Washington – Vice President Mike Pence’s tweet to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day has angered some Jews who have accused him of using the terms of his Evangelical Christian faith to honor the victims.
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The tweet posted Saturday included a short video clip showing Pence and his wife laying a memorial wreath in Yad Vashem’s Hall of Remembrance.
“A few days ago, Karen & I paid our respects at Yad Vashem to honor the 6 million Jewish martyrs of the Holocaust who 3 years after walking beneath the shadow of death, rose up from the ashes to resurrect themselves to reclaim a Jewish future,” the vice president’s tweet said.
Critics pointed to the use of the terms “martyrs” and “resurrect,” calling them “Christ imagery” and a “Jesus analogy.”
“Resurrect themselves”? Pence dishonors the memories of the 6 million by coopting them for the political agenda of his evangelical base,” tweeted Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe.
“It’s from *Pence’s* religious perspective that my murdered family members might be resurrected. But they—and I—forcefully reject that cosmology. We don’t believe what he believes. Believe what you want, man, but I’d appreciate it if you could leave 6 million dead Jews out of it,” read another tweet from someone with the handle Ari Kohen, First of His Name.
The wording chosen by Pence is similar to Hebrew translations of the terms, which are commonly used in Israel, according to Haaretz.
Resurrection is a translation of the Hebrew word “tekuma,” which also means rebirth or revival and is used to describe the establishment of the state of Israel after the Holocaust, Haaretz points out. And the word martyr, in Hebrew kedoshim, is a term used in Israel to describe victims of the Holocaust. The official name for Yom Hashoa, Israel’s Holocaust memorial day, is Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day.
Pence returned last week from a visit to Jordan, Egypt and Israel.
if you heard the man’s speech to the Knesset, then you would cut him some slack on this. What, now we can’t use the word resurrect anymore? call off the word police!
It doesn’t sound to me like he used resurrect in the religious, Christian sense.
i truly believe he referred to Am Yisroel picking up and continuing, BH. Some might argue we are at a stage of frumkeit and learning that has never been before.
I am a frum Jew and I believe in resurrection. Jews call it Techiyas haMeisim which will be soon, quickly in our days IYH.
Evangelical theology teaches that at the “end of days” Jews will either convert to Christianity or be killed. That’s Real News.
the only ones complaining is the lefty anti orthodox haaretz who want to see another anti Israel president because they hate Israel as much as they hate frum Jews
The real problem is that Mike Pence is a good guy with good intentions but caving to Israel out of fear of being called an anti semite which Israelis throw around easily. This entire holocaust remembrance day is a piece of Zionist propaganda. It doesnt do anyone good and only enrages the goyishe world cuz there were many genocides that go unspoken and the Holocaust is front and center to everyone (dare not). Pence is trying to say words that are Jesus like cuz he is clueless what a Jewish life means. Lets stop with this whole holocaust business cuz the goyishe world doesnt take it anymore. It was a tragedy and a travesty for US Jews to remember and emulate from it and not to test every goy what he says to it and judge him if he fails. This whole propoganda is on the shoulders of Zionism. Our politicians fear the Israelis will lash out on them so they talk silly stuff. Time to stop this whole remembrance thing on the world. Again, its for US Yiddn to remmber and never forget.
A clueless good man. Time to let go or our politicians speak the nonsense we dont want to hear.
He’s a devoted Christian so language seeps in. Nothing offensive about it.
Did only Jews die in the holocaust? If not what’s the big deal?
No doubt it’s liberal idiots who have a problem with what Pence said, strictly because he’s a republican VP of their nemesis, Pres. Trump! Who cares if he mentions other religious groups? He, like Trump, is a pure oheiv Yisroel. This is nonsense.
I still do not like the wording.
This Pres and Vice Pres are the FIRST friends we ever had in the White House. A dog never bites the hand that feeds it, the Jew however……..