September 1, 2019
The Judaism of Sinai and the Judaism of Auschwitz are merging, resulting in new visions of Judaism that are only beginning to take shape. Each of the chapters of this book outlines an aspect of this work in progress, this “Torah of Auschwitz,” as we see how the ways of Sinai are being recast, the old wells redug, as Judaism is now being interpreted anew through the prism of this epochal event. Any new expression of Judaism to emerge must place the Holocaust experience directly at its core or it will not be authentic. But just as it cannot ignore the abyss, any modern expression of Judaism must also affirm joy, beauty, and moral grounding or it will not survive. Jewish revitalization will be assured when grandchildren of survivors and others of their generation can begin to take the darkness of the Shoah and turn it into song, absorbing the absurdity of a silent God while loving life nonetheless.