Antisemitism has been a plague on nations for centuries — sometimes hidden behind piety, sometimes clothed in politics, often shouted from pulpits or printed in propaganda. It was never a whisper. And in our day, the old lies aren’t murmuring in corners; they are shouting obnoxiously loud.
This month, the United States Postal Service issued a new stamp honoring Elie Wiesel. Just a square of paper — and yet it carries the weight of unspeakable suffering and unforgettable truth. Wiesel was fifteen when he was deported to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister were murdered in the gas chambers. His father died at Buchenwald. Out of that abyss came Night — his masterpiece of memory, written so the world would never again be able to say, “We did not know.”
The USPS video introducing the stamp does not soften the story. It recalls a place where “sons watched helplessly their fathers being beaten to death. Mothers watched their children die of hunger… and then there was Mengele and his selections, terror, fear, isolation, torture, gas chambers, flames — flames rising to the heavens.” This is the world Wiesel survived, and it is the truth he forced the world to face.
And yet he was not content to be a survivor alone. He chose to become a witness. He vowed, “Never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.” He reminded us that “indifference, not hate, is the true enemy of justice.”
How urgent his words sound now. Nearly two years after the October 7th massacre, Hamas still holds hostages. Israel remains under fire. And in America and Europe, antisemitism is roaring — in streets, on campuses, and online. The evil that pursued the Jewish people in Pharaoh’s Egypt, in Haman’s Persia, in Hitler’s Germany, has reared its heads again.
What does God ask of us in such a moment? “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
To do justly is to confront lies and defend truth. To love mercy is to stand with the Jewish people when the world condemns them. To walk humbly with God is to remember that our call is not new — it is the same call Esther faced in the palace: will you speak when silence feels safer?
Wiesel once declared, “Neutrality is a sin.” He knew that to shrug in the face of evil is to side with the oppressor. That is why his face on a stamp is not simply an honor — it is a challenge. Will we let memory fade, or will we, like Wiesel, insist that remembering is itself a holy act of resistance?
As Christian Women for Israel, we cannot choose indifference. We are called to be Modern-Day Esthers, raised up for such a time as this — to remember, to speak, to act, to pray. The stamp may be small, but it bears a prophetic weight. It says: never forget. It insists: never be silent.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, make us faithful in memory and bold in action. Teach us to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You. Raise up Modern-Day Esthers who will resist the dragon of Jew-hatred and bless Israel for such a time as this. Amen.
