Ellie and I were going to celebrate our anniversary on August 24 by rolling up the rug, lighting a few candles, programming some music, and dancing in the living room. When a friend offered tickets for a special event, we decided to postpone the celebration.

That night, there were two sold-out movie theater showings in Northfield of “Four Winters,” a documentary about Jewish partisans during World War II. The film is inspiring and moving, astonishing for the courage, determination and ingenuity of the fighters. Impressive, too, is the original movie footage and photos shown. (Sounds were added to good effect.)

I admired the men and women who, as teenagers, fought battles with next to nothing — little food, few munitions, challenging communications. Mostly, they were armed with the desire to fight back, to avenge the degradation and killings of parents, siblings and others, many of whom were shot to death in their presence. The survivors’ now aged faces expressed every emotion as they told their stories.

To me, the most chilling words in the film came from a survivor/fighter describing a gunpoint confrontation over his claim to not be a Jew; he was told to drop his pants. At that moment, he said, he determined that should he survive and have a boy, that child will not be circumcised. As he spoke, his head was at such an angle that his kippah was visible.

The film induced in me recurring feelings of incredulity: This all happened just because we are Jews! Sure, there were economic and political factors, and the origins and roots of Jew hatred are varied and deep. But it happened to us because we are Jews.

Because we are Jews.

Because we are Jews, the movie theater lobby and hallways were patrolled by four police officers, one with a dog.

Because we are Jews, it was felt that police were needed to protect us while we watched a movie about armed resistance to Nazis and their collaborators, about loss and the inhumanity of humans, about survival against the odds, about what the desperate can achieve. We walked past armed officers to get to our seats; we watched the film knowing they were nearby.

Because we are Jews.

am yisrael chai!

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Shabbat shalom ! שבת שלום