Nearly 60 years after Kristallnacht, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield challenges the way we remember the Holocaust in his new book, Remember for Life: Holocaust Survivors' Stories of Faith and Hope (Jewish Publication Society, November 2007, 120 pages, $18).

In it, he suggests that a traumatic past must be collectively remembered in a way that nourishes the future.

Created as an accompaniment to the weekly Torah portion, Remember for Life is a collection of 71 survivor stories that emphasize fortitude and kindness. Its aim is to remind readers how people can learn to lead more meaningful, ethical, and joyful lives from the most painful times.

The stories include accounts of the Methodist woman who fasted on Yom Kippur in solidarity with the Jewish girl she was hiding, the SS officer who unexpectedly allowed one man a final meeting with his mother, the jokes and smiles exchanged between camp inmates in a world of unpredictable hatred and terror.

By arranging the stories to coincide with the Torah cycle and the holidays, Remember for Life connects Holocaust remembrance to Jewish learning.

Hirschfield, an Orthodox rabbi, is president of CLAL – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York City. Cohost of the radio show Hirschfield and Kula on KXL in Oregon, he was ranked No. 37 in the “Top 50 Rabbis in America” list in Newsweek. He also conceived and is featured in Building Bridges: Abrahamic Perspectives on the World Today, a TV series airing on Bridges television (American Muslim Network TV). A media analyst on Court TV, he has been the only rabbi ever to have been a guest on ABC-TV’s Nightline Up Close and has been featured on PBS’ Frontline and Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and NPR radio. He served as assistant dean at the Metivta yeshiva and taught in the Department of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

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I WENT OVER to an SS guard, the same SS guard who was quite nice, and I asked him, Is there any way that my brother and I can let our Mom know that we are alive and well? He just turned around, kicked me in the pants, and told me to get back into the line....

A couple of days later, maybe a week later, on the morning when we were leaving, the same guard selected out of the 100, 10 people, which included my brother and me. There was a pushcart there with two big wheels, with some blankets or some clothing on top of it. He started to tell us, the 10 that he took, that we should push that cart. We had no idea where we were going or what we were doing.

Suddenly he stopped in front of the ladies camp…. At barrack 14 he stopped and handed me and my brother a brown paper bag — the paper bag was full of bread, German bread that they were eating, not our garbage — it must have been a pound or a kilo. Also, I don’t know how much butter, sausage, a pocket knife. He looked at his watch. You have 20 minutes to find your mother. We were looking and suddenly we heard Mom’s voice. Mom was a beautiful lady and suddenly we see somebody running to us — bald, with a long striped gown — we didn’t recognize.

We gave her the goodies, we kissed, and the 20 minutes were gone. That’s the last time I saw Mom. It’s a tough sight and a tougher memory, a beautiful, beautiful woman looking like that. Until today I hear her saying — be proud of your heritage, and the last words — be proud of your name.

— George G., Hungary

Reprinted from Remember for Life: Holocaust Survivors’ Stories of Faith and Hope, edited by Brad Hirschfield