This month marks 69 years since the State of Israel passed the “Law of Return,” giving the right to every Jew to come to Israel as an immigrant.
How significant it is that this law emerged in the aftermath of the Holocaust, especially as we came to comprehend that six million Jews were massacred – not only because of Hitler and his barbaric acts, but because of the many countries that barred their gates to Jews trying to escape Europe at a time when it was still possible for them to hope for refuge elsewhere.
A Jewish Agency shaliach serving in the United Kingdom in the 1970s spoke words that resonate with me to this day. He told the Aviv (young) section of British WIZO, “We lost six million Jews not simply because of Hitler but also because of the passive collaboration of the free world.” The countries that closed their gates share responsibility for the horrific annihilation of two-thirds of European Jewry.