Anonymous
Writing on the way to Auschwitz
When arriving to our third destination of the trip - Treblinka - we walked along a jagged bumpy path composed of countless stones. Our guide, Rabbi Kireger, explained to us what this seemingly simple path represented. Every stone was a different Jew. However, this did not merely serve as a representation of the number of lives lost in Treblinka. It was also a representation of who we lost in Treblinka. No two stones are the same. No two Jews are the same. Some stones more smooth and some more round, some smaller and some bigger but despite the differences they were all grouped together as one, to form one complete path just as the Jews, who all looked, smiled, laughed and cried, and lived differently, were all grouped together here as one.
There is a Pasuk in Tehillim which says:
מאיבי תחכמני מצותך כי לעולם היא לי
"Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies; they always stand by me." (119:98)
This Pasuk is expounded on telling us that we should learn from our enemies. Of course, our enemies here, the Nazis, did not see anything other than the fact that we were Jewish. Religious or not, man or woman, young or old, we were still all Jewish and treated equally wrong.
In Rambam’s seventh Perek of Hilchot Deot, he discusses the laws of Lashon HaRa - loosely translated as 'defamation'. He goes through the details of this prohibition, listing the specifics that are also included in this prohibition. Amongst them is spreading truth about others as well as listening to others: active actions and passive actions.
We had two types of enemies during the Holocaust: those that were active and those that were passive. Amongst the active, there were the Nazis, Slovaks, Italians, and Japanese. Amongst the passive were Sweden, Ireland, and Turkey.
In this week's Parasha, the Torah discusses the procedure of Tzara'at (Leprocy, which serves as a punishment for LaShon Hara. The second Pasuk discussing this reads as follows:
אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יִהְיֶ֤ה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ֙ שְׂאֵ֤ת אֽוֹ־סַפַּ֙חַת֙ א֣וֹ בַהֶ֔רֶת וְהָיָ֥ה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂר֖וֹ לְנֶ֣גַע צָרָ֑עַת וְהוּבָא֙ אֶל־אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֔ן א֛וֹ אֶל־אַחַ֥ד מִבָּנָ֖יו הַכֹּהֲנִֽים׃.
“If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a s’eis, or a sapachat, or a baheret, and it will become a tzara’at affliction on the skin of his flesh; he shall be brought to Aaron the Kohen, or to one of his sons the Kohanim” (Vayikra 13:2)
There is something difficult with this Pasuk. What is the meaning of the skin of his flesh? The Pasuk could have simply had either skin or flesh, but what is the point of mentioning both? The Ohr HaChayim, says that the meaning of the language used in the Pasuk reveals that when we Jews get Tzara’at, it is only visible on the skin, however it is not reflected on our personality, nor is it reflected in our soul.
Writing on the way back from Auschwitz.
On Thursday this past week, we went to Brzozów, where an entire Jewish community of around 3000 people was wiped off the map. Many of whom were lined up to be shot to their death, resulting in their fall over a ledge to remain unburied in the valley below. When the mayor of the town heard about what happened, he said “I do not mind if you kill the Jews, but can you please cover up their bodies to not ruin our water system” to paraphrase. The Nazis covered their bodies a little, but when winter came and went, the stream of water scattered the bodies over the forest.
While at this site, someone with whom I was with on the trip relayed a story told to him by his father. He told us how two of his great-grandparents survived the Holocaust. Sam Schloss, one of his great grandparents, would go months at a time alone in the forest and months in Polish homes in the comfort of a warm bed and tasty meals, all under the disguise of his blond hair and blue eyes. His other great grandfather, Jack Whimme, survived the war, having been in a concentration camp. When my friend’s father asked Jack which of the two survivors had it worse, Jack said to his grandson “Of course Sam did!”. Surprised by the answer, the curious grandson asked how this could be. Jack answered, “I had my brothers with me, Sam was all alone’.
These moving stories show us what we need to be reminded of. As the Rambam pointed out, there is sin in being passive, just as there is sin in being active, just like the mayor and the Nazis.
The Nazis tried to wipe us out, no matter what type of Jew we were. Nevertheless, we helped each other out no matter what type of Jew we were. Not seeing a difference between one another is something we need to learn from our enemies. However, we are different from these enemies because we lived on. They were like this affliction that is described to us in this week's Parasha. They were only able to penetrate us on a physical level, just like this affliction does. We are still able to live on, without having lost our personality and spirituality.
Shabbat Shalom from Krakow
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