the shoah scroll · slightly revised version of that service. megillat hashoah now caps that...

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The Shoah Scroll

A Holocaust Liturgy

Jerusalem

2004

MRS\FZCRKOThe Rabbinical

Assembly

PMGQ[MJZNPETKFKFEG\Schechter Instituteof Jewish Studies

First edition: April 2003

Second edition: January 2004

2003, 2004

by The Rabbinical Assembly

ISBN 965-7105-13-7

Typesetting: Leshon Limudim Ltd., Jerusalem

Printed in Israel

Donors

With gratitude to the donors who made the creationand publication of Megillat Hashoah possible.

ChroniclersSaul and Toba Feldberg

Sam and Gitta Ganz

The Children of Clara and Leslie Reitman,

in their Parents’ memory

ScribesJoe and Phyllis Frieberg

Alex and Genia Grossman

Michael and Marianna Shatz

Barry and Paula Sonshine

Irving and Cathy Stal

Israel and Elena Weinberg

HistoriansAbraham and Freda Blankenstein

Leslie and Anna Dan

Alex and Olga Eisen

Harry and Sara Gorman

The Pantirer, Pines and Schwartz Families

Mark and Annette Mincer

David and Felicia Posluns

David and Luba Smuschkowitz

Barry and Nellie Zagdanski

Ian and Sara Zagdanski

RecordersRonald and Bunny Appleby

Sidney and Rita Eisen

Sharla Lichtman and Joel Eisen

George and Vera Friedmann

Herbert and Joyce Green

Saul and Evelyn Mintz

Marvin and Pamela Tarek

WitnessesIsrael and Avrum Adler

Coleman and Evelyn Bernstein

Harold and Jeannette Cohen

Samuel and Beverly Cohen

Sydney and Jean Gerstein

Stanley and Sue Goldfarb

Charles and Regina Goldfinger

Pola Goldfluss

Harvey and Jeannette Grossman

Ronald and Heather Hoffman

Bernard and Agnes Klein

Israel Mida and Laurie Walsh

Sol and Cili Neufeld

Les and Eva Saperia

Norman Shelson

Sam and Rose Weisberg

Steeles Memorial Chapel

Dr. Jacob J. Wiener and George Rabner

Committee Members

Megillat Hashoah CommitteeRabbi Prof. David Golinkin, Chair

Rabbi Prof. Reuven Hammer

Rabbi Jules Harlow

Prof. Dalia Ofer

Dr. George Savran

Rabbi Dr. Pesah Schindler

Prof. Avigdor Shinan

Yom Hashoah Liturgy CommitteeRabbi Philip Scheim, Chair

Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman

Rabbi Dr. Avram Reisner

Mr. Larry Rosenberg

Rabbi Joel Meyers, Ex Officio

Megillat Hashoah ProjectMr. Alex Eisen, Chair

Rabbi Philip Scheim, Co-Chair

EditorsRabbi Prof. David Golinkin

Rabbi Philip Scheim

Contents

Introductions

Rabbi Reuven Hammer 9

Rabbi David Golinkin 13

Rabbi Philip S. Scheim 18

Commemorative Ritual for Yom Hashoah Eve 22

The Shoah Scroll, by Professor Avigdor Shinan 27

translated by Rabbi Jules Harlow

Additional Readings 58

Mourner’s Kaddish 62

Hatikvah 68

The publication of Megillat Hashoah marks a mile-stone in the transformation of Yom Hashoah into asacred day within the cycle of the Jewish year, taking

its rightful place as a day of mourning and religiouscommemoration. As early as the late 1960s, I called uponthe Rabbinical Assembly to begin the work needed to makethis day one that would be observed in appropriate ways byevery synagogue and, indeed, by every individual Jew. Myfeeling then, as now, was that unless Yom Hashoah ismarked by appropriate liturgical formulations within theSiddur to be recited on 27 Nissan, it would not outlast thelives of those who experienced the horrors of the Shoah. Inthe 1980s, the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel pioneered thiseffort by issuing a Siddur for Yom Hashoah, which was laterincorporated into Siddur Va-ani Tefilati. The RabbinicalAssembly’s new edition of Siddur Sim Shalom contains aslightly revised version of that service. Megillat Hashoah nowcaps that endeavor by supplying us with a Hebrew text withtranslation, which will be read at services on Yom Hashoahyear after year, a text that tells the story of the Shoah in briefbut powerful passages that can and must become part of thecollective memory of the Jewish people. This repetition, yearafter year, from generation to generation, will become theliturgical foundation for commemoration of these terribleevents that must never be forgotten. Of course, these briefchapters cannot and are not intended to tell the whole story,but they can serve as a goad to learn more and more. YomHashoah now has its own megillah. Having one central text,shared by Jews wherever they live, will unite us and makepossible the perpetuation of the story. It will help us to fulfillwhat has become the new imperative of Jewish life: We must

9 a Introductions

all view ourselves as if we had personally experienced theShoah. The emphasis here is on the words ‘‘as if’’, since noone who was not there can possibly understand what it waslike, though we can identify with them and their suffering.

As one who lived in the United States and was as farfrom the Shoah as one could be, it is paradoxical that I havealways felt compelled to contrast my life with that of those inEurope, and in that way to identify with them. I was born theyear that Hitler came to power. When I was a young child,the Nazi persecution of the Jews began and laws werepromulgated against my people. I started school whenKristalnacht took place. I was studying in the United Statestogether with children of different races and religions whenJews in Germany were being prevented from attendingGerman schools and when concentration camps were beingbuilt. I had not yet reached the age of Bar Mitzvah whenghettos were created throughout Europe and childrenyounger than I were scratching through garbage heaps tofind a scrap of food and Jews were being slaughtered in Nazigas chambers and shot at the edge of mass gravesthroughout eastern Europe. By the time of my Bar Mitzvah,it was all over – men, women and children had beenannihilated in numbers humanity had never experiencedbefore. Nothing stood between me and the Shoah but thefateful decision of my grandparents to leave Europe andcome to America at the beginning of the twentieth century.All of us were potential victims of the Shoah and we mustnever forget that.

The Shoah arouses feelings within us that are difficult tobear and questions to which we have no answers. Itdemands a response, but it is difficult to know how torespond. We want to understand, but there is no possibilityof understanding. It challenges our faith in God, in religionand, most of all, our faith in humanity. Centuries ago ourSages had no answer to the question: why was Cain

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permitted to kill Abel? In a daring midrash based on theverse ‘‘The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Mefrom the ground’’ (Genesis 4:10), Rabbi Shimon bar Yohaitold this parable: It may be likened to two gladiators strivingwith one another before the emperor. If the emperorwished, he could have separated them. But he did not wishto do so, so one overpowered the other and killed him. Ashe was being slain, the gladiator cried out, ‘‘I demand justicefrom the Emperor!’’ Thus, ‘‘The sound of your brother’sblood cries out to Me from the ground!’’ (GenesisRabbah 22).

The voices of six million cry out before God for justice.We have no answer but the sound of silence. And yet wemust never say or teach that the Shoah represented the willof God, that the Shoah was God’s punishment, or that it wasjustified because it was followed so soon by the creation ofthe State of Israel. We may not have answers to themysteries of the Shoah, but there are some answers thatmust be rejected completely for the honor of our people andfor the honor of God. Such thoughts stand in completecontrast to Judaism’s teaching that God is the God of mercyand righteousness. As Abraham Joshua Heschel onceremarked, ‘‘History is the arena in which the will of God isdefied’’. It is the place where God commands us to respectand even to love other human beings, and yet Cain slaysAbel. Such a slaying is in complete contradiction to God’sexpress desires, but is consistent with the fact that we are allgranted free will.

Regarding the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt, therabbis taught that when we were enslaved, God too wasenslaved – as it were – and was freed only when Israel wasredeemed (see Mekhilta Pisha 14). So too we can say thatwhen Israel was sent to the camps and the gas chambers,the Holy One was with them. God identifies with those whosuffer, with the persecuted, not with the persecutors. Wemay not have the answers, but at least we can tell the story.

11 a Introductions

With the publication of Megillat Hashoah we express thedepth of our mourning for our brothers and sisters whowere destroyed in this terrible Holocaust. We pledgeourselves to keep their memories alive forever and todedicate ourselves to the proposition that Am Yisrael Hai –we shall continue to live and to proclaim the greatness of theJewish people and its way of life.

Rabbi Reuven HammerPresident, The Rabbinical AssemblyJerusalemKristalnacht 5763

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The Jewish people is an am olam, an eternal people,with a historic memory thousands of years old. It hasalways succeeded in commemorating major historic

events with the aid of religious rituals.When David Ben-Gurion appeared before the UN

Commission Regarding the Partition of Palestine in thesummer of 1947, he said:

About 300 years ago a ship named the ‘‘Mayflower’’ setsail to the New World. It was an important event in theannals of England and America. Yet I wonder if there iseven one Englishman who knows exactly when thatship set sail, and how many Americans know how manypeople were on that ship? And what type of bread didthey eat when they left England? And yet, more than3,300 years ago, before the Mayflower set sail, the Jewsleft Egypt. And every Jew in the world – even inAmerica and Soviet Russia – knows exactly on whichday they left: on the 15th of Nissan. And everyoneknows exactly what kind of bread the Jews ate: matzot.And until today Jews all over the world eat this matzahon the 15th of Nissan – in America, in Russia and inother countries – and... recount the Exodus... And theyopen [the Seder] with two statements: ‘‘This year slaves,next year free men; this year here, next year in EretzYisrael’’. This is the nature of the Jews. (Noam Zionand David Dishon, A Different Night, 1997, p. 39)

In other words, Ben-Gurion emphasized that on Pesah weremember the Exodus from Egypt by a religious act – theSeder – in order to remember and to relive the Exodus oncea year. As a result, every Jew in the world is well-versed inthis seminal episode in the history of our people.

13 a Introductions

The same applies to the Destruction of the Temple. Aswe learn in the tractate of Bava Batra (fol. 60b):

...The Sages said: A man plasters his house and leavesa little bare... a man prepares a festive meal and leavesout one small portion... a woman puts on all her jewelryand leaves off one small item... as it is written: ‘‘If Iforget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither. Letmy tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you,if I do not keep Jerusalem in mind even at my happiesthour’’ (Psalms 137:5-6). ... What is meant by ‘‘myhappiest hour’’? Rabbi Isaac said: this is symbolized bythe burnt ashes, which we place on the head of abridegroom...

This passage was codified by Maimonides and the ShulhanArukh and these practices were actually followed by manyJewish communities throughout the Diaspora. Similarly,since the fourteenth century we break a glass under thewedding canopy in order to commemorate the Destructionof Jerusalem at our happiest moments (Kol Bo, HilkhotTa’anit, 25d and Minhagey d’vey Maharam, p. 82).

In other words, we remembered the victory of theExodus through religious acts; and the failure of theDestruction of the Temple through religious acts.

Indeed, tragedies which befell our people wereremembered in three different ways:

First of all, we decreed public fast days. In addition toTisha B’Av and the other fast days connected to theDestruction of the Temple, we decreed public fast days inorder to commemorate other disasters.

For example, on the 23rd of Shvat, January 18, 749 aterrible earthquake struck the Land of Israel, destroyingmany cities and killing thousands of Jews and Arabs. Welearn from a genizah fragment of a Siddur from Eretz Yisraelthat the 23rd of Shvat was declared a Ta’anit Tzibbur (publicfast day) which was observed in Eretz Yisrael for hundreds ofyears (Tarbitz 29 [5720], pp. 339-344).

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On the 20th day of Sivan, 4931 (May 26, 1171), thirty-two Jews were burned at the stake in Blois, France, as aresult of a blood libel, the first in continental Europe. As aresult, the

20th of Sivan, 4931, was accepted voluntarily by all thecommunities of France, the English Isles, and theRhineland, as a day of mourning and fasting. This wasalso the command of Rabbeinu Tam, who wrote lettersinforming them that it was proper to fix this day as a fastfor all our people and that this fast must be greater thanthe Fast of Gedaliah... (A.M. Haberman, Sefer GezeirotAshkenaz V’]zarefat, Jerusalem, 1945, p. 126)

Exactly 477 years later, a Jewish tragedy of much greaterproportions began in Poland. On the 20th of Sivan, 5408(June 10, 1648) Bogdan Chmielnicki and his pillagingCossacks destroyed the flourishing Jewish community ofNemirov, Poland. During the course of the next six months,these mobs wantonly tortured and murdered approximately50,000 innocent Jews and destroyed a large number ofJewish communities. In 1650, the Council of Four Lands

decreed a public fast day on the 20th of Sivan for theentire kingdom of Poland for generations, on the veryday on which... the massacre of Nemirov occurred. Thatwas the first community which died for the Sanctifica-tion of God’s name... (Y’vein Metzulah, ed. Halprin,5726, p. 78).

Indeed, this is the reason that a group of teachers andstudents at the Schechter Institute hold a public fast dayevery year on Yom Hashoah.

Second, we have remembered tragedies by designatingperiods of mourning on the Hebrew calendar, such as theThree Weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B’avand the Sefirah Season between Pesah and Shavuot.

Third, we have composed megillot (scrolls) and kinot(elegies). For example, Megillat Eikhah (the Scroll ofLamentations) commemorates the Destruction of the First

15 a Introductions

Temple. The great earthquake in the year 749 wascommemorated in a series of liturgical poems. The bloodlibel of 1171 was commemorated by liturgical poems andchronicles. And the well-known posek (halakhic authority),Rabbi Shabetai Hacohen, the Shakh (1621-1662), com-posed a scroll named Megillat Afa (see Zekhariah 5:1-2) aswell as elegies about the massacres of 1648-1649, whichwere printed in Amsterdam in 1651. Those elegies andothers, reprinted many times, were recited in EasternEurope on the 20th of Sivan for 300 years until theHolocaust.

Indeed, some writers have suggested writing a megillahin order to commemorate the Shoah. In 1970, BinyaminWest wrote: ‘‘I wish to suggest to the Yad Vashemdirectorate that it announce a prize for a scroll of theHolocaust. We need an Eikhah of the Holocaust, somethingshort and strong, that will have an effect on believers andnon-believers alike’’ (Yad Vashem News 2 [1970], p. 7).

In 1981, Rabbi Meir Amsel, a Haredi rabbi andHolocaust survivor, published an article in Hamaor (Vol.33 [Sivan-Tammuz 5741], p. 17) where he stated:

Therefore, now that it is 36 years after the terribledisaster, the leaders of the people, the admorim(Hassidic rabbis) and the rabbis should gather togetherwith the heads of Yeshivot, to confer and to set a fastday, to lament and to eulogize the great destructionwhich happened to the people of Israel ...and to enact amegillah like the Scroll of Eikhah, that will be read onthis day, and to transmit it to future generations, untilthe arrival of the Messiah who will avenge the blood ofour slain brethren.*

Megillat Hashoah – The Shoah Scroll – fills the needdescribed by Rabbi Amsel. But, you may ask, why do we

* Regarding all of the above, see David Golinkin, Conservative Judaism 37/4(Summer 1984), pp. 52-64 and Eit La’asot 3 (Summer 5751), pp. 37-54.

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need to compose a Shoah Scroll right now? There are threeanswers to this question:

First of all, the survivors are disappearing, and with themthe living testimonies. Rabbi Pesach Schindler, one of ourcommittee members, is a survivor. Prof. Avigdor Shinan –the author of the scroll – is the son and nephew of survivors.Dr. George Savran is the son-in-law of survivors. I am thenephew of survivors. But in one generation’s time, nosurvivors or children of survivors will remain to testify aboutwhat happened. We must determine the methods ofcommemoration now, when there is still a living connectionto the Shoah.

Second, as already mentioned, historic events areremembered in Judaism only if it they are anchored inreligious rituals. The kindling of six torches by survivors inthe courtyard of Yad Vashem is a meaningful ritual, but willit last when there are no living survivors?

Third, we are witnessing a growing phenomenon ofHolocaust deniers. Therefore, it is our difficult mission toeducate our children and the whole world about theHolocaust, a unique event in the history of mankind.

We hope that this scroll will be accepted by Klal Yisrael(the collective Jewish people) as a meaningful religious wayto commemorate the memory of the Holocaust forgenerations, just as we were successful in commemoratingthe Exodus, on the one hand, and the Destruction of theTemple, on the other. If we succeed, we shall have fulfilledthe adage attributed to the Ba’al Shem-Tov:

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The Diaspora was prolonged by forgetfulness,and remembrance is the secret of redemption.

Rabbi David GolinkinPresident, The Schechter InstituteJerusalemKristalnacht 5763

17 a Introductions

Loss of memory is scary whenever and to whomeverit occurs. But to Jews – in particular, to Jews of ourtimes – it is terrifying. We have a great deal to

remember, including memories that the rest of the worldwould rather see forgotten. We fear for ourselves when werealize that each year to come means fewer survivors of theHolocaust left to remind us and the world of whathappened, of what human beings are capable of doing toeach other. We fear for the millions who will be wiped out ofall earthly record, if not for our determined effort to insurethat they are remembered and revered until the end of time.

We know that the memories of the previous generationwhich the next generation carries into the future areimperfect at best. They are a mere echo of the events,times, feelings and conditions described. This is all the morereason for us to listen as well as we can to the witnesses ofevents that preceded us, for in the next generation, it is wewho become witnesses to the witnesses. It is our testimony,one, two or ten generations removed from actual events,that will help set the tone of the Jewish future.

The Jewish calendar has aided our memory processthroughout our long history. Sukkot commemorates ourancient wilderness wandering, following the Exodus fromEgypt, which we remember through the Pesah festival.Shavuot reminds us of the Sinai Revelation of Torah.Hanukah and Purim commemorate the Hasmonean victoryover the Hellenist assimilationists and the Greek-SyrianEmpire, and our being saved from evil intent in ancientPersia. Fast days along the map of our calendar remind usof the various stages in the Destructions of the AncientTemple in Jerusalem.

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Remembering the Holocaust, though, has been challen-ging, on a religious level. It is relatively so soon after theevents, that we have not yet even come close to uniformityas a people, in figuring out how to put our memorializing theSix Million into a religious context.

Several years ago, Alex Eisen, a prominent member ofthe Toronto community and of my congregation, and aHolocaust survivor, raised the idea of producing a Megillahto be read on Yom Hashoah, just as Eikhah is read on TishaB’Av, and Esther on Purim. He felt, correctly, that aconsistent approach to Yom Hashoah was necessary, that aMegillah, to be read in synagogue on Yom Hashoah, wouldprovide the day a unifying structure, and lead to YomHashoah being observed by more Jews and more Jewishcommunities, in a serious spiritual way.

Not long after Alex proposed the Megillah, I brought theidea to Rabbi Seymour L. Essrog H"N , then President, andRabbi Joel Meyers, Executive Vice-President of the Rabbi-nical Assembly, both of whom warmly endorsed the project.All that remained was the writing of the project, an effortwhich was aided by a happy coincidence. For many years,Rabbi David Golinkin, President of the Schechter Institute inJerusalem, has served as Auxiliary High Holiday Rabbi ofBeth David B’nai Israel Beth Am, my congregation, and hasbeen hosted by Alex Eisen. Alex discussed the idea withRabbi Golinkin, leading the Schechter Institute to becomean active partner in the project with the RabbinicalAssembly. It was under Rabbi Golinkin’s guidance that thefinal document came to be, written in a magnificent Hebrewby Professor Avigdor Shinan, and beautifully translated intoEnglish by Rabbi Jules Harlow. Ms. Tova Strauss correctedthe vocalization and supplied the cantillation. Mr. DonnyFinkel of Leshon Limudim Ltd. typeset the book and saw itthrough the press.

Megillat Hashoah would not have achieved fruition,were it not for the tireless fundraising efforts of Alex Eisen,

19 a Introductions

and the generosity of donors acknowledged elsewhere inthis booklet.

Remembering the Six Million needs to enter thesynagogue in a structured and consistent manner. It is ourhope that Megillat Hashoah will be read on Yom Hashoahevery year in synagogues and communities throughout theworld.

It is through the perspective of memory, both immediateand ancient, that we are better able to prepare ourselves forthe challenge of a vibrant Jewish future. May we prove equalto the challenge of transmitting those memories intotomorrow’s world.

Rabbi Philip S. ScheimToronto, OntarioKristalnacht 5763

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Commemorative Ritual for Yom Hashoah Eve

The Service begins with the recitation of Minhah.

The ark of Torah, of faith, of learning,stands empty and bereft.

We have come here to rememberthose who cannot be forgotten.

We have come to speak of that which cannot be spokenbut must not be left unsaid.

We have come to remind not others but ourselvesof what was done and what was not done.

We have come to ask questions that cannot be answeredbut cannot be left unasked.

We know how to remember the dead we have known.

We know how to commemorate the death of one person.

But all of us are mourners;all of us recall not one but six million ones.

Not only those we have known,but those no one can know,the names that are forever lost.

Rabbi Reuven Hammer

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Guardian of Israel,guard the remnant of Israel;

and preserve the people Israel, who proclaim:Sh’ma Yisrael.

Guardian of a unique people,guard the remnant of that people;

and preserve that people who affirm:Adonai is our God, Adonai alone.

Guardian of a holy people,guard the remnant of that holy people;

and preserve that holy peoplewho chant in praise of the Holy One:Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh.

O God, moved by prayer and reconciled by supplication,

accept the prayers amid the supplication of ourafflicted generation, for there is no one else to help.

We have sat and wept as we recalled our kin

who were slaughtered, suffocated and burned to ashesin the time of our deepest distress.

Avinu Malkenu,have mercy on us and answer us,for we are devoid of good deeds.

Treat us with mercy and kindness, and save us.

25 a A Commemorative Ritual

P\VNNKO\VKN\PTZKC.TheMa’ariv Service is recited.

Megillat Hashoah, The Shoah Scroll, may be read at thistime. The lighting of six candles may take place beforereading the Megillah, or one candle may be lit at theconclusion of each of the six chapters of Megillat Hashoah.Ani Ma’amin may be sung or the melody played during thecandle-lighting.

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BzR]KP#BzP]KQI believe

a&B<PeR@FrN+P@Fwith perfect faith

aC]KB#\F#l@r]KI#In the coming of the Messiah,

BzR]KP#BzP]KQI believe.

GB#UT#No]Kr&i]\P#FP+d#And even though he may tarry

T]Oj@NH&FBzR]KP#BzP]KQ.Nonetheless, (do) I believe.

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PD]k#\F#tfB@FThe Shoah Scroll

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by Avigdor Shinan

translated from the Hebrew by Jules Harlow

eC@dr]t@FVZ@Y]KO,GB+k&FF+O:Comprising six chapters:

B.Z+Br]K\c@C@ZI. In the Beginning

C.PN‘BM@NF@B@Z&Wv‘FeG@C‘FeII. The Earth is Filled

with Chaos andConfusion

D.F#I‘r&xF#o@ZesT#NF#j‘NIII. The Darkness

Spread Over All

E.B&NPeNoR+KF#vFfOIV. Confronting

the Abyss

F.a#\YfNPZ#I&V&\GBfP&Z&\V. A Heavenly Voice,

Hovering, Cries Out

G.TfEKF]KBfZVI. Let There be Light

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C H A P T E R I

IN THE BEGINNING

So spoke the Chronicler:

Long is the history of the eternal people, extending formillennia, including good years and bad years, tranquilyears and dreadful years. In its own land and inDiaspora lands, among the nations and as a free people,it enjoyed long periods of repose during which itcontributed of its endowments to fellow mortals,bestowing upon them the Sabbath and faith in oneGod, the Book of books and the teachings of theprophets. At times, however, in darkened and difficultdays, it struggled under the burdens imposed byvanquishers and subjugators. It was afflicted, bodyand soul, by religious wars and persecutions, burningsat the stake and being crowded into ghettos, bloodlibels and pogroms, expulsions and exiles, degradationand derision. The people had neither serenity nortranquility; and the monster of Jew-hatred again andagain threatened to swallow it whole, rose up against itin every generation attempting to destroy it. Never-theless, the people gritted its teeth, accepted theheavenly judgment and, groaning, even at timesstretched its neck on the sacrificial altar. Homelessand hunted, it sought a safe haven, a refuge for resting awhile until the time of wrath had passed.

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[From here to the end of the chapter is chanted in the mode of Eikhah.]What befell the people Israel in Nazi Europe, however,is beyond classification, and what confronted its sonsand daughters defies description. Untold numbers wereforced out of their homes, torn from their families,trampled in the dust, worked to death. Six millioncreated in the divine image were strangled, cremated,shot, buried alive; they died of starvation, of thirst, andof the cold. This time the monster stretched open itsmouth beyond bounds, with a blood-curdling shriekand with stinking breath, and sought to eradicateeverything. Without mercy it set out to destroy, toslaughter, and to lay waste the entire people, from thosenearing the end of their days to embryos in theirmothers’ wombs. Countless trains stuffed with humancargo sped to the camps, where from chimneys smokeascended to God; but the heavens were brass and thefirmament iron. The click-clack of boxcar wheelsblended with the barking of dogs, and the clank ofiron doors merged with the stomping of hobnailedboots. Like a gigantic thundering orchestra, all of thesesounds silenced the thin, small voice bursting out of thehearts of the precious few, the righteous of the world’snations who had been touched by the word of God.May God recall their deeds in their favor.

So much have I seen and so much have I yet to see, butwhat was revealed to me there I never could see again.All of the words in the world, created and yet to becreated, in every single language, will never be able todescribe even a small part of what was displayed beforemy eyes. And this too do I know: Never will I be able toforget, and never will I have the power to understand.

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C H A P T E R I I

THE EARTH IS FILLED

WITH CHAOS AND CONFUSION

From the journal of a journey to another world:

I was part of a small delegation of journalists that stoleinto the ghetto in order to see what was happeningbehind its walls. I stayed there for eight hours, duringwhich I aged ten years. On our way there, we stoppedat a church to worship, since it was Sunday. When thelast notes of the organ had faded, we listened to thewords of the priest. He spoke of suffering and affliction,of love and compassion, of pity and kindness, and sentus on our way with the blessing, ‘‘May God be withyou.’’ But when we passed the guardhouses placed inthe wall surrounding the ghetto, we were left with thesuffering and the affliction, them alone.

As we entered, a cart was coming toward us, pushedand pulled by three men. Bloated corpses were heapedupon it, their heads bouncing to a rhythm determinedby muddy ruts in the road, as if they were greeting us.

Thus for the first time we met death’s partner, famine.It was impossible not to feel its presence in everycorner, and it was the force endlessly propellingstreams of weakened people through the streets, theirfaces filled with despair. Wherever you looked, terrify-ing sights: a dead body, its face covered by anewspaper, and a man hastily removing its overcoatwhile digging in its pockets with anticipation; a young

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girl, holding tightly her infant sister who was weepingout of hunger listlessly, maybe dying, maybe sleeping;an elder crowned with tefillin stretching out a feeblehand, his eyes reflecting the peace he had made withthe most dreadful of all; a boy who had tried tosmuggle potato skins into the ghetto surrounded by agroup of guards reveling with coarse laughter as theystripped him before he was beaten to death.

A group of young people was assembled around abulletin board. One of the announcements, written inYiddish, drew my attention. It was explained to us thatthis was an announcement about a concert to be heldthat very day, a small choir and a violinist. Otherannouncements told about Torah instruction andlectures on current events. Did these have the power,even if momentary, to silence gnawing hunger or tostifle the dread of what the future held? Whence didthis nation draw the strength to stare into the eyes ofthe destroying angel?!

We also met with members of the Judenrat, communityleaders, those unfortunates into whose hands wereentrusted the lives of their brothers and sisters withoutthe power to save them. Once again they were forced toorganize people for a transport, while the motors of thetrucks already were roaring in the central square. Withshoving and shouting, mothers and their children wereforced – along with the elderly holding their canes, theailing and the crippled and the feeble – into thecavernous maws of the trucks, and all their eyes werefilled with nightmarish terror. On their way to thenearby train depot, the trucks left behind them a silentscream shrouded in black smoke, and the painfulcertain knowledge that tomorrow and the day aftertomorrow this scene would be repeated until theghetto’s last breath.

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The return to the city’s main street, with its traffic andtumult, crowds and carousing, brought me at once fromone world to another. A narrow wall and a few gatesseparated worlds that were so different. What do thedwellers of one world know about their neighbors inthe other one? And if I were to tell, would they listen?And if they were to listen, could they believe? And ifthey were to believe, would they not attempt to explain,or to cleanse their consciences, with scores of differentand differing rationalizations? And if they were to askme why all of this befell the Jews, how would I answer?

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C H A P T E R I I I

THE DARKNESS SPREAD OVER ALL

Written upon a scrap of paper found between twowooden beds:

Gertrude is my name. There were many Gertrudes inour town, but in this long, cold barracks there is noGertrude but me. There is an Anushka here who comesfrom the Ukraine, and Gittel from Poland, Helen fromGermany, and Gratzia from Greece, and a continuinglong list of those who once were women. What cruel,callous magnet drew us here from all corners of thecontinent, and cast all of us into one mold: woodenshoes and a dress of coarse fabric, a blanket to cover ourbody in a cold that knows no mercy, and a tin plate anda spoon that never could hold enough to satisfy theincessant gnawing hunger. The past is becomingblurred, replaced only by the present, today, rightnow, this moment, the sewing machine, a portion offoul soup, the lineup where some of us collapse andfrom which others are plucked away to disappear,accompanied by shrieks and dogs, and no one knowswhere.

The present fills all of our existence. About the future noone speaks, and with difficulty I remember the past. O,how shortsighted and innocent we were! We rejected theadvice to abandon the homeland, to emigrate to the distanteast, and we hid ourselves from the signs, ‘‘No JewsAllowed.’’ Our ears we sealed from hearing the hateful

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speeches, for they were just words and what can wordsreally accomplish? With all our might we wanted tobelieve that if only we would humble ourselves a shortwhile, the storm would pass and be no more. Even afterthe night of the burning synagogues, when the streetswere covered with shattered glass, we continuedhoping for the best, since nothing worse could cometo pass and, after all, everyone was cultured there.

Alas for the blind fools who did not know what thefuture held. It was on a Friday night. We were sitting inthe salon and my crippled, wheelchair-bound father,Manfred, was singing along with the choir beingbroadcast on the radio. Suddenly the door was brokendown and they entered, black uniforms and shiningboots. They shoved father into an adjoining room, andthey commanded us to pack a suitcase within tenminutes. ‘‘Where you are going is safe and sheltered,’’they said. ‘‘Hurry! Hurry!’’ Later, only interruptedimages and fragmented sounds: an isolated rifle shot,the vacant stares of the neighbors, the frozen citysquare, a mother’s farewell cry, the filthy truck, theboxcar with not a breath of fresh air, the long barrackswith nothing but wooden beds, and the sour-facedKapo.

Our hair they shaved when they brought us into thebarracks, and in place of the six-pointed yellow starthey burned a blue number into our arms, and fromthat moment only sewing and sewing from morning tonight, without rest, day after day, hats, coats, shirts, andtrousers appropriate for the shining boots. At first I still

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asked ‘‘Why?’’ Why me? Why us? Why now? But Istopped asking. The question is more painful whenthere is no answer.

Tonight they will take all of us to another location. Thisis what the Kapo told us, and she did not add anotherword, but her face was gloomy. I am writing all of thison scraps of paper. And if a human being should everfind them, perhaps he will have the strength to ask for areason why there was no

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C H A P T E R I V

CONFRONTING THE ABYSS

The last words of Yaakov-David Ben Yoel-Tzvi Halevi:

Four times was I born, and once already have I died.My first birth was accompanied by the joyful voices ofmy parents and my eight brothers and sisters when Icame into the world, with the help of God, may He beblessed, twenty-five years ago. I was born three othertimes over the past ten years, during which time I alsodied once. After that death, no death could everfrighten me.

The second time, I was born on the night of theSelection, when they gathered us, all the males in town,to the central square. The stars had disappeared andonly the yellow patches flickered in the darkness. Wewere told to form a long line and strip to the waist. Oneby one we passed by the light of a dim oil lamp near adevil dressed in black who with the wave of a handdirected to the left or to the right. At once I realized thatthe strong and the sturdy were being sent to one side,and the young and the aged to the other. Hastily I filledmy shoes with dirt, to gain a few centimeters in height.Swelling my chest, I even walked on my toes as Ipassed by him. I was sent with the sturdy. Later weheard the shots and I knew that my life had been givento me as a gift. Blessed be His name.

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The third time I was born when one thousand of uswere taken to walk in front of soldiers on a battlefield.The area was full of mines and we formed a living wallbefore the troops. Each and every day our numberdiminished as comrades ripped apart were left behindas food for the birds of the heavens and the beasts of thefield. Seventy-eight of us survived the march. I felt thatour lives began anew when we finally reached the barnwhere we were favored with our daily portion of thinsoup. Blessed be the Lord each day.

The fourth time, I was born later that night. I had leftthe barn for the yard behind it, where I managed tocatch sight of a spark from a match and the sickeningsmile of the one who had lit it. Since the living wall hadfulfilled its mission, it was no longer needed. The barnwent up in flames and all my comrades soaredheavenward on the flaming pyre, a sacrificial offeringascending to God, may He be blessed.

Whoever has been born four times will not die onlyonce. My death came to me after I had fled from the siteof the fire. I was captured by locals and forced into aboxcar on its way to the place where ‘‘work makes onefree.’’ An orchestra greeted us, and all of us were led,holding soap and a towel, to wash our sweat-coveredbodies. The smell of flesh on fire confused our senses.The soap seemed to be burning in our hands, and theorchestra was playing. Thanks to God’s mercies for me,I was removed from the line at the last moment, anddid not become part of the naked mass shoved into theroom so savagely. The door slammed with a deafeningnoise and from the room burst forth sounds that nowords can adequately describe: the howling hiss of gasstreaming in accompanied by a mingling of faint andfeeble cries: ‘‘Sh’ma yisrael’’ and ‘‘mameleh,’’ ‘‘the Lord

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our God’’ and ‘‘madre mia,’’ ‘‘the Lord is One’’ and‘‘tateleh,’’ followed by a low, murmuring sound. Heremy task began: to remove the bodies, to pull out goldteeth, to shove the dead into the oven. When I pulledout the teeth of my brother Lazer, whom I had not seenfor years, my heart died within me. My body continuedto live, but I became one of the walking dead. The Lordgave me life, and the Lord took it away, may the nameof the Lord be blessed. How the Master of the Universehas taken such trouble to ensure that we would lose ourfaith in Him! Yet, in spite of His wrath and His rage,we have refused to succumb.

When I die again, tear not your garments; mourn not,for there is no death after death. Do not even attempt toask why. What I have not accomplished for myself, letothers not try to accomplish on my behalf.

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C H A P T E R V

A HEAVENLY VOICE, HOVERING, CRIES OUT

[This chapter, except for the final passage, is chanted in the mode of

Eikhah.]

A heavenly voice cries out: For these do I weep.

For Gertrude’s parents, who were torn away from eachother Congregation: For these do I weep.

For Gertrude and Anushka, Gittel, Helen, and Gratzia,whose vitality came to an end in labor camps

Congregation: For these do I weep.

For members of the Judenrat and for the Jewish Kapo,who were asked to fulfill a task that no human beingcould fulfill Congregation: For these do I weep.

For Yaakov-David ben Yoel-Tzvi Halevi who diedtwice and was born four times


For nine hundred and twenty-two comrades who frommine fields ascended the heavens


For the seventy-seven who were saved, whose dust wasgathered in the barn Congregation: For these do I weep.

For Lazer, who in his most terrifying nightmares neversaw his brother pulling gold teeth from his corpse


For these do I weep, and for the millions crowded inghettos and in detention camps; for those wandering inforests and those hidden in attics and in undergroundbunkers, for those who found refuge in the bosom of

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another faith or who lost their God; for those who weregiven over to experiments at the hands of wild beastscalled doctors and scientists; for those who died ofhunger and of thirst, smothered to death in freighttrains or in gas chambers, shot, buried alive orcremated; for those who were brought out to be killedby hanging so that they would be seen, and for thosewho sanctified God’s name and the name of the peopleIsrael, refusing to be subdued, fighting to the death. Forthose who lost their homes, their dignity, and theirhope, and for those left alive to live the horror anew,day after day, moment after moment.

For these do I weep, for infants who never learned tosay ‘‘Mommy,’’ for boys and girls whose youth wasstolen from them, who withered before coming toblossom; for young men and women who never wereblessed beneath the wedding canopy, for the elderlydenied the privilege of a gracious old age; for theorchestras and for the music, and for all the world’sbeauty whose rainbow of colors was lost, replaced byonly brown and gray and black. For all these do I weep.

I struggled so hard before the veiled curtain, before themerciful and gracious One, of great kindness and truth.How I pled and how I begged, how I wanted tounderstand. Was all of this known on high? Was thisthe decree of God who is filled with compassion? Thiswas the reward of such a nation? But there was nosound and no response, only an exasperating silence.The Most High abides in secret, God dwells in theshadow of silence. Deep, hidden, and awesome are theevents; no one understands them, not even echoes ofthe heavenly voice.

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C H A P T E R V I

LET THERE BE LIGHT AGAIN

Again did the chronicler speak:

At the edges of the night, the first rays of dawn could bediscerned. They shone upon the remnants of humanbeings in striped clothing who stared at their surround-ings with dead eyes. They have forgotten how to behappy, and their bodies reject any food offered them.Bulldozers thrust into gigantic pits thousands of thin,naked corpses that fall, one atop the other, their limbswithered.

In camps of the uprooted circled human streams,searching in despair for members of their families,and they were afraid to hope lest their hope be lost. Theunfortunates who tried to return to their homes foundin them hostile neighbors from time to time, and morethan once they were saved only by a miracle frommurder following murder. People who did not know orwho had sought not to know, who refused to believe orwho forbade believing, stood with tearful eyes, notknowing where to direct their gaze or how to cleansetheir conscience.

Slowly, slowly, people returned to their homes, andfamily members were reunited. People married again,and children were born. Wave upon wave poured intothe East and the State of Israel arose, and centers ofJewish life flourished throughout the world. Trainstraveled to resorts once again, and orchestras were

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making joyous music in all corners of the land. Perhapsthis is the way in which Heaven sought someconsolation for those who suffered and mourned.

The heroism of courageous resisters was revealed andproclaimed, and Mourner’s Kaddish was recited for thedead, memorial books were written, monuments wereerected so that finally mourners could find a placewhere they could weep for their dead, criminals werepunished, and those who were afflicted in body or soulreceived help. Nevertheless, it was impossible torestrain the angel of dreams who continues to terrifythe rescued night after night, impossible to silence thegnawing voice of conscience, which demands anexplanation for satanic evil, and for apathetic hearts.Such questions ‘‘Why, God, why? Why us? Why them?Why now? Why in that way?’’ are left suspended inmidair, hovering over all human deeds, and there is noresponse.

Time will tell what we have learned; only time willreveal whether we truly have listened to the voice of theblood of the slaughtered crying out from the earth.

Do not mourn too much, but do not sink into theforgetfulness of apathy. Do not allow days of darkness

to return; weep, but wipe the tears away.Do not absolve and do not exonerate,

do not attempt to understand.Learn to live without

an answer.

Through our blood, live!

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Yizkor for Yom Hashoah

We shall remember our brothers and our sisters,

the city houses and the country houses,

the shtetl streets rushing like rivers

and the lonely inn on the country road —

the aged man and the features of his face,

the mother in her kerchief,

the young girl with her braids,

the child,

the people Israel in thousands of communities

among all the human families,

the entire assembly of Jews

brought down to slaughter on the soil of Europe

by the Nazi destroyer,

the man who suddenly screamed

and while screaming died,

the woman, clutching her infant to her breast,

whose arms gave out,

the infant groping for his mother’s nipple

that was blue and cold,

59 a59 a Additional Readings

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the feet,

the feet that sought refuge

though flight was no longer possible,

and those who made their hands into a fist,

the fist that gripped the iron,

the iron that became the weapon of vision,

of despair, and of rebellion,

and those, the pure of heart,

those whose eyes were opened,

those who risked their lives,

though they lacked the power to triumph.

We shall remember the day,

the day in its brightness, the sun that rose

over the bloody conflagration,

the lofty, silent heavens.

We shall remember the mounds of dust

beneath the gardens in bloom.

The living shall remember their dead

for they are forever before us.

Look! Their eyes dart round and about,

allowing us no peace, no peace

until our lives become worthy of their memory.

Abba Kovner, translated by Jules Harlow

61 a Additional Readings

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EXALTED, COMPASSIONATE GOD, grant infinite rest

in Your sheltering presence, among the holy and pure, to

the souls of our brethren who perished in the Shoah –

men, women, and children of the House of Israel who

were slaughtered, suffocated and burned to ashes. May

their memory endure and inspire deeds of charity and

goodness in our lives. May their souls thus be bound up

in the bond of life. May they rest in peace. And let us say:

Amen.

MOURNER’S KADDISH

Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba,

b’alma di’vr’a khir’utei, v’yamlikh malkhutei

b’hayeikhon u-v’yomeikhon u-v’hayei d’khol beit Yisrael,

ba’agala u-vi-z’man kariv, v’imru amen.

Y’hei sh’mei raba m’vorakh l’alam u-l’almei almaya.

Yitbarakh v’yishtabah v’yitpa-ar v’yitromam v’yitnasei,

v’yit-hadar v’yit’aleh v’yithalal sh’mei d’kudsha, b’rikh hu,

l’ela min kol birkhata v’shirata

tushb’hata v’nehamata da’amiran b’alma, v’imru amen.

Y’hei sh’lama rabba min sh’maya, v’hayim aleinu v’al kol

Yisra’el, v’imru amen.

Oseh shalom bi-m’romav, hu ya’aseh shalom, aleinu v’al kol

Yisra-el, v’imru amen.

63


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Undzer Shtetl Brent

S’brent, briderlech s’brent!

Oi unzer orem shtetl nebech brent

Beize vintn mit yirgozun

Reisn brechn un tzeblozn

Shtarker noch di vilde flamen

Altz arum shoin brent

Un ir shteit un kukt azoi zich

Mit farleigte hent

Un ir shteit un kukt azoi zich

Unzer shtetl brent!

It is burning, dear brothers, it is burning!

Our poor little town is burning!

Angry winds whip the flames.

Everything is on fire!

And you stand helplessly

With folded hands and stare

While the flames grow higher

And our little town burns.

Mordechai Gebirtig


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Zog Nit Keyn Mol

Never say that there is only death for you

Though leaden skies may be concealing days of blue

Because the hour we have hungered for is near;

Beneath our tread the earth shall tremble: We are here!

From land of palm-tree to the far-off land of snow

We shall be coming with our torment and our woe,

And everywhere our blood has sunk into the earth

Shall our bravery, our vigor blossom forth!

We’ll have the morning sun to set our day aglow,

And all our yesterdays shall vanish with the foe,

And if the time is long before the sun appears,

Then let this song go like a signal through the years.

This song was written with our blood and not with lead;

It’s not a song that birds sing overhead.

It was a people, among toppling barricades,

That sang this song of ours with pistols and grenades.

So never say that there is only death for you.

For leaden skies may be concealing days of blue

Yet the hour we have hungered for is near;

Beneath our tread the earth shall tremble: We are here!

Hirsh Glick, translated by Aaron Kramer


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HATIKVAH

Kol ode balevav penimah

Nefesh yehudi homiyah

Ulfa’atay mizrach kadimah

Ayin l’tzion tzofiah

Ode lo avdah tikvateynu

Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim

Lihiyot am hofshi be-artzaynu

Eretz tzion viyirushalayim.

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The Rabbinical Assembly, founded in 1901 and located in NewYork City, is the international association of Conservative/Masorti rabbis. The Assembly actively promotes the cause ofConservative/Masorti Judaism and works unceasingly to benefitKlal Yisrael; publishes learned texts, prayerbooks and works ofJewish interest; and administers the work of the Committee onJewish Law and Standards which serves as the halakhic guide forthe Conservative Movement. It serves the professional andpersonal needs of its membership through publications, confer-ences and benefit programs, and administers the Movement’sJoint Placement Commission. Rabbis of the Assembly servethroughout the world, in congregations, on the campus, aseducators, hospital and military chaplains, teachers of Judaica,and officers of communal service organizations.

The Rabbinical Assembly3080 Broadway, New York, New York, 10027Tel: 212-280-6000, Fax: 212-749-9166Email: [email protected] www.rabassembly.org

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Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Inc.475 Riverside Drive, Suite 244, New York, New York, 10115Tel: 212-870-3173, Fax: 212-870-3176Email: [email protected] www.schechter.edu

the shoah scroll · slightly revised version of that service. megillat hashoah now caps that...

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