Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum)

As I stood at the Yad Vashem
I told myself, “Baruch Hashem,
That I was born at better times
And did not suffer from Nazi crimes.”

The Nazis took six million lives
Of Jewish husbands, children, wives,
And, as I stood, I asked the Lord,
“What have we Jews done to the world?”

Did we deserve to lose the lives
Of our husbands, children, wives?
Had our suffering been just?
Had our killing been a must?

We gave the world our biggest love,
But hadn’t that ever been enough?
We gave the world our greatest minds
In every field of every kind

We gave Albert Einstein and Karl Marx
We gave the chess and science stars
We gave George Gershwin, Mendelssohn
And Heinrich Heine and Agnon.

We gave Franz Kafka, Jesus Christ,
The winners of the Nobel Prize,
Gave talents to the human race
Who made the world a better place.

We gave the world our greatest love…
But hadn’t that ever been enough?
And, once again, I asked the Lord,
“What have we Jews done to the world?”

The Inquisition tortured us,
And the Crusaders murdered us.
The Arab Muslims slaughtered us.
Pogroms in Russia massacred us.

The Nazi devils murdered us
In massive chambers filled with gas…
There aren’t that many left of us
But they can’t murder all of us.
 
Our suffering has been immense
But had it ever made much sense?
And, once again, I asked the Lord
“What have we Jews done to the world?”

I stood silent at Yad Vashem.
Looked at the sky and said “Hashem,
Explain to me, Almighty Lord,
What have we Jews done to the world?”