Today on #HolocaustMemorialDay I personally remember my music teacher Avraham Nov, a Holocaust survivor. He was 8 years old when his entire family was killed. Avraham was supposed to have died on a gloomy morning in 1931 in Luxembourg.

the Nazis rounded all the Jewish kids to take them away. Avraham’s mother gave him a package, and in that package were a toothbrush, a towel, and his violin. A Nazi officer noticed the violin in Avraham’s package, and asked if he could play.

Avraham played six German folk songs. He later said he never in his life played as well as he played back then.
The Officer ordered his soldiers to take Avraham to his house. He spent the years of the war playing music for friends and guests of the officer.

When the war ended, his family was gone. the world seemed upside down. One can only imagine how fearful he must have been. He had every reason to be angry, to demand revenge. But he didn’t.

Avraham came to Israel, he got married, built a family, and started teaching what saved his life - music. He became the music teacher of hundreds and thousands of children all over the country, including Arab children. I had the great honor of being his student.

Other than music, he taught me one of the most important lessons of life:
There are cultures that forget the past, and there are cultures that are stuck in the past.
Abraham, and the Jewish people did neither. Instead, by building a future, he redeemed the past.

Avraham’s story is the story of #Israel. It is upon the broken pieces of the past, that a hopeful, free, and prosperous country was built.
But the hate has not disappeared.

The old hate of Nazism denied the Jewish people the right to live their faith without fear. The new hate denies the Jewish people the right to live in their homeland without fear. The reasons change, but the hate stays the same.

But this time is different. This time, we have the state of Israel – the one place on earth, where Jews, including Abraham’s children, have ever been able to defend themselves, by themselves.

None of us can change the past, but by remembering the past we can change the future. And although we cannot bring the dead back to life, by taking a stand against hate, we can help ensure that they did not die in vain.

Avraham, I pledge to you that this Arab student of yours will work tirelessly to ensure that your hope will overcame despair; that your light will overcome the darkness coming from Iran’s regime; and that your love will prevail over hate - both the old and the new. #NeverAgain