Toby Katz said this today:
"... we can say for certain that it is no coincidence the Holocaust started in Berlin."
And though I answered on the thread, I want to reiterate my objections to this pompous remark:
1 - So, Toby, we're reading God's mind, are we? You can say FOR CERTAIN why God does things? And you can say this without shuddering or blushing?
2 - Are you blaming the holocaust on the Reform movement? It sure sounds that way. Which is odd, because elsewhere, you've always been quick to explain away 1800 years of pre-Reform abuse of the Jews with the ever-convenient, ever-misapplied "esav soneh et Yaakov" So which is it, Toby? Are you certain the gentiles hate us and will always hate us for absolutely no rhyme or reason? Or are you certain that Reformers caused the death of 6 million Jews, among them millions of non-Reform Jews?
3 - What about all the non-Reform Jews who lived in Germany? All the great Rabbis who made up the German-Jewish community from Gershonides to Samson Rephael Hirsch? Had they no zechus (merit)? Please Toby, if you do have the power to read God's mind, don't leave out the good stuff: Tell us how He appropriates communal blame.
4 - The Holocaust started in Berlin? Don't Jews who dislike and misappropriate history usually say that the holocaust "started" with World War I? Anyway, was the first Jew killed in Berlin? No. Was the first concentation camp built in Berlin? No. Did Hitler first propogate anti-Jewish laws from Berlin? No. Was the Final Solution planned in Berlin? No. So in what serious sense did the Holocaust start in Berlin?
5 - What about the gentiles? Don't they share any blame for the Holocaust? Why do you spout inanities like this about Reform Jews, but cringe when I point out that the Holocaust was perpetrated in the heart of a Christian continent, with the help of Christians, Christian leaders and Christian institutions. Why do you fight me when I remind you that their anti-Jewish theology led to countless Christian massacres of Jews and prepared Europe for the ultimate massacre? Why are you so quick to put forward this absurd, hatemongering, notion that Reform Jews caused the Holocaust, but so unwilling to put the blame where it really belongs?
On the subject of the Holocaust, why do you always defend Christians but incriminate Jews?