On Tuesday, July 16, I and a group of rabbis traveled south from Jerusalem — to the Gaza envelope.

There, we visited the places that Hamas had ravaged on Oct. 7, 2023.

We visited the site of the Nova music festival, where we said kaddish for the young victims.

We visited Kibbutz Nir Oz. We walked through the rubble of the burnt houses, the burnt kitchen, the places where people died, and the places where people were taken hostage. One-quarter of the residents of Nir Oz were killed or taken hostage.

I have experienced many moments of pain in my Jewish life, even as I have experienced many moments of joy and exaltation.

But never in my life have I encountered the memories of such sheer evil as I did at Nir Oz.

I had not known at that time that I was walking in the footsteps, walking the same ground, as Alex Dancyg, of blessed memory — a proud son of Warsaw.

And so it was in Warsaw on Yom Kippur that I dedicated the memorial service to his memory.

Adapted from my Yizkor sermon, given on Yom Kippur, Beit Warshawa, Warsaw, Poland.

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