Zarathustra in Jerusalem: Nietzsche and the “New Hebrews”

Commemoration comes in many shapes and sizes, depending upon the circumstances of its creation and the desires of its designers. Commemoration fulfils several needs simultaneously. The first is sociological: the common creation of a memorial or ritual acts as a source of unification and continuity. The second is educational: commemoration acts as a tool to develop an ethos which may be passed on from generation to generation. The third is psycho-theological: by creating ceremonies and sacred spaces, commemoration integrates with or substitutes for existing patterns of belief, thereby hastening the recovery process. Monuments and memorial stones are a second form of Holocaust commemoration. Contemporary research considers monuments to be a system of symbols through which one can examine a societys culture and ideology. The ritualization of communal and individual Holocaust commemoration is an additional demonstration of the impact of European immigrant culture upon the State of Israel.