The 614th Commandment (Fackenheim)
Emil Fackenheim's post-Holocaust mandate — "Do not hand Hitler posthumous victories."
The modern Jewish philosopher Emil Fackenheim, responding to the Holocaust, proposed a "614th commandment" (beyond the traditional 613): Jews are forbidden to hand Hitler posthumous victories. To despair, to abandon Judaism, or to give up on the Jewish people, he argued, would complete the destruction the Nazis began — so Jewish survival and faith themselves become a sacred duty.
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Emil Fackenheim's post-Holocaust philosophical imperative commanding Jews to survive, preserve their identity, and resist nihilism—framed as a 614th commandment beyond the traditional 613. (Emil Facke
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