The Amish have come to apologize for the Holocaust

  -- NRG



ok. not quite sure what to say. I don't even know how they got here - don't they not use modern inventions and electricity? they don't even drive cars.. did they fly on a commercial airliner or did they take a steamboat?

This is interesting. The Amish, who generally eschew modern technology, have come to Israel, by airplane, to apologize to the Jews for not standing up and defending them during the Holocaust.

The Amish community also used the opportunity to express its commitment to standing up and defending Israel in the future.

From the JPost:

Representatives of the Amish community from the United States and Switzerland paid a visit to the Western Wall on Saturday night, during which they asked the forgiveness of the Jewish people over their group's silence during the Nazi's extermination of Jews during the Holocaust.


Part of what made the visit so special is the fact that Amish, a split-off from the Mennonite Church who largely reject modern technology, do not normally use contemporary transportation forms such as the aircraft on which they made the journey to the Holy Land.


According to an announcement issued by the office of Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites Shmuel Rabinovitch, with whom the group met, the Amish delegates saw a great importance in coming to Israel and expressing their contrition, as well as declaring their unreserved support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.


The delegation members stressed that they are neither seeking any kind of gesture from the Jewish people nor to proselytize, only to support Israel for the simple reason that they haven't in the past.


Rabinovitz was presented various tokens at a ceremony in the Hassmonean chamber, including a parchment with the request of forgiveness in the name of the entire Amish community. The Amish representatives also gave a commitment that from this time on, they will loudly voice their support of the Jewish people, especially in the wake of the expressions of hatred by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad and his extensions.


The delegation left Israel on Sunday.

Two points:
1. They blend right in at the Kotel. Most people probably did not even realize that an unusual group was there...

2. It takes some serious conviction to break a life rule because you think you need to somehow correct something that you did wrong a long time ago.

The picture was taken during a recent visit by the Amish to the Chabad community. For more pictures see the Chabad website.

The visit for some reason even made it to Foxnews. They have their article on the visit listed in their list of "Top Stories".

At a workshop where a young man was touching up a Torah, a scroll of the holiest Jewish writings, Epstein told the group how a Jew in wartime Germany had rescued the sacred scroll by wrapping it around his midriff under his clothes as he fled to safety.

The Amish listened, commenting to one another in Pennsylvania Dutch, a dialect of the German of their ancestors.

When Epstein, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., had first greeted the Amish with the Yiddish "Zei gazunt!" — "be healthy" — they understood. After all, the expression is derived from the German word "sei gesund."

As the two groups walked side by side on Brooklyn streets, Crown Heights residents did double-takes; the Amish could be mistaken for Lubavitchers at a quick glance. But their hats are more square and their ruddy complexions from working outdoors contrast with the pale faces of the studious, urban Lubavitchers.

Hasidic children in Crown Heights begin their formal schooling at age 3, and by age 5 are studying many hours a day. At the headquarters on Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway each day, dozens of men gather to pore over religious books, with little boys dashing around as their fathers fervently debate fine points of the texts — sometimes sounding more like spirited poker players than religious faithful.

John Lapp and his wife, Priscilla, brought their three children on the tour. John Lapp said the ties to the communities might be more surface than substance.

"In some things we are alike, like our clothing and our traditional beliefs," he said. Priscilla Lapp added, "And in some things we are not. The biggest thing is that Jesus is our savior."

The groups also toured a Jewish library and a "matzo factory," where round, unleavened bread was being made for the Passover holiday.

There, a cross-cultural misunderstanding caused one of the Jewish men to look at the Amish, and ask, repeatedly, "Are you from Usbekhistan?"

An Amish man, also confused, asked, "Afghanistan?"

Finally, as they were leaving, another Amish man announced to the matzo-makers: "We're from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania!"

"In some things we are alike, like our clothing and our traditional beliefs," he said. Priscilla Lapp added, "And in some things we are not. The biggest thing is that Jesus is our savior." is the quote that I would nominate for quote of the day, if just for the fact that it provides for such humorous comments against Chabad (if I was wont to make such comments...)....but I will not say the jokes...