Rabbis Message:

As you all know, this past April two days after Passover, I had the extreme privilege of being the Rabbinic/Pastoral care counselor on the March of the Living. It was an honour and a privilege on a number of levels but primarily because I was tending to the spiritual and religious needs of some of Montreal’s finest young Jewish adults, one hundred and seventy to be exact. I say adults although some would argue that they are children. I disagree. These wonderful students might have left Montreal as children, but no child can walk through the gas chambers of Auschwitz / Birkenau, Majdanek, Treblinka, the labor camp of Plashov, the mass graves of the Lupochowa forest experience what they did an remain an innocent child. The outward demonstration of pain suffered by these innocent students was so awfully agonizing for me to watch. They spoke of feelings of helplessness, anger and bitterness yet they also spoke of feelings of becoming connected to their heritage and their Judaism. As these emotions took grip the bond between student, chaperone and rabbi grew intense as we supported each other trying to come to terms with what had happened merely because we were Jews. I watched these young men and woman take in the horror of the worst atrocities committed by man against man. These students grew up overnight realizing the responsibility that was now upon them as heirs to survivors who would soon be no more.

There are times that we are given honours and privileges which we have well earned. Other times we are given these honours because of the office we hold which I guess we deserve as we hold that particular office. Then there are times when we are given an honour that is so great yet humbling that you know there is nothing you could have done to justify having received it. Such was the case when on Monday, April 12, at the Auschwitz concentration camp, I was given the honour of leading the Canadian delegation of the March of the Living from Auschwitz 1 to Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau). There standing in the front row hand in hand with survivors Rena, Ernest and Ella, Steve and Teddy I walked the three kilometers. Although it was a great honour, it was one for which I felt and still feel completely unworthy.

Poland was not all pain and anguish. Together we painted a rich tapestry of five hundred plus years of Jewish history that made Poland the jewel in the crown of European Jewry. Discussions with the students confirmed a new pride in being Jewish as they visited the sites of the great European Rabbinic masters. All in all it was an inspirational, motivating yet highly emotional trip. A trip that changed the life of us all.

I consider it an honour and a privilege to have served our community in this holy work.
Rabbi Alan W. Bright

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