I believe that most people, both Jews and non-Jews alike, have had difficulty reconciling the evil of the Holocaust. I feel that for most people, but especially for Jews, that it has been most important for them to hold onto their faith, as it has been their faith that has survived, along with them, their history of suffering, oppression and genocide. While the Holocaust has made some Jews question how God could allow such atrocities to happen to His people, most Jews turned toward their faith rather than away from it.
            
             Essential belief in Judaism is the belief in one powerful all-loving God, who is everywhere and in all things. Since the early patriarchs, Jews have spiritually changed with their history, though the central beliefs have remained the same as seen through the Torah. For instance, you can see why spiritual changes were reflected in the rabbinical, Kabbalah and Hasidism movements relative to their circumstance. I feel these spiritual changes were made in order to reconcile the Jews circumstances at that particular time in their history. For example, Hasidism, "the path of ecstatic piety," (Living Religions, pg. 244) was developed in poverty stricken Poland and the Ukraine where they lived under legal restrictions and always in fear of their lives and they had little else but their religion.
            
             In order to reconcile the horror of the Holocaust, Jews have focused on the basic foundation of Judaism and also of Christianity, the Covenant. "God never promises His chosen people that they will be exempt from suffering, instead, he promises them preservation throughout history and that they will benefit all nations." (Study Guide, pg. 54) Suffering of God's people can be seen through all of Jewish history, dating back to the Israelites bondage in Egypt and their subsequent escape and wandering in the desert for 40 years. Even though they were God's chosen people, the Israelites did suffer a...