting responsibility and regret, just maybe, some future atrocity may be avoided.
I have regrets, but I hope that my regrets of the past will inform my future actions.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when? -Rabbi Hillel
~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel