In 1948, Israel was a small nation fighting for survival. Now it has one of the strongest economies in the world, a population amongst the happiest, with one of the most efficient defense forces. We might understand why some Jewish people look to Israel to fulfil their messianic hope, even though Israel is increasingly secular.

Some go further. They blame God for the Shoah. As there is nothing worse that He can do, we should all discard the God concept, abandon the idea of covenant. All nations are alike, just politics and power. Survival is the only valid protest against the Shoah. In fact, the Jewish people rising from the ashes of the Holocaust embodies the spirit of survival.

If we listen carefully to the angry voices, we will meet the human behind the words, hurting, confused, railing against injustice and inhumanity, and on the attack. Some of us become atheists because we believe God is impotent, or indifferent to our suffering. This is a paradox. After all, we cannot judge someone who does not exist. However, they make a good point and put religion on the spot. Religion cannot accept the Shoah as an act of God. Instead, we should be fighting against it in His name. Our anger has its proper work. It can motivate and energise us to fight injustice, but should we choose to stoke the furnace of rage, it will consume us. Rage forces us to act but it can never let us sleep.

Alternatively, there are others whose whole hope is in heaven. The survival of the Jewish people, in the face of continual persecution, is a witness, within history, of God’s presence. They want miraculous intervention. Maybe this has happened already if Isaiah’s prophecy is relevant? ‘Who has ever heard of such events? Can a land pass through trail in a single day? Or is a nation born all at once? Yet Zion travailed and at once bore her children!’

Both attitudes seem incomplete. In this image, I have tried to say that often heaven is revealed in ordinary ways. It has been revealed in the people who have worked hard, with dedication and have given their lives for love of their nation. Their successes fulfil Biblical prophecy. The same happened in Nehemiah’s time. Exiled Jews returned to their land and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. They built, they held their weapons and they prayed.

In reality, we do not have one without the other. One motivates the other. We work hard but we are not alone. We work in tandem with the Divine.

In Exodus, God speaks to Israel using the eagle analogy to explain how He rescued them. ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.’ So, it cannot be a surprise to discover that Hitler, personally, designed his own eagle insignia for his Nazi party. David Moss, in his Haggadah, points out how ‘virtually all countries that persecuted the Jews used the eagle symbol. In coins, standards, shields, and coats of arms, the terrifying image recurred,’ from Antiochus Epiphanes of the Hanukkah story onwards.

Here, the eagle is reclaimed as a symbol of faith. It denotes strength, renewal and hope.

People have responded to the Shoah by rising above the storm, renewing their strength in practical ways together. They have turned their attention to survival and rebuilding their community. We may not be part of that particular work but we can each find our own unique contribution to our spiritual renewal.

Walk

There are three things that Micah, the prophet, says we need for a good life. We act with justice, love goodness and we walk modestly with our God. If there is an apt protest against the Shoah, this would be it. We affirm the faith, as well as the life, that Hitler tried to destroy.

God is not hiding here. He is not unreachable or untouchable. He is out in front, leading and shielding the follower. It is a human instinct to hide when we feel shame or fear. We hide physically, or we hide behind lies and pretense, but God does not need to hide like us. He may seem withdrawn at times, but He has made us a promise that if we make a heartfelt search for Him, we will find Him.

We have a choice, we can walk away and file for divorce because the Shoah proves that God does not exist and we don’t like Him anyway. Or, we can protest against the prejudice, pursue our covenant partner and walk with God. The testimonies that came out of the Shoah give us confidence. From them, we can piece together a picture that confirms the Biblical portrait of God as good, draws Him as faithful and reassures us that He is with us. As Hugo Gryn says, ‘We are not powerless. There is evil and good in the world and we are not so much the chosen as the choosers.’