troublesome to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet for the person who is ind ifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, theref ore their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners ere the " Muselmanner ,"as they were called. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they ould sit or lie on the ground staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were--strangers to their surroundings. they no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing They were dead and did not know it. Rooted in our tradition, some of us felt that to be aba ndoned by humanity then was not the ultimate. We felt that to be abandoned by god was worse than to be pun ished by Him better an unjust god than an indifferent one for us to be ignored by God was a harsher punis hment than to be a victim of His anger. Man can live far from God - not outside God. God is wherever we are. Even in suffering? Even in suffering In a way to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman Ind ifference, af ter all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one itnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Ind ifference elicits no response. Ind ifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore indif ference is always the friend of the enemy for it benef its the aggressor - never his victim, whose pain is magnif ied when he or she feels forgotten. the political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children the homeless ref ugees - not to respond to their plight not to relieve the ir solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. and in denying their humanity, we betray our own Indif ference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century wide-ranging experiments in good and evil In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. during the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps - and I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period that we are now in the days of Remembrance --but then we felt abandoned forgotten All of us didtroublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indif ference reduces the Other to an abstraction. Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "Muselmanner," as they were called. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were -- strangers to their surroundings. They no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it. Rooted in our tradition, some of us felt that to be abandoned by humanity then was not the ultimate. We felt that to be abandoned by God was worse than to be punished by Him. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one. For us to be ignored by God was a harsher punishment than to be a victim of His anger. Man can live far f rom God -- not outside God. God is wherever we are. Even in suf fering? Even in suf fering. In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, af ter all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indif ference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indif ference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indif ference is always the f riend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by of fering them a spark of hope is to exile them f rom human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own. Indif ference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century's wide-ranging experiments in good and evil. In the place that I come f rom, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. During the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps -- and I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period, that we are now in the Days of Remembrance -- but then, we felt abandoned, forgotten. All of us did