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During the Anne Frank sapling planting ceremony this April, we had the opportunity to hear Rabbi Brett Krichiver share his remarks on the significance of the tree to the Jewish community, and beyond. This blog post combines his spoken remarks at the ceremony with his reflections on heroism that followed.
On April 14th our community planted a sapling cut from the Horse Chestnut tree outside the annex where the Franks hid for two years. Indianapolis is one of seven locations worldwide that was chosen to receive a cutting from the tree, a great honor for our community. But what struck me most about this event, and the tree itself, was something visible just outside the news camera frame. You see, I offered a blessing – the traditional blessing for planting a tree – which says, “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, who renews the work of creation in every moment,” while thinking about how heavily I feel the responsibility of communicating with future generations about the Franks and their story. With each passing moment, the world is created anew and we move farther and farther away from history’s lessons. As Edmund Burke wrote in the 1700’s, “Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.”
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Trees have a particular significance in the Jewish tradition. In Proverbs we read that our Torah is a Tree of Life to those that hold tight to it and everyone who upholds it is happy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace (after Proverbs 3:17-18).
It takes seventy years for a tree to bear its full fruit, according to the ancient texts. This symbolism is not lost on us today, especially as we consider the lessons learned almost seventy years since the death of Anne Frank. We consider the thoughts she had while peering out the window of her hiding place, when she wrote:
“I want to go on living even after my death!”
— Anne Frank (Wednesday, April 5th, 1944)
The Museum [was then] highlighting another exhibit about Superheroes, showcasing Batman’s and Superman’s capes and costumes. There were collectors’ comic books and even a chance for children to try on capes and headbands and something akin to Wonder Woman’s bullet-proof “Bracelets of Victory.”
Notice in the photo below, the way in which Anne Frank’s tree, standing out against the backdrop of her words, also seems to be framed by a large display reminding us about these action figure ideologues. And I’m sure you can guess where my blessing led me. What better way to celebrate the contribution of Anne’s diary to our collective wisdom about the nature of oppression and bigotry, and especially anti-Semitism, than to focus on her very real heroism.
Remember that it was two Jewish kids from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who originally created Superman. He was the ultimate tool for fighting Nazism and the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Their original hero destroyed Nazi armor, Japanese submarines and anything else that was thrown at the Allies. I highly recommend the fictional retelling of this story by Michael Chabon in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001.
The most important part of our retelling of history is to focus on the strength of the Jews who suffered. Clearly Anne Frank is a real hero of the Shoah, the Holocaust. Even though she perished, she brought her ideals to life in every moment, and on every page of her writing. At our ceremony, an actor playing Otto Frank, Anne’s father, picked up on one quote from her diary I had shared – that she hoped her writing would allow her to live on after her death – a true heroic wish, and one that we can help fulfill by sharing her story, and her tree with others.
