Tag Archives: Holland
Some of you already know the background, but for those of you that have only started reading my work recently I wanted to give you a brief explanation of why my blog is called “Holland’s Heroes”. In short, I am here today because of Dutch heroes. My parents, Rabbi Nardus Groen of blessed memory and my mother Sipora Groen, were both Holocaust survivors from Holland. As I cover in the book “Jew Face: A story of Love and Heroism in Nazi-Occupied Holland”, their actions during the Nazi-occupation of Holland were nothing short of heroic. Originally set up to promote the book, Holland’s Heroes has developed into something far more important, an avenue from which to promote the truth, defend Israel and the Jewish people, and a platform from which to join forces with all those of all faiths that want a safe and decent future.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK.
My mother showed incredible courage in some of the most dire situations including sleeping in an underground room for 16 months knowing at any time she could be discovered and killed. My father was instrumental in saving the lives of many, including my mother. He escaped the grasp of the Nazis four times including one remarkable escape from the Hollandse Schouwberg, Amsterdam’s equivalent at the time to Carnegie Hall in New York City. The people who provided my mother a home for 16 months, Lubertus & Geeske te Kiefte, did so knowing that if they were to be caught, their entire family would be killed. Despite the grave dangers, they not only gave my mother shelter, they gave her a warm and friendly home. It hardly gets more heroic than that. And there were so many others, Jew and non-Jew alike that showed such bravery in such difficult times it is almost impossible to comprehend.
So very simply put, I am here today and able to write for you because of heroes from the small nation of Holland. I’m aware of the problems facing the Jewish community of Holland today and knowing the rich history of Judaism in the country and my own personal connection it is even more heartbreaking for me than what is happening in other parts of Europe. None of that negates the fact that Holland’s Heroes are the reason I am here today, and for that I will always be grateful and proudly call my blog Holland’s Heroes.
HOW TO BUY THE BOOK
CLICK TO JOIN “THE GLOBAL COALITION FOR ISRAEL” ON FACEBOOK
Follow Holland’s Heroes on Twitter @hollandsheroes
Leave a comment | tags: Carnegie Hall, Dutch, Europe, Holland, Holland's Heroes, Hollandse Schouwburg, Israel, Jew Face, Jewish people, Judaism, Lubertus & Geeske te Kiefte, Nazi, New York City, Rabbi Nardus Groen, Sipora Groen | posted in Uncategorized
One must ask themselves this question. Should Israel continue to fight fairly? Ever since the U.S. started fighting in Iraq we’ve heard a lot of talk about fighting a clean war, a moral war. War by definition is not moral. It is killing and destruction and no one decent is ever happy when it takes place. To quote my mother, “When there is a war, no one wins”. My mother Sipora Groen, is a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor from Holland, very pro-Israel, and very aware of the need to destroy the enemy. Her statement is based on the understanding that even the victorious suffer pain and loss no one should ever have to endure. Even with self-defense and survival forcing good people into war, war never becomes a good thing. With that being said, she understands, as so many do, that Israel is exercising its right to self-defense, which makes its mission a vital and moral one. What has made Israel’s behavior during this war so remarkable is that it has not sunk to the depths of the enemy, an enemy with no moral restrictions. This has ironically given the enemy some advantages on the battlefield and on the world stage. Seeing that the defeat of the enemy is crucial, should Israel sink to the level of Hamas?
Simple answer is, only if it is the difference between victory and defeat. The levels in which this war is being waged most unethically are primarily twofold. First and foremost is of course the manipulation and use of the civilians of Gaza, either through exploiting their injuries in the press or even worse, causing the casualties through the use of human shields. The second is through lying, either through transparent omission or blatant distortion of the facts. The fact that those unwilling to support Israel will not do so regardless of what the truth is, is clearly stated by the same facts they use to attack Israel in the media. Israel has allowed full disclosure to the press, has clearly stated its objectives, and has provided open information on all incidents that have taken place since the start of the operation. Other than providing blueprints for its attack strategy, Israel could not do any more than it has. Hamas on the other hand hides from the press, intimidates the press, and consistently makes statements contradictory to its actions. A very logical assumption would be, if what you are doing is right, you want the whole world to know about it. So from the media standpoint the answer is simple. If Israel is going to be attacked by those that hate it, there is no benefit in sinking to that level of lying the enemy has been using from the very beginning.
However, militarily speaking, if Hamas continues to attempt to draw Israel into a war of attrition, Israel may have no other choice but to change tactics. It comes down to one very simple point, one I have no doubt is in the heads of everyone in Israel’s cabinet. If protecting Palestinian civilians puts Israeli civilians in more serious and prolonged danger, Palestinian civilians will no longer be considered in the strategic assessment. As long as Israel can maintain its high moral ground it will, but ultimately unless something happens to stop Hamas, Israel will be left with no other choice but to inflict damage in Gaza that will make Hamas and the residents look back at the situation on the ground today as a relative picnic. It is a choice Hamas and the Palestinians need to make, and in my estimation one they need to make soon or suffer dire consequences.
CLICK TO JOIN “THE GLOBAL COALITION FOR ISRAEL” ON FACEBOOK
Follow Holland’s Heroes on Twitter @hollandsheroes
Leave a comment | tags: Bring Back our Boys, Gaza, Hamas, Holland, Holocaust, Iraq, Israel, Palestinians, Sipora Groen, survivor, U.S. | posted in Uncategorized
My 92 year old mother, Holocaust survivor from Holland, thinks today reminds her of 1938. But today in Times Square, with thousands of fellow supporters of Israel, and knowing the efforts and sacrifices Israel is making for all of us, I maintain it is very different from 1938. I say we all fight in whatever way we can. The greatest fighters fight for us in the IDF and in the military forces of the United States and all civilized nations, but you can also fight through social media, through comforting your fellow Jews, and through general acts of goodness and kindness in the name of combating the evil in the world. Do not put your head in the sand people. Realize what is going on. But instead of being scared, be strong. Realize that our faith is what brought us this far and why we survive when empires fall. That is why they hate us. Because they know they can hurt us, but not destroy us. So I encourage you all, replace your fear with determination, turn to the good people you know for support, and make this a battle unlike any the Jews have ever fought. AHL SOMAYCH AHL HANAYS is Hebrew for “Don’t rely on a miracle.” And that is exactly the approach we must have. Don’t wait for miracles. Make them happen.
Leave a comment | tags: 1938, Holland, Holocaust, IDF, Israel, Jews, Sipora Groen, Social media, Times Square, United States military | posted in Uncategorized
These things happened,
The publishing of Ulysses by James Joyce; The first swimmer crossed the English Channel; Calvin Coolidge became president; the first Winter Olympics took place; Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean; Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse; Herbert Hoover became president; the Stock Market crashed;Penicillin was discovered; the planet Pluto was discovered; Empire State Building was completed; Amelia Earhart crossed the Atlantic; Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party became ruling party in Germany; Social security was established; Golden Gate Bridge was opened; Japan invaded China; Germany annexed Austria; World War II; Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; 60 million people killed in World War II; 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust; Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier; the State of Israel was founded; United Nations was formed; NATO was formed; Korean War; Elvis Presley; Polio vaccine created; Disneyland Opened; JFK became President; I was born; Cuban Missile Crisis; JFK assassinated; The Beatles; Vietnam War; Star Trek series; first Super Bowl; Apollo 11 landed on the moon; Terrorists Killed Israeli Athletes at Munich Olympics; Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon’s resignation; the movie Star Wars; John Paul II became Pope; Iranian Muslim revolution; CNN was formed; AIDS discovered; Personal Computers were invented; Soviet Union collapsed; Apartheid ended; Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa; 2 different Bush’s became Presidents; Bill Clinton became president; the Euro currency was formed; 3,000 killed in 9/11 attack in New York; Iraq War; the Internet was created; Holland lost 3 World cup finals; Justin and Kim got married.
These things happened, in the 92 years between the birth of these 2 people, my mother Sipora Groen and my youngest family member and great-niece Jara.
If this doesn’t give you hope nothing does.
Leave a comment | tags: 6 million Jews, 9/11, Adolph Hitler, AIDS, Amelia Earhart, apartheid, Apollo 11, Atlantic Ocean, Atom Bomb, Austria, Bill Clinton, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Lindbergh, China, Chuck Yeager, CNN, Cuban Missile Crisis, Disneyland, Elvis Presley, Empire State Building, English Channel, Euro currency, George Bush, George W. Bush, Germany, Golden Gate bridge, Herbert Hoover, Hiroshima, Holland, internet, Iranian, Iranian revolution, Iraq War, James Joyce, Japan, Jara, JFK, JFK assasination, Justin, Kim, Korean War, Mickey Mouse, moon landing, Munich Olympics, Muslim, Nagasaki, NATO, Nazi, Nelson Mandela, Pearl Harbor, Penicillin, Pluto, Polio, Pope John Paul II, Richard Nixon, Sipora Groen, social security, South Africa, Soviet Union, Star Trek, Star Wars, State of Israel, stock market crash of 1929, Super Bowl, the Beatles, Ulysses, United Nations, Vietnam War, Walt Disney, Watergate, Winter Olympics, World Cup, World War II | posted in Uncategorized
Yes I am born and raised in the United States, and as everyone knows I am proud to be Jewish. However, the name of the website is Holland’s Heroes, with its origins being the experiences of my parents in Nazi-occupied Holland.
Well today I have a pride for my Dutch background I have not felt in quite some time as Holland steps to the plate and shows the world what it means to do the right thing by approving a motion stopping financial aid that was being used by the Palestinian Authority to support terrorists in Israeli prisons.
Holland: ‘Not With Our Money,’ Slash Funds to PA
I have always said that what sets the Dutch apart is that it is truly a nation that tries to be fair and tolerant towards everyone. That approach sometimes puts them at odds with my viewpoint, but today with this action they showed the sincerity in their beliefs.
Today as much as ever, I am proud to be Dutch.
Leave a comment | tags: Dutch, Holland, Jewish, liberal, Nazi, Nazi-occupied, Palestinian Authority, tweede kamer, United States | posted in Uncategorized
On occasion as I sit in front of a computer opining, I stop and consider the fact that there are friends and even family members who ask themselves, what is David doing? Shouldn’t he be spending more time working? Is he just looking for attention? Does he really believe he is making a difference?
I have answers to all those questions, and I am comfortable with my choices, but I am more than aware that those questions are in the minds of some and need to addressed. I do so however not so much for my personal satisfaction but to make the point of how getting involved is something we all need to do.
A few days ago I sent an email to the Secretary General of the United Nations concerning the United Nations traditional and existing anti-Israel stance and lack of concern for the well-being of the Jewish people worldwide. That very sentence could be misinterpreted as delusional self-importance. However, I did not write the letter with some any degree of expectation. I would not be surprised if no one reads it, let alone the Secretary General, and if by some miracle someone does, I doubt they will care. So why did I bother?
I will share with you some comments I received when I posted the letter on Facebook. The comments will remain anonymous in this post, but will of course be recognizable to anyone who is in that particular group.
“Good you take what action you can! I hope we all follow your lead and write, email, call, express, encourage, confront, support ourselves and the nation of Israel. Silence is inappropriate our people need us.”
“Bravo David Groen! We Need More People like you, that speak up!”
“Thank you for sharing. Heartfelt and really an important thing we can all do and should.”
People generally like compliments and accolades, and although I am no exception, my motivation is less personally motivated than probably anything I have ever done in my lifetime. I do what I do for me, but the fact is, and this is what makes this so important, I do not do it only for me. I do it for the Jewish people. I am aware that I am merely one drop of water in a huge ocean, but resistance to evil needs to be fought on many fronts and with a cohesive understanding of the ultimate goal. I am just one small person fighting on one of the fronts.
I am the son of Holocaust survivors. My father’s parents, younger sister & husband were murdered by the Nazis. My mother’s father and younger and only brother were also victims of the Holocaust. Both of them lost numerous friends and relatives during the Nazi occupation of Holland. My father’s parents, Leendert and Maryan Groen were presented with the opportunity to get baptismal papers in order to provide them with the possibility of being seen as non-Jewish so that they would have some hope of survival. Leendert refused basically stating that he was born a Jew and would die a Jew, and that in his eyes to pretend otherwise was to forsake his covenant with God. That was the sacrifice my grandfather made. He sacrificed his life to declare himself a Jew.
So what is it that I am doing? Nothing compared to what others did before me. Giving up time from work? Hardly the ultimate sacrifice. If I am making less money so that I can somehow give some extra encouragement and strength to others than what sacrifice am I making? If my work motivates others to speak up and build a resistance against evil then what I do does matter.
The ripple effect matters more than we may realize because in many ways it is what we are actually up against. The evil forces within Islam, and I said within Islam not of Islam, that want to take over the world and will kill anyone in their way, are attempting a worldwide revolution. Part of this revolution is through ripple effect. I support Israel 100% in doing anything that needs to be done to protect the Jewish people, but I also know that the ultimate battle extends far beyond its borders.
As a student of the Holocaust I have come to a very sobering conclusion. The lessons I have learned from my parents and from others regarding that devastating time not only in Jewish but in World history are lessons that need to be given practical application today. We are no longer dealing with theory of what if a group once again wants to see our destruction? We are once again up against an enemy that wants us wiped off the face of the planet. If any of us who know the history turn a blind eye to what is happening or try to wait it out patiently, we will be making a tragic mistake. I respect those who hold out hope that the world can be a peaceful utopia. I too hope that it can be. But we are not living in a world leaning in that direction and to allow our hope to overshadow our realism will only hasten our demise.
There is a time to hope and there is a time to fight. Right now is the time to fight, any way we know how.
Leave a comment | tags: anti-Israel, Bring Back our Boys, David Gr, Facebook, God, Holland, Holocaust, Islam, Israel, Jewish, Leendert Groen, Maryan Groen-Zeelander, Nazis, Secretary General, United Nations | posted in Uncategorized
Behind every perception of destiny, irony sits waiting and ready to pounce. But I will get back to that. The title of this post is by no means rooted in self-pity. Pity is never the feeling I have regarding the futility of the teams I support. As a somewhat well-adjusted individual, I generally get past the pain of my sports teams’ demise within an hour of it happening. I must say I am pretty good when it comes to that. After all, and this is the root of the title, I have a lot of experience with it.
We can of course start with the most recent result of which irony played a major factor as well. But again, I will get back to the irony later. When the Netherlands lost to Argentina yesterday in the FIFA 2014 World Cup semi-final, I knew that another World Cup would be played without Holland lifting the trophy. I watched Holland once again secure its position as the best team to never win the World Cup. I took solace in the fact that they lost with class to a team with class, but nevertheless, once again, their World Cup ended in defeat.
I move on to the National Football League. I credit the great New York Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor with getting me into football. Sure I watched the game and followed the playoffs and Super Bowl, admiring the skills of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice in particular, but it was LT who got me excited about the game. And living in New York I cheered on the football Giants when they won their Super Bowls with Taylor, Simms, etc. But it was not till I began to admire the tough character and skill of Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Donovan Mcnabb, and enjoyed games with my family that I considered myself a true fan of a team. The Eagles would go on to 4 straight NFC Championships and one Super Bowl, but would never win the big one. And as football fans know, they still haven’t.
In 1976 I began what would be 4 years of school in London, England. I picked a team. Sure, I could have picked Arsenal just as easily, a team that won titles and cups, but no, I picked Tottenham Hotspur, probably the most consistently mediocre team in any sport in any country. And since they are exceedingly mediocre, that’s all they are getting in this piece.
Being a marginal Basketball fan I put my allegiances behind the home team New York Knicks and watched as they always came up short against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Except of course for the times the Bulls were without MJ when the Knicks came up short against Hakeem Olajuwons’s Houston Rockets. Whatever, they came up short.
Then there is the team I am most emotionally invested in on a yearly basis, the Philadelphia Flyer of the National Hockey League. Having lived in Philadelphia during their 2 glorious Stanley Cup victories, I will always be a devoted fan. Even if we end up never winning another cup. Does it count at all when the Los Angeles Kings win? Flyers fans and educated hockey fans understand that question.
Lastly I will speak of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets. In 1985 when I moved to New York I picked a team as my local team. I picked the very charismatic and entertaining Mets. In 1986 I got my immediate reward, s the Mets not only won the World Series, they won it in the most dramatic and exciting of fashions. The 1986 Mets have been the reason I have remained a fan of theirs till now, despite the fact that they are generally not very good. And since I am a fan, when I say it that way, I am being nice. The greatest overall significance of my support of the Mets now is that their 1986 team is the last team I am a fan of to win a championship in their sport. Yes, that is almost 30 years.
And on it goes. Yes I pushed the idea of Holland’s World Cup destiny, and the fate surrounding the teams they would need to beat, and of course started the online campaign of “Win it for my mother”, but in the end it was not to be. My mother, whose maiden name was Rodrigues-Lopes, or in every day use, just Rodrigues, was the son of Marcel Rodrigues. My grandfather’s nickname was Max. So he was indeed known by many as Max Rodrigues. So when Argentina needed just one more goal in penalty kicks to put them through to the finals and send Holland packing, I looked down, smiled wryly, shook my head and mumbled to myself, “of course”. Stepping up to take the kick was Argentinian football veteran Maxi Rodriguez, who subsequently put the ball in the back of the net and guaranteed Holland would once again not the win the World Cup. I guess I was right. Sports destiny did play a factor. It just did so with a tremendous sense of irony. Good thing it only takes me an hour to get over it.
Leave a comment | tags: 86 Mets, Argentina, Arsenal, Chicago Bulls, Donovan Mcnabb, England, FIFA 2014 World Cup, Giants, Hakkeem Olajuwon, Holland, Houston Rockets, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, London, Los Angeles Kings, LT, Major League Baseball, Marcel Rodrigues-Lopes, Maxi Rodriguez, Michael Jordan, MJ, national football league, National Hockey League, New York, New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Mets, NFC Championships, NFL, NHL, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Flyers, Simms, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, The Netherlands, Tottenham Hotspur, World Cup | posted in Uncategorized
When it comes to sports, destiny is a very biased concept. Had Brasil won yesterday without the services of their superstar Neymar and their captain Silva, the host nation of the FIFA 2014 World Cup would have been buzzing about how destiny favored this soccer powerhouse. Instead Brasil’s team laid the proverbial egg, didn’t show up for the game at all, and lost 7-1 to a very good German team. Undoubtedly all German fans are now talking about their destiny. I would like to put my own personal spin on the subject of destiny and show how it favors Holland.
Four years ago Holland, The Netherlands, lost in its 3rd World Cup Final appearance to Spain. They began this years campaign with a 5-1 whipping of the reigning champs. In about 4 hours they will face Argentina in the semi-final. Argentina who was the host team in 1978 and defeated Holland, then making their second final appearance. After Germany’s victory yesterday, if destiny keeps to form, Holland will face Germany on Sunday with an opportunity to finally lift up the World Cup as champions. 40 years ago in 1974, it was Germany, then the host country, that defeated the Netherlands in their first ever appearance in the World Cup. Like Holland or not, from the perspective of destiny it could not play out any better.
And then there is my favorite Dutch fan, my mother Sipora Groen. At 92 years old she is enjoying the games as much as anyone else and would love to see Holland finally call themselves World Cup Champions. So I say it again, and hopefully will be making this plea again after today and before Sunday, WIN IT FOR MY MOTHER.
HUP HOLLAND
4 Comments | tags: Argentina, Brasil, Dutch, FIFA 2014 World Cup, German, Germany, Holland, Neymar, Silva, Sipora Groen, Spain, The Nether | posted in Uncategorized
Welcome to the world of the cliché. For starters, let me admit that I am on occasion as guilty as anyone else of using clichés, but when serious events take place such as has been the case recently in Israel, social media goes crazy recycling the same sentiments over and over again. To be fair, some of these sentiments are obvious ones that any normal human being would have. Case in point, the devastation everyone felt over the murder of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach, and the subsequent comments that followed based in sadness and mourning. Those commonly felt sentiments are not the ones I speak of. The ones I am addressing are the different statements regarding the world’s reaction and what is oft referred to as “the way Jews act”.
I am in no position to criticize anyone, especially those who care enough to give their opinion in this difficult time. I realize that whether you make the statement that you do not care about the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir or you are as outraged by it as you are about the murder of the 3 Israeli teens, your heart is still probably in the right place. Your against murder, which makes you at least in basic terms, a good person. Here’s where I personally run into a problem. In attacking a Jew who is rightfully fed up with the treatment of our people for thousands of years, you may become part of the problem. Yes, you are entitled to an opinion, but those who have come to their own unbiased and logical conclusion, are pretty much clear on the double standard that exists when judging Jewish behavior and reaction.
“Jews don’t do that”. Don’t do what? Get angry, fight for survival, strike back? I sit here writing this today because before the Nazis ever entered Holland, my father Rabbi Nardus Groen of Blessed Memory did something Jews “didn’t do” in 1930’s Holland. He joined what was then the equivalent of the National Guard and learned how to use a gun. I go back to the phrase “Never Again” often because it is not so much a cliché as it is an approach the Jewish people need to have if they are to survive. Do we feel that mass murder of Jews can never happen again? I would like nothing more than to say there are no indications of that, but sadly we live in a world where genocidal maniacs still live and even gain popularity, putting not only Jews but other people in similar danger.
I agree that murder for the sake of murder is not the Jewish way, but I also feel passionately that is not what has taken place in Israel. Assuming the culprits of Khdeir’s murder were Jews, they are a group of people who were brought down to a tragic and horrible level by the enemies who have done everything in their power till now to get them there. Do those of you speaking of how Jews act really think that any clearheaded citizen of Israel or any Jew in the world for that matter wants to spend their time hunting down and murdering Palestinians? They do not. Unlike the enemy, we are not taught that murder is an act of holiness and honor. But these same Jewish people we speak of do have feelings and fears. Jews don’t do what? Act human? Seek justice, even if through the wrong avenues? Working on the assumption of their guilt, the behavior of some, albeit wrong and even deplorable, and of course requiring punishment, is still based in an understandably sad but human reaction. This is not an attempt to justify it, merely to address the most popular cliché of the day, “Jews don’t do that.”
The other issue has to do with how the world feels and how the world reacts. Let’s drop all the clichés and just tell it like it is. As a unit, the world does not stand behind Israel and the Jewish people. Please harbor no illusions. Yes there are many good and some great people who put themselves out there and defend us, but they are individuals who ultimately may be at risk just as we are. And when looking at how the world body really see the situation let’s just take a look at the United Nations reaction over the past few weeks. When 3 Jewish boys get kidnapped and murdered the United Nations makes a statement declaring there is no evidence it was done by Hamas. When 1 Palestinian boy gets murdered, allegedly by Jewish settlers, there is talk of a special investigation of the behavior of the settlers. And we are back to where we started. How Jews act. The world has never shown signs of favoring the Jewish position so I can’t say I am surprised by the overall reaction. But if you are Jewish, and one who supports the State of Israel and its inhabitants, I urge you to try a different cliché, like “Never Again”. It might just end of saving your life one day.
The reality is that Israel needs to do what is right for Israel and the Jewish people without concerning itself with what the world thinks. It’s hardly ever good anyway.
Leave a comment | tags: Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, Hamas, Holland, Israel, Jewish settlers, Jews, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, Naftali Frenkel, National Guard, Nazis, Never Again, Palestinians, Rabbi Nardus Groen, State of Israel, United Nations | posted in Uncategorized
As a Jewish American I felt somewhat guilty focusing my attentions to the triviality of the World Cup. My guilt made me pause before posting anything about my excitement and enjoyment surrounding the efforts of The Netherlands in this year’s tournament. Yes I paused, as I did not wish to be insensitive to the harsh realities facing all of us, but in the end I rationalized or justified my decision, not all will agree on which one it is, and chose to enjoy Holland’s World Cup victory. It made me question the morality of putting importance on those things that clearly do not hold the same importance as our most pressing personal and communal issues.
There are some events or activities no one questions as important nor do they question the joy these events bring to individuals and families. Weddings, childbirth, recovery from illness, even special moments with friends and family, are all occurences no one ever disputes as important. Sure there are people who have emotional issues that may prevent them from getting joy from these moments, but as a general rule people agree that all of these things are important and therefore should bring one joy, even when surrounded by unpleasant realities.
I am one of those people who believes life is made up of moments. Many are good, many are bad. Unfortunately the bad moments seek us out, finding us without mercy or timing. The good moments sometimes do the same, just not with the same persistence. I am not being negative in this statement, merely realistic. I am also using it as a springboard to make the point I wish to make. The moments in life that bring us pleasure, the movies we love, the meals we savor, and yes the sporting events that thrill us, are the moments we need to seek out. These moments fuel us, strengthen us, and yes indeed, even if only momentarily,can make us happy. Brasil is a nation struggling with discontent and yet it comes together in excitement to celebrate the FIFA 2014 World Cup. Do I believe the World Cup matters when mothers are mourning the murders of their teenage sons? Of course I don’t. But I also know that the day will come when they may turn to something as unimportant as a soccer match to bring them some needed joy. Not today, but when the time is right. Maybe that is why we sometimes call our athletes heroes. Not because they live by higher standards, but because they sometimes give people a very necessary respite from the more difficult moments in life.
Just take a moment to think about how much better the world could be if everyone worried a little bit more about those things so many deem as unimportant.
Leave a comment | tags: American, Brasil, FIFA 2014 World Cup, Holland, Jewish, The Netherlands, World Cup | posted in Uncategorized
Some of you already know the background, but for those of you that have only started reading my work recently I wanted to give you a brief explanation of why my blog is called “Holland’s Heroes”. In short, I am here today because of Dutch heroes. My parents, Rabbi Nardus Groen of blessed memory and my mother Sipora Groen, were both Holocaust survivors from Holland. As I cover in the book “Jew Face: A story of Love and Heroism in Nazi-Occupied Holland”, their actions during the Nazi-occupation of Holland were nothing short of heroic. Originally set up to promote the book, Holland’s Heroes has developed into something far more important, an avenue from which to promote the truth, defend Israel and the Jewish people, and a platform from which to join forces with all those of all faiths that want a safe and decent future.
Holland's Heroes 