קדיש אחרון

Discusses various theological views on the Holocaust, rejecting the ideas that it was a punishment, a result of man's free choice, a continuation of the sacrifice of Isaac, a result of God's withdrawing his presence, or that it happened for unknown reasons (like the inflictions of Job). Maintains that there is a mysterious, albeit problematic, connection between the Holocaust and the birth of the Jewish state, and that the Holocaust was part of a transition from diaspora to redemption. According to the teachings of Rabbi Zvi Yehudah Kook, the Holocaust should be viewed from a larger perspective of Jewish history, since events in one generation can affect other generations. There have been many transitions, and they have been peaceful or tumultuous, depending on the merits of the Jews. The problem in the case of the Holocaust is its severity; its horrors are impossible to understand. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)