Jerusalem Shabbat

Today, the 26th of the Hebrew month of Iyar, is the first day of the miraculous Six Day War, in which the Jewish people liberated the City of Jerusalem and returned to it as a sovereign after almost 2,000 years. People who were adults at that time, in 1967, and are here with us today to tell the stories of that time, say that before the war broke, people were SURE that this was going to be the end of the Jewish State. There was a sense of doom all over the country. There were bitter utterances of people saying 'let the last one who survives and remain here turn off the lights at Ben Gurion Airport'. The government of Israel prepared 70,000 (!!!) coffins and dug thousands of graves for soldiers, anticipating numerous casualties. In reality, at the end of the war, there were about 780 dead Jewish soldiers, each of them precious, each of them indispensable, but it means that numerous other precious lives were spared. The tiny state of Israel, only 19 years old at the time, who managed to build itself under constant hostilities from neighboring countries and Arab residents of Israel - this little David had to face a whole out war with no less than 4 great, established Arab armies that aim to destroy it, the armies of Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. Some of the readers of this blog have lived as young adults during that time, and can probably tell of their own impressions of those days. The whole world was in a state of shock to find out that Israel, who was destined for destruction in that war, emerged victorious, and did it in SIX DAYS!! Who could have ever imagined? It was a proof to many in the world that G-d does exist, and that He has not forsaken His people. This war was like another chapter in the Bible - a sequel of the great miracles of the Splitting of the Red Sea, the Manna from Heaven, the Pillars of Fire and Cloud.
In fact, every day that the State of Israel, even to this day, exists in the hostile Middle East, is a miracle. How could this be? With so many millions of Muslims who are hostile to our presence here, and with so many wars and terror attacks against this little State, we not only survive, we also thrive and prosper, against all odds, against human reason, and countries from the far flung corners of the world come here to establish Innovation Centers - to employ Israelis to think and develop new ideas for them. Three Japanese technology giants have already opened Development Centers here, including Mitsui and Hitachi, and Mitsubishi declared a few days ago that it is going to do the same soon. In synagogues this coming Shabbat, after reading from the Torah, we will also read from the Prophet Hosea: "And it shall come to pass that, instead of that which was said unto them: 'You are not My people', it shall be said unto them: 'You are the children of the living G-d'." (Hosea 2:1 - in Christian translations it appears in Hosea 1:10). It is SO fitting!!

Yesterday I was privileged to attend a very special event. It started with a WhatsApp message that was posted in one of the groups. It said: "Rene Zlotkin, an Auschwitz survivor and one of the Mengele twins, is coming from New York to Jerusalem today with his daughter, to bury his twin sister. They don't have much family in Israel, so anyone who can, please come to be there with them." The funeral was at Mt. of Olives. I debated whether to go or not because it was such a hot day yesterday (36 Celsius...), but I decided to go. When I arrived, I realized it was the right thing to do. Other people came too, which made me happy, but there were not that many of us, so every person who was there made a difference.
We walked from the "7 Arches Hotel" to the back of the mountain in the east - a stunning, gorgeous area that I've never visited before. When we reached the family plot, they opened the car where Irene's body was, and her brother, husband and daughter said their eulogies, without reading, just speaking from their heart, crying while they did so. After coming back from the funeral, I wrote the following, and I share it with you:

Rene Zlotkin and his sister Irene were inseparable throughout their lives. Together they were born in Czechoslovakia on the same day in 1937, together they were deported by the Nazis with their mother to Theresienstadt, then to Auschwitz, and together they were taken to the notorious clinics of Dr. Mengele, where they were subjected to inhumane experiments. Though they lost their mother in the war, they both managed to survive, rebuild their lives and start beautiful, thriving Jewish families.

Irene, who suffered tremendously due to the experiments done on her body, passed away yesterday in America at the age of 82. Her family in America chose to bring her to burial in Jerusalem, in the family plot on Mt. of Olives today. Since they do not have a lot of family and acquaintances in Israel, Israelis who have heard about it came to the funeral to accompany Irene on her last journey.

Rene, who eulogized his sister before the burial, said: “We were together since we were born. We were in Auschwitz together, we came out of there together, we were in New York together, we went to the same schools, but yesterday morning, when we found out that she was no longer here – for me the whole world wasn’t the same, the whole world was different, changed.” Later, he added to a small circle of people around him: “When we came to Jerusalem today, and I was looking around me, I realized that we are part of an ancient chain, that we are the continuation of this chain, and seeing the rebuilt Jerusalem made it clear to me. It moved me a lot. I’ve looked at Jerusalem today and seen it like I’ve never seen it before. Not just with my eyes. With my heart”.

One of Irene’s daughters told the crowd that her mother’s favorite song was Naomi Shemer’s Yerushalayim shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold). After the burial was over and the prayers were said, the crowd stayed standing around her grave and sang for her the song that she so loved, on the backdrop of the beautiful golden hills of Jerusalem, the city of her final rest.

In Memory of Irene Hizme, Rivka Yocheved bat Zvi Meir. 

Here is a short video from a couple of years back in which Rene tells a bit about his holocaust experiences, in a very bright, faithful attitude:

https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-a-survivors-deep-faith-in-divine-providence/

Shabbat Shalom!

R. 

Weekly Torah Portion: BeHar + Jeremiah 32

It is so hot in Israel these days, it is hard to think, and it is harder to write. My Yiddish speaking next door neighbors moved away two weeks ago, and in their place an older couple moved in. They are Americans, they are religious, they are new comers to the Land (only a few weeks here!), they don't speak any Hebrew at all. I'm pretty sure they are converts. I haven't asked them if it is so or not, but with names like Ruth and Boaz and the unmistakable beautiful Arian look, I don't think they can be anything else. Anyway, it makes me very happy. I love converts and I feel it is a great privilege for me to be able to help them, which I hope to do as much as I can. When the wife came here so I'll help her with some bureaucratic staff, she told me joyfully that they had prayed so much to have good neighbors. Well, I hope to be that for them, for sure.

Two days ago people in my new neighborhood posted that they found a baby bird in their garden, and since they are older, they can't take care of it, would anyone take it? I went there and saw the bird. It was a Laughing Dove. It was scared and frightened. They said it doesn't eat or drink and doesn't even poop. I was afraid to take it, fearing it would die in my custody. But no one else offered himself, so I had no choice. They gave me some seeds for her and I took her. I called her Yonah, which means "dove" in Hebrew. I'm not sure whether it is a male or a female, but since in Hebrew a dove is a feminine noun, I refer to it as 'her'. I placed her beak in water, and she took one or two sips and that's it. She didn't want to eat anything. When it was getting dark, she found a quiet, hidden corner in my living room and sat there, very quietly. When I woke up in the morning I found her in the same place, and realized she must have eaten something, because her poop was all around her. It was nice to have her, but my fear that she might die kept nagging me. Happily, I found adequate people who are bird lovers and have a lot of experience with birds, to take her and take care of her. I feel relief on the one hand that she is in more adequate hands right now, but also a bit sad that I didn't take care of her myself until she is old enough to be in nature on her own. Still, I think it was the best thing for her. There is a lot of symbolism in this story for me, but most of it is very private, so I won't share it here.

This week's Torah Portion is BeHar (Leviticus 25:1- 26:2) and the Haftorah is from Jeremiah 32. The Portion talks about the commandment of observing a Shemitah year - a seventh year of rest for the land, in which we are supposed to not work the land at all, to let it rest. This commandment takes place only on the land of Israel, so Jews who live in other countries can keep working the land there. Many religious farmers in Israel observe this commandment, and report amazing miracles following it. This is a very hard commandment to perform - a farmer is supposed to stop working for a whole year, to let others eat freely from whatever grows that year in his field, without getting money from the government for that. The farmer must trust that his livelihood will come from HaShem, and according to the stories told by farmers who observe it - their livelihood indeed comes in amazing, unexpected ways. During those Shemitah years, we, religious consumers, try not to purchase vegetables and fruits from farmers who do not keep this commandment. It is not easy, but it is a great merit for us to do that. Instead, we buy carrots from Holland, oranges from Spain, etc. It is challenging, but we do it.

In the Torah Portion it is said: "You shall do my commandments and keep my ordinances and do them, and you shall dwell in the land in safety" - our safe dwelling in the Land is dependent on our fulfilling of the Law. The connection between the Land and our moral and religious behavior is constantly reiterated in the Torah. If we do G-d's will, we will have the Land and live safely in it. If we don't observe His Law, we will live here unsafely and lose the Land eventually.

In the Prophets portion (Haftorah) of this week, we read the exact same thing, in different words, about the Land and us: "And they came in, and possessed it, but they did not listen to Your voice nor did they walk in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do, therefore you caused all this evil to befall on them". (Jeremiah 32:23). If we behave properly, we get the land. If not, we suffer and might lose it.

One of my favorite quotes in the whole Bible appears in this week's Prophet Portion, Jeremiah 32:15:
"For thus said the Lord of hosts, the G-d of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land". Isn't it amazing that we live in an era in which this ancient prophecy, this divine promise, comes true? Thank G-d! It is this kind of prophesies that opened my eyes to the truth of the Torah and the Prophet's words.

Shabbat Shalom!

Weekly Torah Portion: Kedoshim (Leviticus 19 - 20)

This week's Torah Portion is one of those that are most about the essence of the Torah: lots of moral edicts that differentiate between people who love G-d and follow Him and those who don't (like the Nazis). It is a beautiful portion, and I really recommend reading it and thinking about it. In it we are commanded to fear our parents (unlike the Eichmanns of the world who say: "If I was ordered to shoot my father, I would"), not to steal, not to lie, to leave some of the fruit of our fields (or our salaries today) to the poor, not to gossip or speak evil things against other people, not even to hate others in our hearts - a commandment that is inner, and only G-d can know whether we fulfill it or not. Not surprisingly, many times during this Portion, the verse "I am the Lord your G-d" appear, telling us that some of these commandments that we perform cannot be witnessed or judged by others around us. They can be witnessed and judged only by G-d. He is the only one who knows our heart and our thoughts, even much better than we do. We can lie to ourselves about our true feelings or intentions. But we cannot lie to G-d. He asks us to purify our hearts and be holy. If He asks, it means that it is possible. Perhaps not in a moment, but in a process that takes a life time to better ourselves, to purify ourselves, to improve our ways, to change, to be good. It is possible, and this is the work we do in this world.
I'm under the impression of the holocaust stories we heard everywhere on the Holocaust Memorial Day that took place this week in Israel. I have just finished Haim Guri's book about the Eichmann trial, and some stories that appear there haunt me. My thoughts are that people who cling to the Bible - Jews, Christians - usually keep their morality. People who leave the Bible, even if they talk about G-d, they lose their morality and step by step might slip to very dark places. The Nazis talked about G-d. Hitler thought he was G-d's messenger, kind of a Messiah in this world. He talked often about G-d, but it didn't bother him to instruct his people to burn the Bible, all the copies of the Bible they could get their hands on. He didn't believe in the validity of the Torah as G-d's word. Eichmann too talked about G-d and believed in Him, but he despised the Bible. His beloved wife was a devout catholic woman, and Eichmann ripped her Bible apart twice. In the end, he allowed her to keep the torn copies and read from them. So strange, when the Israeli Mossad caught him in Argentina and brought him to trial here, she sent him a letter telling him that she is praying to G-d to get him released. She was praying for a person who boasted of being in charge of killing 6 million Jews (he bragged about it to his Nazi friend in the infamous Sassen Interviews, before he was caught). She was praying for the release of a man who was disappointed that he couldn't complete the original plan of killing 11 million Jews. Did she really think that the G-d of mercy should have mercy on her husband? Bringing Eichmann to justice was a merciful act for the victims and their families, for all the people of Israel. To feel that the evil ones are not sent free to celebrate their lives while their victims suffer forever. Justice is an act of mercy. Had Eichmann achieved his original goal of killing 11 million Jews worldwide, I would probably have not been sitting here today writing to you.
By the way, Guri's book about the Eichmann trial is not the best choice of book for someone like me who reads it after the fact. As I was reading, I was feeling like he was talking to people of his generation, who experienced the trial together with him and know what he was talking about. He referred to many things as known facts - they were indeed known to people of that time, but not to people of our time. When I reached the end of the book, I realized my feeling was right. This was not really a 'book', but a collection of newspaper articles that he wrote about the trial as it was going on. So if you're thinking of reading about the trial, another book might be a better start. Anyway, I did get a picture of what was going on then, so I do not regret reading it.

One of the commandments that repeats in the Torah Portion this week is about the Shabbat: "You shall keep My Shabbats and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19:30). It appears in other parts of the Bible, such as: "You shall sanctify my Shabbats, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your G-d". (Ezekiel 20:20).
Keeping the Shabbat is A SIGN between G-d and Israel: a sign for all of humanity to know that the world was created in six days - therefore we rest on the seventh (and all the Darwins of the world are wrong); a sign that the Torah is true and that there is a moral code that man should follow; a sign that G-d exists, and that He is the one and only G-d. We haven't forsaken the Shabbat since the time we received the Torah. There is a famous saying: "More than the Jews kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat kept the Jews" - keeping Shabbat helped us survive spiritually and physically. People who know me know what it means to keep Shabbat - the peace, the tranquility, the spirituality, the time to pray, to think, to reflect on things, to be with G-d completely, to thank Him, to learn His Torah, without the hassles of everyday life. It is a day, that if observed properly, increases one's wisdom. It is a day that frees people - frees them from the need to work and make a living, frees them from the need to be available online or on the phone constantly, frees them from thoughts about business and mundane things and allows them to lift their eyes and hearts high up, to life their thinking up, to get close to G-d. Without this day, it would be very hard to look at the world with spiritual eyes. It is no coincidence that many of the abuses that the Nazis inflicted upon the Jews were deliberately done on Shabbat and on the religious holidays. They wanted to annihilate what the Shabbat and the Torah symbolize in this world.

Anyway, I think I need a break from reading Holocaust books, it is not easy and it brings me down. I read them because I'm trying to fathom the psychology of the perpetrators, to know what went through their minds when they did what they did. But I guess it's impossible. I will never understand. And maybe it's not something to regret. We'll leave it at this.

I wish you all Shabbat Shalom, and have a restful, beautiful weekend,
R.