The Holocaust and the foundation of Jewish identity

Discusses the question of whether the Holocaust can serve as a formative event for Jewish-Israeli identity. Some writers (e.g. Harold Fisch and Jean Améry) establish the Holocaust as the exclusive foundation of their Jewish identity, while others (e.g. Yehuda Elkana) call on Jews to forget the past and dedicate themselves to creating the future. Argues that both of these opposing views present an inadequate perception of the past. The first reduces the entire past to one event, while the second forsakes history, tradition, and heritage in defining identity. Suggests a third approach, which rejects the centrality of the Holocaust in and of itself in the formation of Jewish-Israeli identity, but sees it as an inherent part of Jewish tradition and culture. Criticizes, also, attempts to universalize the Holocaust, to present it as a crime committed against the abstract human being. The claim that lessons of the Holocaust should ignore their Jewish aspect denies the value and significance of the particularistic identity of human beings, including Jews.