Dear Naama,
Today, you are visiting the Illinois Holocaust Museum for the very first time. This is a significant day, and it carries great weight for me as your dad. There’s a strong instinct within me to shield you—to protect you from the harshest realities of our people’s history. I want to keep you innocent, to preserve that light in your eyes that hasn’t yet been dimmed by the knowledge of how cruel the world can be. But I know I can’t do that forever. And I know, deep down, that I shouldn’t.
You need to see this. You need to walk through those exhibits and let the truth speak to your heart. Not because I want you to be afraid, but because I want you to be awake. I want you to see that hatred toward Jews isn’t just something from history books—it’s a part of the world we live in. And yet, our story is not only one of suffering. It is a story of strength. Of survival. Of deep and abiding love for who we are.
By learning about this past, you become part of the chain of memory and meaning. This isn’t just history. This is your history. It is the air you breathe as a Jewish girl, the melodies you sing on Shabbat, the words of prayer that connect you to generations that came before you. It’s not enough for others to remember. You must remember. You must claim this legacy as your own.
Our history is rich with beauty and depth, filled with rituals that bind us to one another and to something greater. It is your inheritance. And with it comes a responsibility—not just to remember, but to live proudly and fiercely as a Jew.
You also need to understand that we are a people with a home—a land that we did not choose at random, but one that chose us, again and again, across centuries. It is a land that holds our tears and our triumphs, our prayers and our possibilities.
And most of all, I want you to carry this truth forward: you have a future that is yours to shape. One filled with promise, compassion, courage, and hope. I believe in you, Naama. I believe in your ability to carry the weight of the past and still walk tall into the future.
I am so proud of you. Today and every day.
With all my love,
Abba