Cedarhurst shul hosts Kristallnacht remembrance

Theodore Roosevelt IV noted the importance of knowing history

Posted

Kristallnacht, which is also known as the “Night of Broken Glass” occurred 80 years ago on Nov. 8-9, when thousands of Jewish synagogues, businesses and homes were destroyed and the violence is considered to be the start of the Holocaust.

The battle cry “never again” applies to the Holocaust as well as Kristallnacht, and to help ensure that what happened is never forgotten, the Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi synagogue in Cedarhurst held its 15th annual commemorative event on Nov. 7.

Rabbi Yaakov Feitman, the shul’s leader, spoke about how this anniversary takes on so much more meaning after the tragic event in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27. He aimed to make one point very clear throughout his speech. “The Nazis did not only try to destroy buildings that night,” he said. “They tried to kill the spirit of the Jewish people. But they did not succeed, because we are here tonight,” he said.


Theodore Roosevelt IV, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt discussed how his grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., changed from being an isolationist to become both an activist and a World War Two military leader as he rose to the rank of brigadier general spurred by the rabid anti-Semitism of Charles Lindbergh who supported Adolf Hitler through what was known as the America First Committee.

Roosevelt IV said that events such Kristallnacht and the recent Pittsburgh must be remembered for them not to be repeated. “Be better human beings, remember these events for them to never happen again,” said the first non-Jewish guest speakers in the event’s history. “Our public life depends on people who take in an active interest in public life, who have a good sense to know what honesty and competence means,” he added.
Asked after the program why it is so important to remember Kristallnacht, he responded. “As civilized people, we must realize how important it is to remember history,” Roosevelt IV said.

David Klein, the son of Holocaust survivor Cecile Klein, read his mother’s poem “Promise,” which focuses on remembering the slaughter of 13 million people, including six million Jewish people. “We must be remembered, all must know,” she wrote in the poem. Cecile read her poems at the shul. Since she died, Daniel has read her poetry.

Rabbi Ephraim Polakoff, of Congregation Bais Tefilah in Woodmere, compared the Jewish people to sand, glass and metal in trying to show how strong this religious and cultural group has been through time. No matter the pain the Jewish people endure, no matter who tries to break their spirit (like the Nazis broke the glass on Kristallnacht), Jews will always come back stronger and better. “We can be rebuilt and reconstructed into something better than before,” he said. “We always bounce back.”