Opening
Dear Friends,
Peace,
Shalom, Salaam, Namaste, Jai Jinendra, Sat Sri Akaal, Allah Abho, Hamazor Hama
Ashobed, Jai
Swami Narayan, Yali Madad and God bless you. All these greetings simply mean
that I acknowledge
and respect your presence.
Tonite, our focus is on the Holocaust, in particular reference to the attempted annihilation of Jewish people because of their faith. 6 Million Jews were massacred because of their faith. The whole world stood by and did nothing until after the genocide of a 3rd of the Jewish People….I would paraphrase Einstein’s wisdom: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ It is the silence of good people that is responsible for the evil more so than the people who do bad things. I hope each one of you at the end of the program, would walk out with a feeling that “I” must stand for justice and the least I would do is to speak. Never again, I would remain silent when I see an atrocity”
Tragically
we have seen more recent genocides and mass murders following the Holocaust.
The list is quite large. Much of this could have been averted, had the good
people acted in time. To make sure we do not forget to mention any name, I
would request all of us to follow a minute’s silence
and I would urge each one of you to remember each one of the
incidents and pray for the victims of such atrocities….
This event brings a closure in my life… when I was a little boy, my devout Muslim Mother took away the book from me about Holocaust, and asked me to read when I have the capacity to bear the suffering… I don’t know how many of you are chickens, I was one for many years… could not bear the sight of suffering when I saw the documentaries… of Holocaust. Finally, God has helped to me see it, feel it and gave me the guts to say Never again.
UN Resolution
Now, I request Beth Weems Pirtle, President of the United Nations Association Dallas Chapter to share a portion of the UN Resolution with us. It is also found in your program booklet.
Resolution
adopted by the General Assembly
Sixtieth
session Agenda item 72 05-48796
60/7. Holocaust remembrance
Honouring the courage and dedication shown by the soldiers who liberated the concentration camps,
Reaffirming that the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice,
1. Resolves that the United Nations will designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust;
2. Urges Member States to develop educational programmes that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide, and in this context commends the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research;
3. Rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or part;
4. Commends those States which have actively engaged in preserving those sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labour camps and prisons during the Holocaust;
5. Condemns without reserve all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, wherever they occur;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to establish a programme of outreach on the subject of the “Holocaust and the United Nations” as well as measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide; to report to the General Assembly on the establishment of this programme within six months from the date of the adoption of the present resolution; and to report thereafter on the implementation of the programme at its sixty-third session.
Thank you Beth.
Acknowledgements
Please allow me to acknowledge the following and due to the nature of the event, I request you to hold the applause and appreciate them in your hearts and minds.
- Hon. Rosalie & William Schiff who have come to share their experience with us.
- Our guest speakers are Beth Pirtle, Imam Zia Shaikh, Len Ellis and Harriet Gross
- Volunteers: We appreciate the volunteers Denise Mayoff, Anjum Anwar, Ashar Ahmed, Carli Johnson-Scott, Arvi Gallardo, Jazzie Ghouse and Najma Ghouse.
- Facility Staff: We appreciate the help from the staff of FunAsia –Dr. Farrukh Hamid, Shabnam Modgil, Sunny Singh
- Services: We acknowledge the services of our Professional Videographer Fida Hussain, Photographer Aftab Lakhani, and Nadeem Randhawa, Imran Randhawa and Nikhat Qureshi of Bridges TV and Jay Gormley of CBS-11 TV. And also Jay Rafi who made our name badges.
- Media: We appreciate Dallas Morning News, Texas Jewish Post, Ek Nazar, DFW International, Diya Magazine and others who have informed the public about the event.
- Financial: Friends, this event was made possible by the help of a few friends. I called 10, and each one of them jumped at it. They believed in commemorating the event, they believed in doing the right thing…I am proud of them, each one of them. Let me ask them to stand up as I call their name, please hold the applause till the last name: Zulfi Ahmed, Anjum Anwar, Dr. Nauman Anwar, Shiraz Badruddin, Shawn Bhagat, Rafi and Shahnaz Farukhi, Dr. Mohammad Khalid, Nadir MeherAli, Mohammad Iqbal Shariff and Basit Siddqui
- It takes a few courageous men and women to step up and do the right thing. Their work has long term effects and hope in some distant future, their efforts will make a dent and benefit the whole humanity. But spiritually it is very rewarding for them. Please honor and appreciate these two great individuals whenever you have a chance to meet them : Rabbi Robert Haas and Bernie Mayoff. Who are the moral pillars of this event.
Wisdom of the Religions
Now let’s begin the program with a verse from each faith based on the theme “Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world” – The Talmud – Perhaps you have noticed, everything is done in alphabetical order…
(Actual verses and the translation will be updated)
Regina Rafraf – Bahá’í
Esther Vasquez – Christian
Mike Ghouse, fill in for Swami Nityananda Prabhu – Hindu
Mohamed Eliabiary – Islam
Purveen Shah - Jainism
Leon Levin – Judaism
Mike Ghouse filled in for Sardar Harbhajan Singh - Sikh
Ratan Vakil – Zoroastrian
Thank You.
The Beautiful
Bus
Each community, each nation and each faith is like a beautiful bus; when you plan to go some where, you make sure all its tires have the same amount of air pressure for it to run effectively, to give better mileage, lasting tire wear out..... all the mechanical parts must be greased, all the parts must be checked for a safe, stable and sure journey.
We need to work together to ensure that every one is par to ride the road of progress, we need to fill the tire if it is inadequate instead of asking the tire to fill it itself. Whose loss is it if the tire does not fill it itself? We have to help the communities that are at a disadvantage, we need to bring them for a well balance smooth functioning society. Ignoring one tire or a community is an irresponsible thing for the bus journey.
Each one of us needs to be the 'source' of goodwill to bring that equilibrium. You and I are not safe if the world around isn't. All change begins with you and me. And I pledge that whatever I do, I will do it to bind people together, and would be a source of good will.
Rabbi Robert
Haas
Now I request my friend, Rabbi Robert Haas to introduce our honored Keynote Speaker. The Rabbi and I have known each other for the last three years. He and I did a Radio program called “Wisdom of Religion – all the beautiful religions” once a month, early in the morning! Rabbi Haas is one of the most knowledgeable persons I have known at his age. He is truly a gentleman and a scholar. He imparted great knowledge about Judaism to our listeners in Dallas for nearly two years.
Born in McAllen, Texas, Rabbi Robert Haas attended the University of Texas and received a B.S. in Education. After serving as a public school teacher in Houston, he entered rabbinical school and was ordained in the first Reform Rabbinical Class on the West Coast in 2002. Rabbi Haas is currently the Associate Rabbi at Temple Shalom in Dallas.
Rabbi…
Introduction of the Keynote Speaker : Rabbi Robert Haas
Keynote Speaker : Honorable Rosalie Schiff
Schiff's Presentation
Perspectives: Harriet Gross
Perspectives: Imam Sheikh Zia ul-Haq
Now, I’m pleased to introduce you to my new friend, Imam Zia Shaikh, his address at the recent Friendship Among Faiths program was wonderful, he picked up the conversation from where Rabbi Paul Steinberg began and carried on beautifully.
Sheikh Zia Ul Haq was born in Pakistan. At the age of 4, he moved to England
where he was engaged in regular education until the age of 13. He then
enrolled in Full Time Islamic education. Initially, he memorized the entire
Qur'an and then undertook an Islamic Theologian (Aalim) course which spanned a
further Eight years. Aalim course included Arabic language, Usool, Fiqh,
Tafseer-ul-Quran and Hadith.
He graduated in 1994 and has been serving various communities as an Imam since
then, initially in England, and since the end of 1995 in the USA. Masters in
Arabic and Islamic Theology.
Perspectives: Len Ellis
Len Ellis, Chairperson of the Arlington Peace Center.
......and when they came for me.
German Pastor Martin Niemöller was a supporter of the Nazis in their earliest days. By 1934 he recognized that a sinister power was growing and he began to express his dismay. There were not enough voices like his early enough. By 1939 he was imprisoned. He survived the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outide Berlin where 100,000 people died or were murdered in violent “medical: experiments. He survived the Dachau concentration camp near Munich where camp records list 30,000 people exterminated in death chambers and thousands more dead from ill treatment. In 1946, following the end of the war, he wrote:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Hope you have found this event to be meaningful and found a purpose in life. Please allow me to introduce my friend ….Bernard Mayoff, we call him Bernie.
Bernie is an erstwhile Volunteer.
He
was a past Treasurer of Congregation Beth Torah and is the Information Systems
lead person for the synagogue. He is also a member of the Jewish Community
Relations Council Social Action Committee, and the Long Range Planning Committee
of the Network of Community Ministries.
Bernie was heavily involved n hurricane relief from September through December,
primarily through Jewish Family Service and helped hundreds of families.
Bernie was born and raised in
Chicago. In elementary
school his talents were recognized and he was accelerated through school to
start high school a year early. His early interests in science and technology
led him to acquire an amateur radio license at age 14.
Upon graduating from high school Bernie was named an Illinois State Scholar and attended the Illinois Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
Bernie and his sweet heart Denise have four children: sons Jeff and Rob, and daughters Beth and Cheryl. All four attended Richardson schools before attending the University of Texas.
He has published articles in magazines and is engaged in a wide variety of volunteer activities; Leadership Richardson, Richardson Citizen Police Academy, Richardson Citizen Fire Academy and he ran for the city Council. That is the commitment he has for this community.
Closing Remarks:
Bernard Mayoff
This has been an amazing evening. Rosalie and William will be here for a while after the program to answer questions. There is a Jewish prayer that is said at Jewish holidays, at celebrations and at special occasions. It gives thanks that we have been blessed to be alive to reach the event.
It isn’t appropriate to say a prayer of gratitude that we are all together for a commemoration reminding us of the worst of man’s inhumanity to man. And yet this is a remarkable gathering together tonight of people taking one of those important steps toward making the world a better place for us today and for those who follow us. I’m sure you feel your own sense of reverence of the moment and that it is something that will stay with each of us. Now we are all witnesses. Never forget that each of us can make a difference.
For those of you that are Oprah fans, you know that her latest book club selection is Night, by Elie Weisel, about his experience as an inmate in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and that Oprah is visiting Auschwitz next month with Elie. Also, I want to mention that at 2:00pm on April 23, at Thanksgiving Square, there will be an event recognizing Yom Ha’Shoah. That is about a week after Passsover that has become a traditional time for commemorating the Holocaust. You are all welcome to that event which is expected to feature a national speaker on lessons learned and lessons still to learn. That event is being coordinated by the Dallas Holocaust Museum who loaned the photographs that were on display in the lobby this evening. The Museum is temporarily located at the southern end of the West End and you’re all encouraged to visit there. Brochures will be on table.
Thank you for being here tonight. Have a safe journey home. Shalom. Salaam. Sayonara. Ciao. Good night. God Bless
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