RABBI EPHRAIM EPSTEIN Congregation Sons of Israel I was asked to write a Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Memorial Day piece. Yet I am aware that this issue of the Voice is being delivered and read right smack in the middle of the festive holiday of Pesach. I feel I cannot ignore Pesach, but I must also address Yom Hashoah. So I started to consider the common threads that run through both holidays. Then it hit me - Vehee Sheamda !

Every year at the seders, we raise our glasses of wine with joy and sing, Vehee Sheamda Laavotaynu Velanu. Shelo Echad Bilvad Omod Aleynu Lechalotaynu Ela Shebechol Dor Vador Omdim Aleynu Lechalotaynu Vehakadosh Baruch Hoo Matzilaynu Meyodom.

It is this that has protected our forefathers and us for in every generation they have arisen and attempted to do us in, but G-d has reliably and continuously rescued us from destruction.

Pharaoh in Egypt orchestrated the first Holocaust that ever was. Our sages have taught us that 80 percent of the Jewish people did not take part in the Exodus from Egypt. They died during the plague of darkness or in an attempted escape earlier then Divinely ordained. That means that well over 10 million Jews perished during the Egyptian persecution.

The prayer above, that we chant with joy, foreshadows all of the other oppressions that we experienced throughout the generations. Under the rule of the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Almohads, the inquisition, until the Third Reich and Hitler (may his name be erased). Each one of our enemies in his own unique way tried to eliminate Jews and Judaism from their midst. Similar rhetoric is spoken by our current Arabic enemies who wish to drive us into the sea. The Nazi Holocaust reverberates strongest in our minds because it is most recent and because all Jews alive today are either from a family of survivors or are acquainted with families of survivors- so it hits close to home. However, all of world history is laden with attempted assaults against our people Israel.

There are two compelling and powerful lessons that we may take from exploring Passover along with Holocaust Memorial Day.

"Too many of our people were not fortunate enough to have survived our enemies and the evil they demonstrated As stated above, 80 percent of the Israelites perished in Egypt, and over 30 percent of world Jewry was decimated in Europe. G-d has made clear promises to our people in the Bible that the Jewish people as a nation will never disappear, but G-d does not say that we will be numerous. There are no individual guarantees.

Many who miraculously survived have been resilient, creative and powerful and have helped reshape and rebuild our nation time and time again. Every Jew alive and well today has a great opportunity and a great opportunity and great responsibility to strengthen and rebuild our Holocaust shattered nation. It is nothing short of miraculous that in the 60-plus years since the Holocaust we have accomplished advances in almost all fields all over the world and most importantly in our own sovereign state- Israel.

Every one of us matters! We cannot afford to spare one soul from our people. Today, in addition to rising antisemitism in the world we also face an internal crisis of attrition.

What our enemies have tried to do over the millennia we are doing to ourselves. With a low birthrate, assimilation and intermarriage we are inviting a bleak tomorrow.

We may not have control over our enemies, but we do have control over ourselves. Let's strengthen ourselves and each other. Let's take pride in our heritage and invest our energies in learning the eternal Torah and practicing its timeless lessons and commandments. Let's package up the unmistakable and irresistible nachas we enjoyed at the Seders and create a lot more of it throughout the rest of the year.

Don't let these vital lessons of Passover pass us by. Mi Keamcha Yisrael- There is no one like the people of Israel. We are the most successful people in world history and the most persecuted people in world history - we have literally lived the song of Chad Gadia!

This Yom Hashoa let us pledge to remember the heroes of our people that were tragically and brutally murdered. Let us also resolve to carry the torch that Moses ignited and the Nazis tried to extinguish. Let's increase our Jewish pride and strengthen our nation as best we can.

There is a beautiful custom to hold onto a little piece of the Afikomen all year long until the next Pesach. Let's also hold onto the joy and the pride the greatness and the quest of being a Jew in the 21st century all year long. And as the Haggadah states clearly: May we be together next year for Passover in Jerusalem. . rabbiepstein@sonsisrael.com