Two
miracles that I know of from the terror action this week and perhaps a third.
The first was a young man who was shot twice in the head from point blank
range. One bullet was removed and the doctors are discussing the second what to
do. He is talking and moving all his limbs.
The
second was a man sitting a meter from the terrorist at the next table. They
shot in the other direction killing the former member of the elite COS unit.
They are sort of the Israeli Version of the Green Beret.
The
possible third miracle is that all the easing of travel has been suspended and
more roadblocks in place. Those who snuck through holes in the fence around
Chevron are being rounded up and two Golani Units put on patrol (They are like
the Marines).
Parsha Naso
Although
Naso is the largest Parsha, we have only 18 Mitzvos which are 7 positive and 11
negative written down. Bamidbar was the largest Parsha with no Mitzvos at all.
Among commandments mentioned this week is the Nazir and the Sotah and what is
required to do with these commandments.
The
Parsha continues from last week with the children of Gershon and Merari and the
number of members of their children who were between the ages of 30 years until
50 years who could work on the Mishkan. It must have been a great let down to
the older members of the tribe who could get Maaser if they were in Israel and
could sing in the Mishkan Service but not participate in the moving and
building or dismantling the Mishkan.
4:21 And the
LORD spoke unto Moses saying: 22 'Take the sum of the sons of Gershon also, by
their fathers' houses, by their families; 23 from thirty years
old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them: all that enter in
to wait upon the service, to do service in the tent of meeting. …
25 they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its
covering, and the covering of sealskin (giraffe skin)
that is above upon it, and the screen for the door of the tent of
meeting; 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the
gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and
their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatsoever there may
be to do with them, therein shall they serve. … 29 As for the
sons of Merari, thou shalt number them by their families, by their fathers'
houses; … 31 And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their
service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars
thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof; 32 and the pillars
of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords,
even all their appurtenance, and all that pertains to their service;
In
Shemos I discussed the various weights of items used in the Mishkan. The
curtains were very weighty that it took 300 men to dip them and remove them
from the Mikvah and I showed how weighty they were in tons based on the density
of water and not even taking surface tension into account. All the curtains and
the covering were placed on the wagons assigned to the Gershon family.
Because
of the weight of the boards and accessories therewith, Merari got the largest
amount of wagon to carry them and I did the calculation of the tonnage this
year in commentaries on Shemos.
Kohath
did not have an easy job as the Teva and its gold cover were very weighty but I
came to the conclusion that it had to have ‘carried itself’ like our Sages tell
us for 6, 8, 10 or 12 men taking turns with a relief squad could not have
carried that for much distance. It might have been boards under the Ark and
making the number of men a few dozen being rotated that might have been
possible. There was also the golden Menorah, golden Mizbayach, and other items
which they carried distances. The bronze lave was very large in size. The
weights are large and therefore the numbers of people listed below and the
replacement for others as they tired-out is important.
…36 And those
that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred
and fifty. 37 These are they that were numbered of the families of the
Kohathites, of all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron
numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Although
the amount looks a lot the number of items and the weights of them make this
amount very reasonable. An oil cruse could be carried by one man for miles with
the oil or broken up into cruses and oil separately. However, the lave and the
Mizbayach or Teva amounted to team work.
38 And those
that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their
fathers' houses, 39 from thirty years old and upward even unto
fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for service in the
tent of meeting, 40 even those that were numbered of them, by
their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand and six hundred and
thirty. 41 These are they that were numbered of the families of
the sons of Gershon, of all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses
and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD.
Taking
down or putting up the Mishkan and the various skins, boards and connections
required the most precise team work with ropes, ladders and pulleys. (They had
this knowledge even if the Leviim had been exempt in Mitzrayim for the cities
and pyramids were built by this method. Most modern men use machines and are
not used to plain ropes and pulleys and human strength and fortitude.)
42 And those
that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by
their fathers' houses, 43 from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty
years old, every one that entered upon the service, for service in the tent of
meeting, 44 even those that were numbered of them by their families, were three
thousand and two hundred.
The
tonnage required that the holy parts of the boards and the risk to the men
involved removing the staves or placing them to hold the sides together was
great so many men had to secure the pulleys and ropes and slowly one by one
add, subtract, raise or low the boards and sockets.
5:1 And the
LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 'Command the children of Israel, that they put
out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is
unclean by the dead; 3 both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp
shall ye put them; that they defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I
dwell.' 4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp;
as the LORD spoke unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
This
is to purify the holiness of the camp. I assume that it was done around the
dedication of the Mishkan as there is no early or late in the Torah, we learn
this fact now.
5 And the LORD
spoke unto Moses, saying: 6 Speak unto the children of Israel:
When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to commit a trespass
against the LORD, and that soul be guilty; 7 then they shall
confess their sin which they have done; and he shall make restitution for his
guilt in full, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him in
respect of whom he hath been guilty. 8 But if the man have no
kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for
guilt which is made shall be the LORD'S, even the priest's; besides the ram of
the atonement, whereby atonement shall be made for him. 9 And
every heave-offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which
they present unto the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man's
hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be
his.
Part
of purifying the camp is to confess one’s sins and between a man and his fellow
shall make restitution or trespass on the Kodesh. Elsewhere
11 and the LORD
spoke unto Moses, saying: 12 Speak unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them: If any man's wife go aside, and act unfaithfully against
him, 13 and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the
eyes of her husband, she being defiled secretly, and there be no witness
against her, neither she be taken in the act; 14 and the spirit
of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled;
or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and
she be not defiled;
I
have written about this in the past and the only thing I want to add this year
is that some men are jealous or a woman for no reason and in some cases bring
on this behavior just to spite them. I know a case of one woman with a boyfriend
who wanted her to photo every place she was to check up on her. Until one day
she left him and Israel with somebody else. However, there are other cases
where the test and trial of the Sotah has happened involving death as I brought
down the Chida reading it and the woman dying after leaving his office.
6:1 And the
LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say
unto them: When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a
Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the LORD, 3 he shall abstain from wine and
strong drink: he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink,
neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. 4
All the days of his Naziriteship shall he eat nothing that is made of the
grape-vine, from the pressed grapes even to the grapestone.
It
is said that if a person sees a Sotah he should vow this vow so as not to get
light-headed over wine. This includes the grape-seed abstracts that many
natural medications people take.
… 22 And the
LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 23 'Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying:
On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel; ye shall say unto them: 24
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee; 25 The LORD make His face to shine upon
thee, and be gracious unto thee; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee,
and give thee peace. 27 So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel,
and I will bless them.'
It
is not enough to offer-up the Korban Tamid for Am Yisrael. The Cohanim are required
to bless the nation.
7:1 And it came
to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the tabernacle, and
had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture thereof, and the altar
and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and sanctified them; 2 that
the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, offered--these were
the princes of the tribes, these are they that were over them that were
numbered. 3 And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered
wagons, and twelve oxen: a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one
an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle.
Six covered wagons: The word צָב can denote only “covered.” Similarly,“In covered wagons (בַּצַּבִּים) and on mules” (Isa. 66:20). Covered wagons are
called צַבִּים. [Some expound the word צָב in the sense of הַצְבִי יִשְׂרָאֵל,
“O beauty of Israel” (II Sam. 1:19),
(meaning) that they were elegant.] - [Sifrei Naso 1:148, Num. Rabbah 12: 17.
See Maharzav.] They presented them in front of the Mishkan: for Moses did not
accept them from their hands until he was instructed to do so by the
Omnipresent. Rabbi Nathan says: Why did the chieftains see fit to be the first
to contribute here, whereas concerning the work of the Mishkan , they were not
the first to contribute [but the last]? However, the chieftains said as
follows, “Let the people contribute what they can, and then we will complement
whatever is missing.” When they saw that the people had supplied everything-as
it says, “And the work was sufficient for them” (Exod. 36:7)-they said, “What is left
for us to do now?” So they brought the shoham stones and the filling [stones]
for the ephod and the choshen . Therefore, [in order to make amends,] here they
were first to contribute. — [Sifrei Naso 1:150]
These
were the wagons that Yosef sent to fetch Yacov even though the Pshat seems to
say newer ones.
4 And the LORD
spoke unto Moses, saying: 5 'Take it of them, that they may be to do the
service of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to
every man according to his service.' 6 And Moses took the wagons and the oxen,
and gave them unto the Levites. 7 Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the
sons of Gershon, according to their service. 8 And four wagons and eight oxen
he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand
of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But unto the sons of Kohath he gave
none, because the service of the holy things belonged unto them: they bore them
upon their shoulders. 10 And the princes brought the dedication-offering of the
altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes brought their offering
before the altar. 11 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'They shall present their
offering each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar.' 12 And he
that presented his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of
the tribe of Judah;
He
started first for the everlasting kingship would come from his seed. It is also
the marching of the army in the wilderness.
13 and his
offering was one silver dish, the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty
shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a
meal-offering; 14 one golden pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 15 one young
bullock, one ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt-offering; 16 one
male of the goats for a sin-offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of
peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first
year. This was the offering of Nachshon the son of Amminadav.
These
gifts repeat themselves there I only bring down the names. See last years’ post
for the approximate amount in modern cash of the gifts and my calculations.
18 On the
second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, … 24 On the third day
Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun: … 30 On the fourth
day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben: … 36 On the
fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon: …
42 On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad: …
48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of
Ephraim: … 54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the
children of Manasseh: … 60 On the ninth day
Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin: …
66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of
the children of Dan: … 72 On the eleventh day
Pagiel the son of Ochran, prince of the children of Asher: … 78 On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children
of Naphtali:
And
the grand total of the gifts from the princes is: … 84 This was
the dedication-offering of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, at the
hands of the princes of Israel: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins,
twelve golden pans; 85 each silver dish weighing a hundred and
thirty shekels, and each basin seventy; all the silver of the vessels two
thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; 86 twelve golden pans, full of incense, weighing ten shekels
apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans a hundred
and twenty shekels; 87 all the oxen for the burnt-offering
twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the he-lambs of the first year twelve, and
their meal-offering; and the males of the goats for a sin-offering twelve; 88 and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace-offerings twenty and
four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs of the first
year sixty. This was the dedication-offering of the altar, after that it was
anointed. 89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting that
He might speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above
the ark-cover that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two
cherubim; and He spoke unto him.
Thanks
to Linda: Holocaust Survivor shares her story: http://www.ldnews.com/story/news/local/2016/06/01/holocaust-survivor-shares-story-cedar-crest-middle-school/84743766/
It’s
not every day that the 405 eighth graders at Cedar Crest Middle School get
a deeper insight into the Holocaust, one of history’s most abominable
atrocities. During their trip to Washington, D.C. of the previous week, they
could choose any of the museums on the National Mall to visit. Better than half
of them chose the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Fresh
from a three-day Memorial Day weekend and filing into the school’s auditorium
this past Tuesday morning for an 8:30 a.m. assembly, the students were
about to meet Hilda Mantelmacher, a Holocaust survivor of the horrors of
Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazis’ largest concentration and extermination camp of
World War II, and the typhus-infested camp of Bergen-Belsen.
Leading
up to the Holocaust Museum visit and that morning’s assembly, the students had
been studying the “Diary of Anne Frank” as part of their English curriculum.
After
an introduction by the school’s principal, Mariah Rackley, Mantelmacher made
her way to the podium as the students greeted her with a respectful applause
that was destined to grow in intensity as the assembly proceeded.
At
first glance, Mantelmacher, of Harrisburg, could be mistaken for a sweet and
gracious grandmotherly type who would be more than willing to share her recipes
for cookies and treats as well as a few hugs. Her eyes danced with energy that
belied the experiences she was about to share.
Holocaust
is derived from the Greek word “holokauston,” which means “sacrifice by fire.”
Mantelmacher’s presentation was dramatically underscored by an airing of the
PBS Frontline documentary “Memory of the Camps.”
She
was born into an orthodox Jewish family in Czechoslovakia on Dec. 4, 1930.
“Czechoslovakia
was a democratic country like the United States,” she told the students. “I had
freedom like you have. I could do anything you do.”
By
the time she was 9 years old, all that had changed with the Nazi occupation
that “took everything away.”
Her
father ran a restaurant in Bratislava, a city in an area Hitler referred to as
the “Sudetenland,” a German-speaking section of Czechoslovakia which Germany
annexed before the start of World War II.
She
recounted that Hitler had identified Jews as public enemy No. 1.
“We
were singled out for total destruction,” she said.
Eventually,
Jews were forbidden to go to school or work and were forced to wear yellow
stars of David on all their clothing.
“They
had to be sewn in,” Mantelmacher said, not affixed with a safety pin otherwise
a person faced a beating or was sent off to a concentration camp.
Life
under Nazi occupation was just the beginning of her darkest days. Before then,
she said that people could rely on the local police for protection and law and
order.
“They
broke the windows and set the curtains on fire,” Mantelmacher said of the fate
that had befallen her father’s restaurant at the hands of the Nazis.
For
their own protection, her father had built a hiding shed where “we huddled
together like frightened animals in the hope we would not be found,” she said
when the Nazis would come round.
The
Nazis also instituted a curfew. She and her family lived in fear of a “knock on
the door” that usually meant that the Nazis wanted to pay them a visit.
“Knocking
on the door gave me nightmares,” Mantelmacher said.
Soon
the Nazis set up a ghetto in Bratislava where they herded 14,000 Jews into
space for 2,000 in an old pig factory where six families were assigned to one
room without bathroom facilities. All their belongings were confiscated and
sent to Germany.
“They
took my mother’s wedding ring and my earrings,” Mantelmacher said. “When my
mother took off her wedding ring, my father cried.”
It
wasn’t much longer until they would leave the ghetto for a train ride into the
south of Poland but for some unknown reason.
“They
put us in cattle cars,” Mantelmacher told the assembly, “and for three days and
three nights, we had to stand in the same place. We couldn’t move and couldn’t
‘go’ even though there was a bucket in the car (for personal sanitary needs).”
What
lay ahead for them in Poland was unthinkable. They were being transported to
Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were greeted by the Nazis’ “Angel of Death,” Dr.
Josef Mengele who would literally determine who was to live and who was to die
as these passengers left the train.
Right
from the start, they were told, “You are here to obey or you will wind up in
smoke.”
“He
greeted us with big German Shepherd dogs,” Mantelmacher said of Mengele. “If he
sent you to the left side, it was to the gas chambers. If he sent you to the
right side, it was to slave labor.”
That
was the last time she saw her parents, her younger brother Joshua and her
grandparents who were directed to the left side.
As
if the despicable experience of the ghetto weren’t enough, Mantelmacher and the
others who were in line for slave labor were told to disrobe.
“They
took everything away from us,” she said, including their undergarments. “They
gave us wooden shoes that caused blisters on my feet that felt like fire.”
The
women were issued potato sacks for dresses.
Mantelmacher
recalled that she had long blonde hair which was soon shaven off.
“They
would take our hair to Germany and make pillows and mattresses out of it,” she
said.
Living
conditions in barracks-like buildings were horrible. People slept in cramped
wooden bunks arranged three high with only straw for bedding.
“If
old people couldn’t walk, they were shot on the spot,” Mantelmacher said of
life in the camp.
Auschwitz-Birkenau
was surrounded by a high-charge electric fence with guard towers positioned
along it. Escape was impossible.
“Some
couldn’t take it,” she said of the living conditions. “So they would touch the
fence.”
More
suffering was imposed by watching people heading for the fence being shot down
by the guards who would get rewarded for their ghastly efforts.
“They
were shot because they were supposedly trying to escape,” Mantelmacher
explained of this additional horror.
Because
Auschwitz-Birkenau was a death camp, even those who were not immediately sent
to the gas chambers would eventually learn of their fate.
One
day Mengele announced to Mantelmacher and her fellow-inmates of “A House” that
they would be going to the gas chambers the following day.
Through
the intercession of a girl named Lydia, whom Mengele had admired for her
attractiveness, “A House” was spared for one more day while the occupants of “B
House” were sent to the gas chambers instead.
“The
trucks came,” Matelmacher said, “and there was screaming and crying.”
As
fate would have it, a message came from Germany the next day with a requisition
for 500 laborers to work in Hamburg. Mengele, as he always had done, would
personally choose the 500 including the “A House.”
It
was 1945, and the war was rapidly turning in the favor of the Allies.
Mantelmacher
(now between 14 and 17 years of age), because she was so diminutive, initially
didn’t qualify and would be sent to the gas chamber.
“He
looked at me and said I was too little,” Mantelmacher said. “You can’t work. I
started crying.”
Her
friend Lydia told her to go to the back of the line and bite her lips to make
them red and to pull her cheeks to give them a red glow. However, Mengele
recognized her and was about to dismiss her to the gas chamber when Lydia came
to her rescue.
“Look,
she is a good worker,” Lydia told him as she lifted Mantelmacher’s potato sack
dress. “She has good strong legs.”
In
Hamburg, the work was to collect bricks from bombed out buildings for use in
new structures. It appeared to Mantelmacher that the city’s residents went
about their business oblivious to the slave labor.
“When
the bombs came, we were so happy,” she said. “I prayed for the safety of the pilots.”
To
Mantelmacher and her fellow-laborers, the bombings gave them joy,
confidence and hope.
“If
the Nazis win the war, none of us would be here,” she continued. “If I die from
a bomb, somebody will survive.”
Nevertheless,
there was always the overhanging threat that if a person did not work hard, she
would be shot, beaten to death or sent to the gas chamber.
Mantelmacher
was eventually sent to another camp, Bergen-Belsen, where Typhus and death were
rampant. It was originally built to hold 10,000 inmates but by April 1945, that
number had risen to 60,000.
“The
dead were stacked up,” she said. “My job was to take away the dead.”
She
also contracted the disease.
“I
knew my days were numbered,” she said. “The only way to earn food was to drag
the bodies on the ground.”
With
the approach of the British Army’s 11th Armored Division and liberation, the
Nazis tried to destroy as much evidence of the death camps as they could. That
included burying the corpses of the dead.
“We
dug big pits and buried people,” said Mantelmacher of the attempted cover-up.
“We didn’t feel nothing. We just had to survive.”
For
their work, Mantelmacher and her comrades received some bread and turnip soup.
As
she grew weaker, she fell down and was stacked up along with the dead
that numbered 13,000 corpses.
“If
the British didn’t come in, I probably couldn’t have lasted a week,”
Mantelmacher said. “Nobody cared.”
At
the conclusion of her presentation, she took questions from the audience.
“What
motivates you to come to schools?” was one question.
“I
want to teach students not to hate,” Mantelmacher replied. “What can we do to
not have another Holocaust? Prevent hating and you’ll have a better life.”
“Ever
lose faith and hope?” a student asked.
“I
never gave up,” she said, referring to her strong belief in God even in her
most dire hours. “Don’t blame God. The Nazis chose to be evil. When people hurt
each other, God cries.”
To
a similar question she replied, “I didn’t want them to be happy (referring to
the Nazi guards). If a person would go to the electric fence, they would
smile.”
“When
the Nazis killed your family, why didn’t you want to die?” was a question.
"I
didn’t want to give them another reason to make them happy. I know I would
never say anything that hurt me because if I did, it would be a trip to the gas
chamber,” she said.
“Were
you ever ashamed of being a Jew?” came another query.
“I
wasn’t ashamed. I didn’t do anything wrong,” she explained. “I had good
parents. I was hurt, but never ashamed.”
“If
you met a Nazi guard today, what would you want him to say?”
Her
reply, “I would want him to say, 'I’m sorry. I was bad. I did bad and I hope
nobody does that kind of bad.'”
“What
one decision you made during the Holocaust that you would change?” asked
another student.
“I
would tell my parents for the last time that I love them,” she said.
As
she closed her presentation, Mantelmacher scanned her audience and said, “Grow
up in peace. Six million Jews were killed. I know I’m very lucky. Don’t bully
anybody. It hurts forever.”
She
added, “I thank God every day that I live in the best country in the world, the
United States.”
That
respectful applause that greeted her at the start of her presentation rose to a
sustained and higher level of appreciation and admiration.
Two
Students React
The
week before Hilda Mantelmacher’s presentation at Cedar Crest Middle School, the
eighth-grade students visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington,
D.C.
Two
students, Elizabeth Knapp, 14, and Owen Kreider, 14, shared their thoughts and
impressions on how the presentation brought the impact of the Holocaust as they
observed it at the museum into a more meaningful perspective.
“She
was such a beautiful person inside and out,” said Knapp of Mantelmacher.
“Imagine the amount of physical and mental strength she had to get through the
Holocaust.”
For
Knapp, a strong connection was made between the museum and the presentation.
“Today
explained the horror and torment of the Holocaust a lot more,” she said.
Kreider
called the presentation “eye-opening.”
“Hearing
about her stories and talk about what happened to her and her family made
things more personal than the museum,” he said of Hilda Mantelmacher’s
presentation. “She is someone who was part of it.”
On
the horror of the Holocaust, he said, referring to Hitler’s Final Solution, “I
understand one man said what goes. I can’t see how somebody could do that to
somebody.”
From
the presentation, both students had similar takeaways.
“Always
have love in your heart,” said Knapp. “There’s no room for bullying because no
one deserves that.”
For
Kreider, who admires Mantelmacher’s strong faith in God, it’s about family.
“Cherish
your family every day of your life,” he said. “Hilda will never see any of her
family again.”
Knapp
rejects the idea that there was never a Holocaust.
“I
don’t understand that,” Knapp said. “It’s history. It’s happened. There
are videos to show it happened.”
Kreider
commented on the freedom Mantelmacher enjoys as a U.S. citizen.
“We
take it for granted,” he said. “It means a lot more to her other than the
average person. She came over here to start a new life.”
Developing
a perspective on the Holocaust
Hilda
Mantelmacher’s presentation at Cedar Crest Middle School as a Holocaust
survivor was one of three such programs that Principal Mariah Rackley has
scheduled for her eighth-grade students over the last seven years. The other
two were individually given by Severin Fayerman and Dr. Joseph Hirt, both
survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
“They
are so meaningful connections,” said Rackley of the presentations. “You can’t
teach them. There was no YouTube in 1940, so you can’t go back and see it.”
The
presenters bring a different reality to the students.
“That’s
what makes this opportunity so important for our students,” Rackley continued.
“Standing in front of you is a person who had an SS guard standing in front of
her who was going to kill her.”
She
pointed out that Hilda, Severin and Hirt weren’t much older than her middle
school eighth graders when they experienced the horrors of the Holocaust
but had the will to survive in spite of the Nazis.
“We
hope the presentations offer our students a perspective to help understand that
the past of a teenager in Poland or Czechoslovakia is different from them
living in Lebanon in 2016,” she said.
Rackley
added that all three survivors emphasized the importance of education.
“Not
only the importance of education, but also the importance of what it means to
be an American, and how great a place the U.S is to live.”
During
my first years in Israel, I worked to Rabbi Yerachmiel Kram Shlita of Keren
Ezra LeYeledim. I helped send a few fellows go to Yeshivos that normally would
have gone the way of some of the Sephardic Religious Children in Ashdod and
left the ranks of the religious.
Before
I started working with Rav Kram, he was already the Director of Yad LeAchim in
Ashdod. Once a Yeshiva youth wanted to do what most youths his age did and he
went down to the beaches of Sinai. They were filled with drugs, hippies, nudity
and other immodesty. Rav Kram and Rav Fein Shlita went down there in his car to
rescue the fellow. It was one of the operations that nobody knew about.
In
the early 1970’s two brothers murdered their grandmother for the equivalent of
$200. Rabbi Kram rescued the sister and sent her to a religious girls’
dormitory. When it came time for her to marry, nobody wanted to marry her in
Israel. He paid for her to go to the USA to marry a Satmar Chassid and I was at
her Sheva Berachos. I also saw the young Abrech from Tiberius who had been in
the Sinai.
The
following story appeared in Arutz 7: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213329#.V1WGF49OI5s
When the
Rabbi wore Jeans and a Wig to save a Jew.
A story
about a rabbi in jeans, a monastery, and a Jewish grandson.
Rabbi Yitzchak
David Grossman, legendary head of the Migdal Ohr Institutions in Migdal HaEmek
in the Jezreel Valley – known as the "Disco Rabbi" because of his
practice of entering noisy nightclubs to find potential returnees to Torah –
related the following extraordinary incident in his most recently column in the
weekly
BaKehillah.
In the days preceding Yom Kippur one year, a man came to Rabbi Grossman and
tearfully told him that his grandson had been caught in the clutches of
missionaries. "My son and his family live in Europe," the man said,
"and they sent their son to study in Israel. He ended up renting an
apartment with a missionary, who convinced him to move to a monastery in Dir
Hana to learn Christianity. How can I pray on Yom Kippur when my own grandson
is sitting in a monastery?!"
Dir Hana, located not far from Migdal HaEmek, is a predominantly Muslim
village, with a Christian monastery perched on a hilltop at the edge of town.
Rabbi Grossman contacted the village mukhtar and asked for his help in entering
the monastery. The mukhtar said that his son is in charge of bringing food up
to the site, and that he could give him a lift up the hill. But in order not to
attract attention, the distinguished Hassidic-looking rabbi, originally from
Meah She'arim, put on a wig and jeans and made his way up to the monastery on a
tractor loaded with bread, vegetables and other victuals.
The disguise worked; the Christians thought he was a new recruit and
allowed him to enter. Rabbi Grossman quickly located the young man in question,
and asked to talk with him privately. They entered a side room, Rabbi Grossman
took off his wig, and the astonished boy exclaimed, "Rav Grossman?! What
are you doing here?!"
"What are you doing here?" the rabbi countered. "Your
grandfather survived the Nazi camps – does he deserve this? He came to me
crying and cannot be comforted!" The boy began to cry and complain about
things his family had done to him, but Rabbi Grossman was insistent: "I
hear you, but you have gone too far. Yom Kippur is two days from now. How can
you remain here on that holy day?"
The boy said, "No matter what, I eat on Yom Kippur." Rav Grossman
said, "I have a full refrigerator at home – just come! Be with us in
Migdal HaEmek on Yom Kippur."
The boy refused to commit himself, yet they still parted warmly, and Rav
Grossman got back on the tractor to return home.
Yom Kippur came – with no sign of the boy. "I was very tense,"
the rabbi related, "and with a very heavy heart, I began reciting Kol
Nidre… But the next night, after the fast, I received a very emotional call
from the grandfather, who told that his grandson had spent Yom Kippur in the
synagogue with him, full of remorse at what he had done and resolved to start
on a new path."
Many years later, Rabbi Grossman continued, "I was in a shtiebel in
Monsey, New York, when a local man came up to me, dressed as a typical Orthodox
Jew. He bent down to me with a smile and whispered, 'Rabbi Grossman, where's
your wig?'"
In honor of Yizkor on Chag Shavuous
Interruption of Shiva by Rabbi YY Jacobson Shlita
A teaching in the Mishna defines the
duties of a Jew who is in mourning at the outset of a festival. “Regalim
mafsikim,” state the sages, “festivals interrupt shivah,”
the seven-day period of mourning following the death and burial of a close
relative (Moed Katan 3:5).
In one of the most brilliant psychological responses
to death, mourners, in the Jewish tradition, are supposed to step out of normal
life when they have suffered the loss of a loved one. They don’t pretend to be
brave and go on as if nothing had happened. They take time to grieve; their
normal pattern of behavior is disrupted as a way of recognizing that a profound
change has occurred in their life. Thus the custom is that they stay home
during shivah, and people come to be with them, to share in their
grief. Jewish law recognized that life will never be the same again, and the
dramatic transition requires time off.
But the Mishna is saying that if one of the major
Jewish festivals (Shavuos, Passover, or Sukkos) begins while you are in
the shivah period you are supposed to put aside shivah and
join with the community in celebrating the festival. So for example, if someone
lost a loved one on Sunday and buried them on Monday, Shivah would only go till
Saturday night, when Shavuos begins. The mourner takes part in a Shavuos
celebration, attends a Passover seder, goes out to eat in the Sukkah, etc.
Why? At first glance this law seems insensitive.
Seeing how sensitive Jewish law is to someone who suffered a loss, requiring
them to stay home for seven days, why suddenly in this case do we display such
brute insensitivity? How can we be expected to put aside our grief and go to a
celebration? How can halacha command us to suppress natural
human emotions for the sake of going through the motions of a ritual?
The Talmud, the commentary on the Mishna,
explains the reason for this ruling: “aseh d’rabim” – a positive mitzvah incumbent
on the community, overrides “aseh d’yachid” – a positive mitzvahincumbent on
the individual” (Talmud Moed Katan 14b). Celebration of the
festivals is a mitzvah of the entire community; mourning is a mitzvah on the
individual who suffered the loss. The communal time of joy overrides the
individual’s time of grief.
But this does not seem to answer the question. After
all, if someone lost a loved one, how do we ask of them to transcend their
individual state of mourning because of the communal state of joy? Let the
community celebrate, but let the individual mourn!
If I Am Only For Myself…
Each and every Jew can experience himself or herself
in one of two ways, and they are both equally true. We are individuals. Each of
us has our own “pekel,” our own baggage, our own unique story and narrative. I
got my issues, you got yours; I got my life, you got yours. You fend for
yourself, I fend for myself. In the words of Hillel: “If I am not for myself,
who will be for me?”
Together with this, we are each also an indispensable
part of “klal Yisroel,” of the community of Israel. We are not only
individuals; we are also an integral part of “keneset Yisroel,” the collective
soul of the Jewish people. Like limbs in a body, each limb has its own
individual character and chemistry, but it is also a part of a single organism
we call the human body.
The difference between these two components is
critical. The individual life can die. But, in the words of the Talmud, “tzebor
lo mas,” the community does not die (Talmud Horayos 6a). The collective body we
call “the Jewish people” never dies, it only changes hands. The very same
“body” of “klal Yisroel” that existed 3000 years ago still exists today. Moses
was a Jew and you are a Jew. Rabbi Akiva was a Jew and you are a Jew. The Ball
Shem Tov was a Jew and you are a Jew. An individual can die; a nation does not
die (unless the entire nation is obliterated.) Again in the words of Hilel:
“But if I am only for myself, what am I?”
The tyrants and Anti-Semites in history could sadly
wipe put individual Jews, but never the Jewish people. “Tzebor lo mas.” The
community of Israel never dies.
Eternity
Now we will understand the explanation of the Talmud,
that shivah gets interrupted for a holiday because the mitzvah of the community
takes precedent over the mitzvah of the individual. This is not saying that the
individual who suffered a loss must forget about his or her own pain because
the community is celebrating. That would be unfair. Rather the Talmud is telling
us something deeper.
When the community of Israel is experiencing a
celebration, a festival, marking a watershed moment in the history of our
people—that celebration of the “tzebur,” of the collective body of the Jewish
people, includes also the person who passed away, because that aspect of us
which is part of the community of Israel never ever dies. The “Jew” in the Jew
cannot die, because it lives on in the collective body of the Jewish nation.
When the mourner interrupts his shivah to celebrate
the holiday of Passover, Shavuos or Sukkos, he is not diverting his heart from
his or her beloved one; rather he is given the ability to connect to the
central defining moments defining Jewish history and eternity, and it is in
that drama that his loved one still lives on. In the collective life of the
Jewish people, and in our collective celebrations of Jewish faith and history,
our loved ones continue to live.
A Lost Child
This may be of the reasons we recite Yizkor on each
of the three holidays. During Yizkor, we don’t only remember our loved ones who
passed on; we also ensure that a part of them never dies, by insuring that the
collective organism of Am Yisroel—the people of Israel—survives and thrives.
A moving story is told by the Yiddish writer Shalom
Asch, about an elderly Jewish couple in Russia forced by the government to
house a soldier in their home. They move out of their bedroom, and the young
man, all gruffness and glares, moves in with his pack, rifle and bedroll. It's
Friday night, and the couple prepares to sit down for Shabbat dinner. The
soldier takes his place at the table. Only now is it apparent just how young he
is. He sits and stares with wide eyes as the old woman kindles the Shabbas
candles. And he listens as the old man chants the Kiddush and Hamotzie. He
quickly devours the hunk of challah placed before him, and speaking for the
first time, he asks for more. His face is a picture of bewilderment. Something
about this scene -- the candles, the chant, the taste of the challah, captures
him. It touches him in some mysterious way.
He rises from his seat at the table, and beckons the
old man to follow him, back into the bedroom. He pulls his heavy pack from the
floor onto the bed, and begins to pull things out. Uniforms, equipment,
ammunition. Until finally, at the very bottom, he pulls out a small velvet bag,
tied with a drawstring. "Can you tell me, perhaps, what this is?" he
asks the old man, with eyes suddenly gentle and imploring.
The old man, takes the bag in trembling fingers and
opens the string. Inside is a child's tallis, a tiny set of tefillin, and small
book of Hebrew prayers.
"Where did you get this?" he asks the
soldier.
"I have always had it...I don't remember
when..."
The old man opens the prayer book, and reads the
inscription, his eyes filling with tears:
“To our son, Yossel, taken from us as a boy, should
you ever see your Bar Mitzvah, know that your mama and tata always love you.”
You see, this boy was one of the cantonists. On
August 26, 1827, Tsar Nicholas published the Recruitment Decree calling for
conscription of Jewish boys between the ages of twelve and twenty-five into the
Russian army. These boys were known as Cantonists; derived from the term
'Canton' referring to the 'districts' they were sent, and the 'barracks' in
which they were kept. Conscripts under the age of eighteen were assigned to
live in preparatory institutions until they were old enough to formally join
the army. The twenty-five years of service required that these recruits be
counted from age eighteen, even if they had already spent many years in
military institutions before reaching that age.
Nicholas strengthened the Cantonist system and used
it to single out Jewish children for persecution, their baptism being of a high
priority to him. No other group or minority in Russia was expected to serve at
such a young age, nor were other groups of recruits tormented in the same way.
Nicholas wrote in a confidential memorandum, "The chief benefit to be
derived from the drafting of the Jews is the certainty that it will move them
most effectively to change their religion."
During the reign of Nicholas I, approximately seventy
thousand Jews, some fifty thousand who were children, were taken by force from
their homes and families and inducted into the Russian army. The boys, raised
in the traditional world of the Shtetle, were pressured via every possible
means, including torture, to accept baptism. Many resisted and some managed to
maintain their Jewish identity. The magnitude of their struggle is difficult to
conceive.
This thirty-year period from 1827 till 1856 saw the
Jewish community in an unrelieved state of panic. Parents lived in perpetual
fear that their children would be the next to fill the Tsar's quota. A child
could be snatched from any place at any time. Every moment might be the last
together; when a child left for cheder (school) in the morning, parents did not
know if they would ever see him again. When they retired at night after singing
him to sleep, they never knew whether they would have to struggle with the
chappers (kidnapper, chap is the Yiddish term for grab) during the night in a
last ditch effort to hold onto their son.
These kids were beaten and lashed, often with whips
fashioned from their own confiscated tefillin (phylacteries.) In their
malnourished states, the open wounds on their chests and backs would turn
septic and many boys, who had heroically resisted renouncing their Judaism for
months, would either perish or cave in and consent to the show of baptism. As
kosher food was unavailable, they were faced with the choice of either
abandoning Jewish dietary laws or starvation. To avoid this horrific fate, some
parents actually had their sons' limbs amputated in the forests at the hands of
local blacksmiths, and their sons—no longer able bodied—would avoid
conscription. Other children committed suicide rather than convert.
All cantonists were institutionally underfed, and
encouraged to steal food from the local population, in emulation of the Spartan
character building. (On one occasion in 1856 a Jewish cantonist Khodulevich
managed to steal the Tsar's watch during military games at Uman. Not only was
he not punished, but he was given a reward of 25 rubles for his display of
prowess.)
This boy in our story was one of those cantonists.
Let Them Live
At Yizkor, our mama and tata, our zeide and babe, our
great grandparents for many generations, whisper to us how deeply they love us
and believe in us. No matter how many years have passed, the bond is eternal
and timeless.
When we embrace and continue their story, we ensure
that every single Jew who ever walked the face of this earth is still, in some
very real way, alive.
Due
to three long stories and other factors I will have to delay again part 4 of my
return to Judaism but you will not be disappoint with the help or HASHEM.
This should
never have happened he needs to be punished: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4812075,00.html
There are
amazing things in creation: http://www.aol.com/article/2016/06/02/astronomers-say-universe-expanding-faster-than-predicted/21388618
Rivals but best
of friends a short story from the boxing world: http://www.tmz.com/2016/06/04/george-foreman-muhammad-ali-death/
BDE Chief Rabbi
of Netanya passes away: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213421#.V1gS-5F96M8
Inyanay Diyoma
Another heat
wave and more fires some natural perhaps others terror related: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4811559,00.html
Syrian liaison
office like the “good fence” during my border service. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4810130,00.html
Thanks to Dr.
Rona: http://www.bookwormroom.com/2016/06/02/trump-may-be-the-non-kosher-candidate-but-that-doesnt-mean-we-cant-partake/
200 leftist
generals from the old school propose a multi-security plan for a two State
Solution. Until they get into their heads that there is no land of Oz and there
is no Palestine there can never be peace. They all need a slap on both cheeks
from HASHEM Yisborach to wake them up from their hysteria. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4811738,00.html
Iran very happy from Hillary’s policy. http://debka.com/article/25461/How-Hilary-s-foreign-policy-succeeded-for-Iran
Surprise-surprise
State Dept. wipes clean an official video on Iran. http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/06/03/outrage-rising-over-state-departments-wiping-of-official-video-showing-obama-administration-lie-about-iran-deal-video/
I received this
directly from Barry Shaw and the story appeared on the TV News too. http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-tunnels-crisscross-entire-length-of-the-gaza-strip-israel-says/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=8b8034acad-2016_06_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-8b8034acad-54488109
After months in
the hospital terror victim released for rehab. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213289#.V1ROUo9OI5s
The Saudis are
convinced that unfortunately Netanyahu and Lieberman are willing to make Hefker
parts of Eretz Yisrael to a non-existent people against the will of HASHEM. The
PLO is trying to get out of this but is being pressed by the Saudis. My only
hope is that HASHEM will miraculous stop this foolishness. They eat Trafe
(Tumay which Mittumtam – destroys one’s sense) and cannot see clearly. Only the
religious with principles and scruples can stop them. Oy Vey. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4811540,00.html
From Joseph S. Glad that he will not make drones for Hamas or
Hezballah with his engineering skills. : http://conservativetribune.com/media-ucla-shooters-religion/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=PostTopSharingButtons&utm_content=2016-06-03&utm_campaign=websitesharingbuttons
5 Jordanian
Intelligence Officers killed: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4812511,00.html After
a few days Debka analyzed the situation and reported: http://debka.com/article/25465/ISIS-launches-Ramadan-with-terror-strike-in-Jordan
Terrorist
shoots at IDF vehicles and civilian shoots back. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213374#.V1aJho9OI5s
Modiin has an
archeological surprise: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213378#.V1cX3Y9OI5s
Turkey hit
again with a terrorist attack: http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/06/07/3785401/istanbul-hit-with-another-terrorist-attack/
Israel destroys
a storage depot belonging to Hezballah. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4813234,00.html
14 year old
injured in TA explosion: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213432#.V1gK2o9OI5s
Trump to spill
the beans on the Clintons: http://www.aol.com/article/2016/06/07/donald-trump-threatens-to-spill-the-beans-on-clintons/21391354/
60 meters from
the Israeli version of the Pentagon or 180ft is the food court that was
attacked. It is also about a block from all the government buildings in Tel
Aviv and diagonally across from the government offices is the three Azrieli
Towers and shopping center (Cylinder, Triangle and Rectangle buildings). One
terrorist was caught on the spot and the other fled to opposite the national
lottery and the main headquarters of Klalit and Meuhedet Sick Funds and near a
high school. The attack was most strategic and psychological blow to Israel.
Immediately all the family 204 men had their work permits revoked. The houses
in Kfar Yatta near Chevron are going to be demolished. Computers confiscated
and searches going on. 83,000 permits frozen or revoked. Finally fence near
Chevron will be given money to complete: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4813955,00.html Terrorist ID: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4814114,00.html
A special story on TV how
the second terrorist was captured. The terrorist fled the scene and was running
with a policeman and his wife into their home not far from the Sarona Center.
They hid him in their house with him and the wife alone. The police ran back to
the scene and then he got a description of the terrorist at which time he ran
home and handcuffed him and called the other policemen for back-up after he was
cuffed.
Condemning
terror in no uncertain terms not like a certain POTUS. http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/06/09/in-robust-response-to-tel-aviv-terror-trump-rips-uncivilized-palestinians-who-praised-attack/
France a
Synagogue and Rabbi’s home vandalized: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/213530
Data base for
Get refusers to be post internationally in order that the communities deal with
these people and cast them out until they give their wife a divorce: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4813526,00.html
The person who
aided the terrorist is caught: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4814240,00.html
Have
a good, safe and healthy Shabbos,
Rachamim
Pauli
