1 A Hasidic legend tells us that the great Rabbi Baal-Shem-Toy, Master of the Good Name also known as the Besht, undertook an urgent and perious mission:to hasten the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people, all humanity.were suffering too much beset by too many evils They had to be saved, and swiftly. For having tried to meddle with history, the Besht was punished; banished along with his faithful servant to a distant island. In despair, the servant implored his master to exercise his mysterious powers in order to bring them both home. "Impossible,"the Besht replied. "My powers have been taken from me." "Then please, say a prayer, recite a litany, work a miracle." "Impossible the Master replied,"I have forgotten everything They both fell to weeping 2 Suddenly the Master turned to his servant and asked: "Remind me of a prayer-any prayer:"If only I could " said the servant. too have forgotten everything "Everything-absolutely everything?"Yes except-Except what?" "Except the alphabet." At that the Besht cried out joyfully Then what are you waiting for? Begin reciting the alphabet and shall repeat after you....And together the two exiled men began to recite, at first in whispers, then more loudly. "Aleph, beth, gimel daleth __ And over again.each time more vigorously, more fervently; until ultimately, the Besht regained his powers, having regained his memory. 31 love this story, for it illustrates the messianic expectation-which remains my own. And the importance of friendship to man's ability to transcend his condition. I love it most of all because it emphasizes the mystical power of memory. Without memory, our existence would be barren and opaque, like a prison cell into which no light penetrates; like a tomb which rejects the living. Memory saved the Pesht, and if anything can, it is memory that will save humanity. For me , hope without memory is like memory without hope. [...] Remembering is a noble and necessary act The call of memory the call to memory, reaches us from the very dawn of history. No commandment figures so frequently.so insistently, in the Bible. It is incumbent upon us to remember the good we have received, and the evil we have suffered New Year's Day, Rosh Hashanah, is also called Yom Hazikaron the day of memory On that day, the day of universal judgment,man appeals to God to remember; our salvation depends on it If God wishes to remember our suffering, all will be well; if He refuses, all will be lost. Thus, the rejection of memory becomes a divine curse, one that would doom us to repeat past disasters, past wars [ 4[ldots ] And yet it is surely human to forget, even to want to forget.The Ancients saw it as a divine gift Indeed if memory helps us to survive, forgetting allows us to go on living How could we go on with our daily lives, if we remained constantly aware of the dangers and ghosts surrounding us?The Talmud tells us that without the ability to forget, man would soon cease to learn Without the ability to forget, man would live in a permanent paralyzing fear of death Only God and God alone can and must remember everything. 5[ldots ] There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. The Talmud tells us that by saving a single human being, man can save the world. We may be powerless to open all the jails and free all the prisoners, but by declaring our solidarity with one prisoner, we indict all jailers. None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims. I began with the story of the Besht. And, like the Besht, mankind needs to remember more than ever Mankind needs peace more than ever, for our entire planet. threatened by nuclear war is in danger of total destruction. A destruction only man can provoke only man can prevent.Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures, it is our gift to each other