Between Passover and Shavuot in the Ghetto

The period between Passover and Shavuot is a time of trying to better one’s character.

In this period, Rabbi Akiva’s disciples died (in ancient times) for “not showing respect to one another”, and that is why they are mourned. During the days of counting the Omer (from Passover to Shavuot), according to what is stated in the holy books, we work gradually on improving our character until Shavuot. Correcting one’s character constitutes preparation for receiving the Torah, because the Torah and its mitzvahs have no value without character development: Derech eretz (loosely translated as “good manners”) precedes the Torah!

In this article, the first of the series, we will tell a little about Jews who were engaged in the work of improving their character, specifically during the Holocaust, days of insanity and loss of self-control.

From various memoirs that have survived the inferno, we can see how Jews, precisely in those days, shone through in their work to improve their character. In times when “the world was desolate”, they spoke and engaged in matters related to working on their character, and were a sign and an example to their surroundings with their wonderful behaviour in matters “between man and his fellow”.

A)

“Were our houses open to all passersby?”… A heartbreaking confession, “Between Passover and Shavuot” in the synagogue in Szerencs.

The syngagoue in Szerencs, Hungary

Menashe ben (son of) Chaim Koenig (a Torah scholar, and a student of the Rebbe of Satmar who survived the Holocaust and lived in Petach Tikva) described an “argument” that took place in the synagogue in Szerencs, into which all the town’s members were brought between Passover and Shavuot, and where they awaited their sentence.

Eighty-year-old Menachem Kreisler, a Torah scholar and true righteous man, accepted the judgment with love and spoke of taking account of one’s character, words of faith and trust in G-d. At the end of his words, he called out to the Jews of the town who, as mentioned, were all crowded in the synagogue that was built with great splendor thirty years prior, and now awaited its destruction and the destruction of its children, students, and worshippers.

“It is true that we transgressed, some by accident or on purpose, over a large part (…) but we did not do all this to anger G-d and we do not deserve such severe punishments…”

I have been here for two days, I was one of the first to be brought here. These two days I have been observing and looking around me and now it seems to me that I have finally found an answer. G-d deals with people “measure for measure.” Indeed we are also dealt with in this way.

We all became “guests for the night.” We have permanently left our homes behind us. We no longer have a plot of land nor a vineyard. Our clothes and utensils were also left to others. None of us know what we will eat, what we will wear tomorrow (…)

Is this not pointing the finger at us ‘”for the sin we committed before Him by not fulfilling the mitzvah of hospitality according to My nature”? Were our homes wide open to any passerby?

Were our tables set for all who where hungry and thirsty?

Did the beams of our houses serve as a shelter in the summer from the hot sun and in winter from snow and rain for those who had no home?

Or did the warm blankets in our bedrooms warm the frozen limbs of those who wandered from city to city and village to village to bring sustenance to their homes?

But worse than all of these transgressions is the sin of closing the door to the refugees of Poland and the Jews of other countries who, after the destruction of their families, managed to escape from the abyss of killing and in the dead of night came and knocked on the doors of our homes and begged us: “Please open the doors of your homes to us, and give us shelter within your homes. Please have mercy on us Jews, merciful ones, children of merciful ones! It is a matter of saving a life!”

The fear of the police that was imposed on us prevented us from fulfilling their request!…

B)

“Those with good virtues can be sure that they will overcome all adversity”

Another thing on the list of what the ghetto was like “between Pesach and Shavuot”, exactly eighty years ago, is in the spring of 5703 (1943), in which took place a discussion of morals given by the great Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski, may G-d avenge his blood, a very great man, a student of the “grandfather of Slobodka,” who served as the last overseer of the Knesset Yisrael Yeshiva, founded by the genius rabbi, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter z”l.

Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski

In the days of the ghetto, Rabbi Avraham used to give talks on morals in his home, and Jews, of all denominations and circles, of all genders and ages, would come to hear his words with thirst and would strengthen themselves in matters between man and his fellow man, especially in those times of sorrow and grief.

One of these conversations was recorded by Avraham Turi (Golob) in his book “The Ghetto Day by Day” (starting on page 33).

In terms of the law, these things were strictly forbidden. It was forbidden to study, it was forbidden to convene assemblies or to give lectures, it was also forbidden to pray in groups. In addition, it was forbidden to eat a hearty meal or drink liquor. And this was because the Germans saw us as slaves, and slaves are not allowed to enjoy life.

But stolen water will be sweetened… the more the pressure of the government increased, the more cruel its laws were – the greater the desire for knowledge, for spiritual sustenance. Slobodka was, for generations, a center of Torah study, of yeshivas, of the worship of the Jewish religion. I have often wanted to know, what does Slobodka look like in these troubled days, in the days of the ghetto? Where are the yeshiva students, the regulars, and the rabbis today? Most of them perished – like thousands of other Jews – santifying the Name of G-d. Only a small handful remained alive. They gather at night, after finishing their work, at “Tiferet Bachurim”, an association for the cultivation of religious life, as well as in the framework of other small groups, to study Torah and pray. They continue. They keep the embers from being extinguished.

Oshry (Rabbi Ephraim Oshry) – a former Slobodka yeshiva student, is now involved in all of these matters… He does many things in the field of religious education and for the religious way of life. If the Germans were aware of this – Oshry would be killed.

Oshri is an official in the administration of the ghetto. He is the director of the lice removal department. This is one of the strange phenomena in the crooked mirror of ghetto life. His official role does not interfere with his main occupation – caring for Torah students…

…today will be Shabbat, and at 6 o’clock in the evening, between the Mincha and Maariv prayers, we will both go to visit the man of musar (morals), Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski. This is how I talked with Oshry.

Rabbi Grodzinski lives in the old city, Slobodka, in a narrow alley. There stands the building of the Slobodka Yeshiva, and next to it in a two-story building lived Rabbi Grodzinski.

Not long ago, the labour in the work company ended, and the alley is full of people. Oshry tells me that in days past, crowds gathered here, between Mincha and Maariv: rabbis, yeshiva students, and regular pious people. Now the situation is different; Today you see people here whose faces are dark and gloomy and whose clothes are torn and worn. Loaded with backpacks, they return from a hard day’s work…

Oshry and I walk down the narrow alley full of people, and approach a house made of wood. Oshry goes first. He goes up a narrow wooden staircase, and I follow him. We pass through two small rooms, crammed with beds and closets, and enter the third room, which is also full of furniture and various objects. In the middle of the room stands a round table, covered with a red velvet tablecloth, reminiscent of the table covering in the study hall. On the table is a pile of Gemara and Chumash (Pentateuch) books.

At the table sits Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski, an old man with a thick beard and a pale and sickly face. He is wearing Shabbat clothes and a kippah covers his head. Next to him – a Chumash with a black cover. Rabbi Avraham says words of Torah. Around him, in this room and in the other, are yeshiva students, both young and old. Their eyes are directed to where the old rabbi is sitting. The people wipe the sweat off their faces and under their hats.

When we entered the room, Rabbi Grodzinski was in the middle of his speech. He extended his hand to me, the guest. I sat and was ready to listen to the lesson in morals from Rabbi Avraham’s mouth.

Rabbi Grodzinski continues and preaches: “There is only one greatness in the world, and that is the greatness of the Torah, which G-d gave to the People of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai (the time is close to Shavuot, and the rabbi speaks of the giving of the Torah). The Jews received the Torah, And even before they knew what was said in it, they hastened and said: “We will do and we will listen.” This is a phenomenon that is out of the ordinary. The Jews believed in the Master of the World, and therefore they were sure that His teachings were good for all of the People of Israel. No one can see God in His greatness, only Moses had the privilege of seeing Him face to face. As it is said: “mouth to mouth, I will speak to him” (Numbers 12:8)

The nations of the world see greatness and glory in literature and art. This assessment of theirs originates from the fact that they do not recognize the importance of the Torah. Many of the Children of Israel also failed with incorrect preference, and this is because they did not understand that true greatness is embodied in the Torah. The Torah does not demand from the Jew things that are beyond his ability; It demands of him to be what he really is, to behave according to the qualities he is endowed with, not to run away from himself, not to deny his character. He must be as he is, as G-d created him.

Man is good by nature, and he must be careful not to be taken off the straight path. Do not give in to the evil inclination. The Nation of Israel was chosen by the Creator of the World to be His people. That is why we must suffer more than other peoples. G-d gave us the Torah, so that we would know how to behave. There are three basic virtues among the people of Israel: fear (shame), mercy, and kindness. Fear does not simply mean fear of G-d in Heaven. Fear is the result of the exaltation of the Creator. Shame does not mean simply being ashamed; it means humility. In light of the greatness of the Creator, man sees himself as small to the point of true humility. The measure of mercy: There is no limit to the mercy of Jews. All the People of Israel are merciful ones, children of merciful ones. And kindness is the attitude of one person to another. With the strength of all these measures, the People of Israel could bear all the troubles that befell them. For many generations. The troubles that are his lot now – the people already knew in the past. In the Torah it is explicitly said that this or that punishment comes for a reason: Why the first Temple was destroyed and why the second Temple was destroyed.

“Those of faith, those of good character, can be sure that they will overcome all hardships. The People of Israel will overcome all the troubles of our time.” Rabbi Grodzinski ended his moral lesson today with this.

We thanked Rabbi Avraham for his instructive lesson – and said goodbye to him. We went out into the street. “It has already been 35 years since the handing down of the system of morals from the mouth of Rabbi Avraham at the Slobodka yeshiva,” Oshry said. “And he continued this even after the arrival of the Bolsheviks. Now he preaches in his home. They wanted to move him to Israel, he also refused to part with the place and the position he inherited.”

In the first days of the war, Rabbi Avraham sat with 16 students. When the disturbances began in Slobodka – according to Oshry – his students and close associates begged him to stop his studies and find a hiding place for himself until the horrors passed. But Rabbi Avraham was not a man who runs away from his role and destiny. He told them that precisely then, in an emergency, one should learn Torah. If he was destined to die – it would be good that he dies with a Torah scroll in his hands.

When a Lithuanian “partisan” gang approached his house, three young men hid in the basement and the bathroom. The “partisans” entered Rabbi Avraham’s room and found him giving over words of Torah to thirteen students. The Lithuanians arrested the young men and brought them to the Seventh Port. They left Rabbi Avraham, who was somewhat handicapped, at his home. That day they only arrested young people.

Rabbi Avraham continued his lesson surrounded by students and followers of the system of morals, despite the dangers and storms. He believed with complete faith that the People of Israel would emerge strengthened from all of the tribulations of their time. Rabbi Avraham and his students were few, but constituted a significant part of the reality of the ghetto.

The next article in the series: Poria Sokal – Working on One’s Character and Maintaining Human Dignity, from an interview with Poria Rothschild Sokal for Ganzach Kiddush Hashem, and more stories