Ideology & Advocacy

Why We Say It

The meaning of JDL’s motto, “Never Again,“ may not be that clear to those who do not know a lot about us. Never Again means first and foremost that Jews will never again go quietly and submissively to our deaths. Never Again means that Jews will not bend to the will of oppressors. Never Again is a motto shouted with the recognition that Jews are not commanded by G-d to be downtrodden and victimized - quite the opposite. Never Again is the motto of the post-Holocaust, truly sensible Jew, who knows that the world can be a dangerous place and that it often gets much more dangerous for Jews when we fail to assert our rights as human beings. Never Again also means that the Jew needs to stand up against Establishment Jewish “leaders” who are content to sit in their big, comfortable offices, ordering committees to be formed to study the “root causes” of Jew-hatred while other Jews suffer.

What it Doesn’t Mean

Some religious Jews have misinterpreted “Never Again” to mean that JDL thinks that positive action of Jews alone is enough to prevent another Holocaust from occurring should one be decreed, G-d forbid. JDL recognizes the fact that the course of human events is ultimately charted by Ha-Shem and that His will is carried out by human hands. Our faith tells us that the Holocaust was unfortunately a divinely decreed event and that Hitler was allowed to murder Six Million Jews just as Nebechanezzer was allowed to carry us into captivity in Babylon, and the Romans were allowed to destroy the Temple and slaughter huge numbers of us. However, that does not mean that Jews should be content with evil decrees. The Torah demands that we eliminate evil.

While JDL certainly cherishes and respects prayer as the basis of Avodah (divine service) davening all day and being completely absorbed in one’s personal Mitzvot will not necessarily prove efficacious against all threats. Our ancestors, the Jews of the Hebrew Scriptures, did not only daven, study and immerse themselves in Torah all day in order to achieve–they obeyed all of G-d’s commandments, which means they fought and conquered. To those Jews who doubt JDL philosophy, JDL offers the Torah verse, “You shall not stand by [the shedding] of your fellow’s blood” (Leviticus 19.16). And from the Talmud we are taught, “If one comes to slay you, rise up and slay him first” (Sanhedrin 72a). “Never Again” is a call to action, to live up to the standard of protecting fellow Jews, despite the costs or the odds.