In a weekly newsletter focused on Torah matters, it's natural to include thoughts related to the weekly Torah reading. However, in keeping with the well-known teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, that one should learn something from everything one hears or sees in service to God, it's also logical to learn something from the week's events.
From a deeper perspective, the Alter Rebbe, founder of the Chabad Movement, used to say that one must live with the times, that is, draw life-giving teachings from the Torah of Life, from the weekly Torah reading. In other words, there must be some connection between the weekly reading and the events of the week.
Now, what follows is just a personal opinion; obviously, it can be accepted or not, criticized, etc. It is simply my particular view of an issue and should not be taken out of context or applied to other people.
In this week's Torah portion, called Shemini (the eighth), we read about the deaths of Aaron's two eldest sons, Nadav and Abihu. Our sages debate the cause of their deaths: some say they were serving God while drunk, others say they made an unwanted offering, and still others say they disrespected God by teaching before Moses. Whatever the case, the Torah tells us about Aaron's reaction (Exodus 10:3): "[...] and Aaron remained silent." At no point do we perceive a complaint, a questioning in the face of such a tragedy: his two eldest sons had just died, and he "remained silent.".
One way to understand this attitude is to observe the continuation of events, where Aaron continued working in the Mishkan until the day of his death. In other words, instead of being paralyzed by what happened to him, he carried on with his task.
Another way to look at it is that we shouldn't try to rationalize matters that are beyond our grasp. After all, we are (nothing more than) human beings, and we cannot pretend to understand God's designs. However, we should learn from the events that occur around us in general, and even more so when they affect us personally.
People say that today (Nisan 27) is Yom HaShoah, which translates to something like the day of desolation/destruction, in direct reference to the so-called Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime only 70 years ago.
I say "people say" because, in my opinion, there isn't a specific day to commemorate such an event. Our sages established that we remember certain specific days of the year, like the fast of the 9th of Av, so that we become aware that we are truly in exile and have not yet been redeemed. Someone might argue that if "Our sages" were still around, they would decree such a day, or use some other argument, but the reality is that, in my view, every day is Yom HaShoah.
Shoah, as I said, means desolation, destruction. It shouldn't be seen as an event that happened 70 years ago and that we remember today, but rather as a feeling in the heart of every Jew: today we are also living a Shoah. And even worse: seventy years ago the enemy was clear, revealed to the whole world, literally. Today the enemy is hidden, subtle, and cunning. The enemy is the lack of Jewish life that is suffered in every home. The enemy is the indifference (and sometimes even mockery) toward what is ours, holy, and eternal. The enemy is people's surrender to the values of society, setting aside our own values of life.
It's fashionable to say that we "educate in values," but one must ask: what values? Society also has values, and many positive ones, but they are not our values. Moreover, even if the set of values were the same, they wouldn't be identical, because some, those of society, are based on the common agreement of a group of people—philosophers, educators, thinkers, and so on—while others, our truly personal values, are based on God. And the difference is quite simple: if something is based on human intellect, it is subject to change, depending on the place, the time, the circumstances, and so forth. A value based on the Torah, on God, is not subject to change and applies everywhere, always.
So, what can we learn from the fact that people are talking about a Yom HaShoah? We must understand that it is not enough to simply not forget or to remember; rather, each of us must ask ourselves, "What am I doing to prevent the current devastation of the Jewish people?" Even more importantly, "What am I doing to prevent my own destruction as a Jew?"