Religion In The Holocaust

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The Holocaust was a disaster that affected not only the lives of many people, but also their beliefs. The basis of traditional Jewish theology is the belief that God exists as an omnipotent being that chose the Jewish people as a holy nation. Many of the ideas that stemmed from this can be challenged by the events of the Holocaust, and lots of questions have arisen as a result. In the bible God says to the Jewish people “…you are to be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy and I have separated you from the nations to be Mine” Leviticus 20:26. The covenant established between the Jewish people and their God would be everlasting and was made up of God’s promise to protect the descendants of Abraham forever more and the promise of the Jewish people…show more content…
Biblical texts state that God is forgiving, merciful, loving, omnipotent and above all, good. Yet how can it be true that God forgave the Jewish people for their sins and had the power to prevent the Holocaust but did not do so? It leads to the notion that either God is not all powerful so was not capable of thwarting the atrocities of World War 2, or God is not altogether caring and merciful. Ignaz Maybaum examined this concept further by stating that the Holocaust was God’s judgement over the past. He believed that “Hitler served as a divine instrument for the reconstruction of modern Jewish life.” In his mind it was clear that the death of 6 million Jews took place because as a community, Jews are responsible for each other’s actions and there had been enough sin for God to take necessary action. This is a very extreme response and it would be difficult to find many people supporting…show more content…
Some of the persecuted who managed to survive found their faith in God strengthened and believed that their survival was solely due to his actions, whereas others felt almost guilty for their survival and claimed that their faith had been destroyed along with the lives of their families and friends. The Holocaust has been used to claim that God’s existence is an impossibility or that even if God does exist, Jews should abandon the concept of such a being. This view has radically changed Jewish theology and has presented a number of challenges to those who still have
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