This Nisan 27

Today is the 27th of Nisan, Yom HaShoah, "Day of the Catastrophe," the day for remembering the Holocaust.

I saw my first real photographs of gas chambers and piles of dead bodies when I was seven. My grandfather's group of soldiers had stormed through the gates of a concentration camp, I don't know which one. Most were carrying rifles; he was carrying a camera. Legend has it that those soldiers rounded up many of the guards, handed their rifles over to the few prisoners who were strong enough to wield them, and stood back while the prisoners slaughtered the guards. I don't know if I believe him, or if that's just what the ferociously angry, traumatized 18-year-old boy in him wished had happened.

He was a Philadelphia Jew, sent to war at 17. He told me that some of my relatives had died in a camp like that one. I believe him on this point, but I don't know who or when; my family never speaks of itself very much.

Bow your hearts with me today, friends. In remembrance of HaShoah, do something active and concrete to grow peace in the world. Hug someone who is angry. Go buy some healthy, fresh food for a poor family in your neighborhood. Think of the most socially awkward person you know, and call him or her, just to chat. Rid your home of violent or misogynistic video games, music, and films. Acknowledge the violence in your own heart, ponder it, and decide to dispel it.

Give this a listen and a read today, and then this. Mr. Wiesel and Ms. Tippett are two bastions of active peacemaking, and two of my personal heroes.