Poches Poches V'Holech

Mr. Eugene (Aryeh Leib) Lebovitz of Aventura, Florida (adjacent to N. Miami Beach) and Mr. Yisroel Starck have much in common. Mr. Starck was born in 1929 in a town just outside of Munkacz, Czechoslovakia (now Ukraine). Mr. Lebovitz was born in 1928 in Uzhorod, Czechoslovakia (now Ukraine). These two towns are less than 40 KM apart.

Both were deported to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944 but they went separate places from there. Mr. Starck was eventually liberated in Ebensee, Austria by the allies. Mr. Lebovitz was liberated in Landshut, Czechoslovakia by the Russians. Both men aspired to make their way to Eretz Yisrael but Mr. Starck never made it (at that point). Mr. Lebovitz did make it to Eretz Yisrael and joined the Haganah.  He eventually became a commander. He might have remained in EY for the distance if he had not met his wife to be on a visit to the US. Although he consequently settled in the US, first Chicago and then Puerto Rico and then Florida, he remained affiliated with the Haganah for quite some time and his loyalties are in place to this very day.

(You can find a fuller biography on Mr. Lebovitz HERE).

Mr. Lebovitz spent his early married years – from 1953 to 1961- in Chicago. Mr. Starck came to Chicago in 1948 and has resided there ever since. Despite this, these two Holocaust survivors did not know each other until a few weeks ago. (It was Mr. Lebovitz’s sister that was the reason for his initial trip to Chicago in 1951 and Mr. Starck had indeed known his sister’s husband, Mr. Joe Weiss).

What transpired a few weeks back was that Mr. Lebovitz came across a copy of Mr. Starck’s memoirs – A Boy Named 68818 - and he was immediately taken by the book. Although he felt there were a few minor discrepancies with his own recollection of some of the background details, he was still very much impressed and made it his business to strike up an acquaintance with Mr. Starck. As one thing led to another, Mr. Lebovitz (Haganah veteran and longtime supporter) invited Mr. and Mrs. Starck to a weekend – Shabbos Chanukah - gathering that he was sponsoring in Las Vegas, Nevada that included a fundraising drive for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF). He asked Mr. Starck to address the gathering.

Some people who are aware that I have a personal relationship with Mr. Starck and that I maintain a blog sent me a copy of Mr. Starck’s speech given on the seventh day of Chanuka, 5776 (last Sunday). I personally was very touched by the speech and received permission to post it on the blog.

I hereby present it exactly as it was sent to me.

A freicihen post Chanuka!

Dvar Torah

Shabbas Miketz

12.12.15 - FIDF, Las Vegas

Israel Starck

Regarding the mitzvah of Ner Chanuka, we are all aware of the difference in opinion between Beis Hillel and Beis Shamai.  Beis Shamai say “poches, poches, v’holech” – we start with 8 candles and we reduce by one every day.

The Beis Hillel say “moseef v’holech” – we start with one candle and we add one more every day for each of the eight days: ma’aleen b’kodesh.

However, in one matter there is no difference of opinion: We all agree, when the subject of survivors of the shoah arises, it is poches v’holech: There is only diminishment with time.

There are of course many halachot pertaining to Chanuka, like, for instance, the question whether women are also obligated in ohr Chanuka – lighting of the Chanuka candles – and in reciting of the full hallel in our tefilla.

But my reason for standing up here in front of this most distinguished tzibbur is not to give you a shiur in hilchos Chanuka.  Nevertheless, lefi aniyas daati, I wish to point out to you the tremendous parallel between the miracle of the days of Chanukah and mesiras nefesh of the Chashmonaim, with the experience and mesiras nefesh of those who were liberated at the end of WWII, and the nissim and niflaos we have been witness to in the last 70 years. 

In many ways the miracle, the nes, of the survival and re-generation of the shearis hapleita, the remnants of the Shoah, is comparable to – and I might say even surpasses – the nes shel Chanuka. 

Every day of Chanuka we recite the additional prayer in the Shemoneh Esrai of the V’al HaNissim.  We say, “biyemay Mattisyahu, k’sheheamda malchus Yavan haresha’ah al amcha Yisroel l’hashkicham torasecha ule’he’avirum me’chukay retsonecha.”  “In the days of Mattisyahu, when the evil Greek kingdom rose up against your people Israel to make them forget your Torah and compel them to stray from the statutes of Your will...”

While the Greeks were not intent to wipe out and eradicate the Jewish race from the face of the earth we, the shearith hapleita, have paid a far greater price by losing 6 million of our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.  All perished at the hands of the Nazi re’shaim.  It did not make a difference whether they upheld chukim u’mishpatim or whether they believed in G-d and his Torah and mitzvot.

Very seldom do we recognize the importance of the moment of liberation by the allied forces.  I compare the small clusters of survivors to the pach shel shemen, the vessel of oil that was found with the seal of the Kohen Gadol.  Only, these survivors were like a pach shel kedoshim.   Just like that precious surviving pach shel shemen, they too bore a unique seal – that of the tattooed number on their arm.  And they too became a miraculous beacon from which light came forth.

Those broken starving skeletons, that I call “pach shemen shel kedoshim,” they were all so weak and depressed and demoralized that no sane person would have anticipated that this small group of skin-and-bones and broken spirits could ignite, and fire up, and radiate again, a light to the world. 

Yes, at war’s end, there were many who proclaimed chalilah, “les din v’les dayan,” “there is no judge and no judgment,” or said, “I will be a good human being at heart, but I cannot accept Torah and mitzvos again”. 

But then the greatest miracle occurred. The Ribono Shel Olam sent us a living Torah embodied in sparks of light – people like the Klausenberger Rav, Rav Yekutiel Halberstam – who ignited the spirits of that pach shel shemen shel kedoshim – and the light which emanated was not quickly consumed. 

To the contrary, this small pach shel shemen of kedoshim kept getting stronger and stronger each day, each month and each year.  A living example of Beis Hillel’s moseef v’holech – we add and advance. And just as in the time of Purim, so too the survivors took an oath of “kimu v’kiblu mah shehekiblu kvar.” They fully re-affirmed their commitment and re-dedicated themselves to the mesorah of our fathers. 

This fire, of commitment to Torah values and a Torah life, is getting stronger and stronger even now, day-by-day, giving light to the whole world.  The mosdos haTorah are boruch Hashem flowing over with Yankelach, Moishelach, and Ruchelach.  Be it in South Bend Indiana; Lakewood, NJ; Chicago, Illiniois; New York, and of course Eretz Yisrael.

After one of my talks a few years ago, a little girl by the name of Pereleh came up with the following question:  “Mr. Starck, what do you consider is the greatest threat to the Jewish people in this day and age?” 

And I answered her that when I was a little boy of 5 or 6 years of age and walked to cheder, many times the Ukrainian and Ruthenian kids would spit or throw stones at us, shouting, “Zid, to Palestina sklo missity.”  “Jew, why don’t you leave and go to Palestine to grind glass?” 

And when I turned 14 or 15, even though I never held a weapon of any kind in my hands, if another Yid would have approached me saying, “Srulek, here is a satchel of dynamite and fuses. You have to sneak under this bridge in the dark of the night and place the explosives under the bridge that transports all these trains to Auschwitz,” I would have carried out the mission without any question. 

But, there was then, no dynamite, no fuses, and no one to give instructions.  And now, the difference is that today we have our own country, with the strongest army and air force in the Middle East, if not the world.  Sure there are mechablim, terrorists, who will raise a hand or a knife against us. But he also knows quite well that there will be consequences.  Israeli forces will hunt him down and make him pay with his life.

A chassideshe bochur remarked to me, “Why didn’t I also tell Pereleh that it is the time of ikvasa d’meshicha, and Moshiach will come?” 

I told him, let me tell you the story of two friends, Berel and Shmerel.  Shmerel loved to take a drink now and then.  In difficult times, that was his balm. It gave him a sense of security.  He would often visit the village kretshma, the tavern, where he would drink to his heart’s content.  One day, Berel caught up with him and followed along.  He noticed that every block on his way to the tavern, Shmerel paused, took out a little flask, and took a swig from it. 

Finally Berel said to him, “Shmerel, you know and I know where you are heading to. So must you also stop every block and take a swig from your little flask?  Can’t you at least wait until you get to the tavern?”  Shmerel answered, “Until you get there, you also need a drink.” 

We hope and we pray that the Ribbono Shel Olam will be a Shomer Yisroel and give strength and wisdom to our brothers and sisters guarding the front lines of Israel ad biyas goel tzedek.

 *   *   *

A Boy Named 68818

Yes, it’s finally out!*

A Boy Named 68818 is rolling off the presses. The first softcover copies came out last Thursday and the hardcover edition can be released any day. Kol HaKovod to Mr. Yisroel Starck!

A bit of background: 

Mr. Starck is a devoutly religious businessman from Chicago. He is a holocaust survivor now in his mid-eighties. I first met Mr. Starck many years ago when I was just starting out in the importing business (a bygone endeavor). Aside from being a very pleasant person to do business with, he gave me a lot of encouragement and mentoring advice. His words of wisdom have guided me not only in business, but in all facets of life. For business, he gave me such pearls of wisdom as: “A sale is not a sale until you count your money.”- and “You can sell your merchandise at cost price and still make a profit ... just make sure to always buy below cost price!”

On life in general he told me: “Whatever happens, don’t let yourself get plagued with marah shechoira (depression).” I am certain that this adage is what enabled him to survive the horrors of the holocaust and to build a successful business and raise a vibrant G-d fearing family.

In any event, over the years, we have carried out what can be described as a parent-child relationship - I have always looked up to him and he has always looked down on me. So, naturally, when I wrote my book eight years ago and was in search of sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Starck were at the top of the list to be solicited. Thankfully, they came through big time and their donation more or less covered about half of the expenses. Yet Mr. Starck (and his eishes chayil) were not interested in being publicly acknowledged. As such, in the Acknowledgment section of my book, you can read the following:

I am literally indebted to those people who cooperated to sponsor this project. At the head of the pack stand the officers of the Ezras Israel Charity Foundation whose generosity made this publication possible. They have taken a very personal interest in this project and their support goes far beyond the scope of this work.

I can now disclose that the “Officers of the Ezras Israel Charity Foundation” were none other than Mr. and Mrs. Yisroel Starck.

Over the course of knowing Mr. Starck, I had heard from him many fragments of his holocaust experiences - all of them spellbinding - but I hadn’t gotten the entire picture. That would be enough to fill a book. I might have said so. Definitely, others have said so. And it looks like he finally caved in – he wrote the book!

Interestingly, about ten years ago (five years before Mr. Starck began his book project), he was interviewed by Rabbi Hanoch Teller in preparation for Rabbi Teller’s magnificent work – Heroic Children. Rabbi Teller put many years of painstaking research and precision into his book and only first released it about six weeks ago. As one of the nine subjects of the book, Mr. Starck’s story appears in a more concise form.

Both books contain historical backdrops and maps of the relevant regions (and approbations from Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau, Shlita) plus photographs of the people involved (in some cases – the same photos). But there is something very different and unique about Mr. Starck’s book. Whereas Rabbi Teller’s book is an adult oriented book written in grownup language for a grownup audience, Mr. Starck’s book is written in the voice of a 14-16 year old boy – the boy he was at the time. As a medium for his silent thoughts, "Srulek", the Mr. Starck of 1944, speaks to a fictitious pet dove, Taibele. The book also contains hand-drawn illustrations of the events being told. All this is because the book is aimed at the young adult (10-18 year old) audience.

This is because, unlike Rabbi Teller’s book which is meant to tell stories of tender age heroism and perseverance to readers who are already familiar with the basics of the holocaust, A Boy Named 68818, is meant to be an introduction to the horrors of the holocaust for young readers who have no access to first person accounts of the holocaust and have not learned much about it (if at all). Despite what their parents can tell them, they probably do not know and will never know a true living holocaust survivor; they will never see a living arm bearing the tattoos or scars of beatings and injuries that my generation was perpetually witness to.

As such, besides being an autobiography and memoir, this book is a textbook of sorts. For this reason it includes a multi-chapter appendix with a glossary, historical overview, timeline and maps and learning guide. Parents of today may not have fully grasped that most likely their children will never meet any true survivors. But sadly, this is the case. For this reason, this book is a must for every Jewish household.

Note – I highly recommend Rabbi Hanoch Teller’s book as well – Heroic Children. Both books are independently published and distributed by Feldheim Distribution.

* Clarification - I am told that the book has not as of yet actually reached the store shelves. This may take a few more weeks, hopefully in time for Yom Tov. -- YH

Chana's Song - Music to my Ears

An articulate young blogster seems to be commanding lots of attention. At least she caught mine. Her name is Chana, she is from Chicago, she was 19 when she last updated her profile. And she is very curious.

Now, I happen to be partial to the name Chana. Both my own grandmother (the one who stood in front of the Aron Kodesh just before she was deported to Auschwitz) and my wife’s grandmother were named Chana. That is why our youngest daughter is named Chana. But I digress…

Chana, who considers herself to be Modern Orthodox has taken upon herself to introduce us to Haredi philosophy. I really don't mind the competition. If somebody can do a better job than me -- kol hakavod! I just wanted to critique her work a bit and see how it compares with mine. And my overall assessment is… our perspectives have much in common.

Let's have a look:

In Part 1, Chana brings out 5 aspects of chareidi philosophy:

1. There should be no labels and no distinction between chareidi and MO.
2. To the chareidim, the Torah is our primary guide and is the end-all and be-all of what defines us.
3. For the chareidi, Halacha is respected as an inviolate body of knowledge and instruction.
4. We choose insularity to help us obtain and maintain our goals.
5. We promote and derive vitality from learning Torah for learning’s sake.
   
   I think she is absolutely on target with all 5 points. I have expressed (almost) all of them myself thusly:

• Her point #1 is the main summation of my entire Book 1 and is the theme of the epilog chapter – Chapter 9. She makes this point first and I make it last but it is my central point and actually, I advise my readers to skip to Chapter 9 after Chapters 1 and 2.
• Her point #2 is the theme of Chapters 1 and 2.
• Her point #3 is the theme of Chapter 8. In that chapter, I focus on the teachings of the Rabbis but it applies to Halacha in general just the same.
• Her point #4 I do not discuss much, but I agree with it fully.
• Her point #5 is the logical extension of point #2 and is likewise covered in Chapters 1 and 2 and expanded on in Chapter 3.
  
  We move on to her Part 2. In Part 2 she opens with reiterating our approach to learning and how it is based on Mesorah. I dealt with this briefly in Chapter 7 –Lesson 4. She carries on with a lengthy soliloquy about the preeminence of Chazal. I voice this sentiment in a much different fashion in Chapter 8 and it is also subliminally one of the concepts that I am trying to market in Chapter 4.
  
  To sum up – I applaud Chana for hitting the nail on the head. Furthermore, even I was not qualified to write such passionate prose when I was 19 (of course, the Jewish world may have been a bit different then). I might also add that she is a bit braver than I. She takes it upon herself to analyze the difference between Chareidi and MO. I suppose she can do that because she knows what an MO is. She says she is one (I have my doubts).
  
  In my book (one), I don’t define any differences between Chareidi and MO - only between Chareidim and NCOJs. With one notable exception, the term MO isn’t even in my book. It’s partly because I have no idea what a MO is. Heck, lots of my readers think I don’t know what a chareidi is. At least I know what a NCOJ is. It is somebody who doesn't meet my definition of chareidi (pretty simple, no?).
  
  Actually, the main difference between what she wrote and what I wrote is –she said it much briefer and you don’t need to spend 20 bucks to read it.
  
  That said, I would expect that Chana would consider my book as a suitable source for further elaboration owing that there is so much overlap, but it doesn't look that way.
  Two of the commenters on her Blog referred to my book (in Part 1), and Chana commented that she wouldn't recommend it. She said it was poorly edited, which I can accept (truth be told, I did not give the editor a lot of leeway to make changes) but she also said "if anything, it will confuse people further".
  
  I sense a diversion here. I have received complaints about the editing in terms of it being "wordy" and "slow to get to the point" but, so far, no one who read it through said that it was confusing. I have received more compliments of "well written" than "poorly written". What is probably more accurate is that there is no debate that the book carries the "potential to rub people the wrong way" (as I clearly state in a disclaimer). It does project a sense of chareidi elitism, which is unavoidable, by the way. And I may come across like the salesman I am trying to be. But in terms of Chana, I really think that she has no problem with what the book says – as I noted, it’s very similar - so much as she has with who is saying it. An MO may analyze the "chareidi", but for a chareidi to toot his own horn is pretentious.
  
  Of course, there is a vast difference in temperament which may have something to do with it. Chana is a very sensitive person and a superb prosaic writer and is definitely an NF on a Myers-Briggs scale. I am a mediocre technical writer - less sensitive and more cynical and a high NT.
  
  Now, she hasn’t given my book any credit (she actually discredited it) but one thing is certain – she read it before she wrote her posts. Can she truly say that it did not influence her?
  
  In any case, I wonder what’s in store for Part 3 or, at least, what's the main show after the Introduction. I can hardly wait. That’s because I’m a curious Jew!
  
  

The Guiding Principles of 1A7B

For those of you who have not yet read the book - and, especially those who have no intention of reading the book - I thought it would be a public service to lay down the main principles of One Above and Seven Below. So here they are:

The first and most important point is that despite all the hype I make about chareidim - such as "The Chareidi Response"; "Every thing you always wanted to ASK about the Chareidim"; in the FAQ section: "chareidi Judaism"; and especially in the opening of Chapter 1 "This book is about chareidim..." - despite all that... this book is NOT about chareidim!!!

This book is about Orthodox Jews!

It is merely how we folks who call ourselves chareidi define all Orthodox Jews. The main principles were all summarized on page 217 but here they are again - now the trick is to replace the original word "chareidi" with the term "Orthodox Jew". Okay, I'll do it for you:

• [A chareidi] {An Orthodox Jew} is one who buys into G‑d the Father’s contractual deal (heretofore: policy) as stated in Leviticus 26:3 in accordance to Rashi’s commentary adapted from Torat Kohanim which stipulates that our side of the deal involves performing the commandments with “toil in Torah”.
  
• Toil in Torah does not mean that every Jew must drop everything and dedicate his life to nothing but Torah study. Toil in Torah means that every Jew should continue doing what he does best with the aspiration of creating a society that functions along the guidelines of the laws of the Torah as well as do whatever he can to increase the knowledge of the laws and philosophies of the Torah among all the members of this society and, subsequently, among all of mankind. This latter aspect ideally entails some level of personal study and, at the very least, full scale support – moral and financial – of those who can study more intensely.
  
• Man’s ultimate purpose is to come as close to G‑d as he can. This is accomplished by emulating His traits (from Mesillas Yesharim and others).
  
• The very minimum implementation requirement to be [chareidi] {an Orthodox Jew} – in conjunction with the ideological adherence to [chareidi] {Orthodox Jewish} principles[1] - is to observe the commandments at their most basic level (Asseh Tov), not to wantonly violate any negative commandments (Sur Merah) and to recite Kriat Shema twice a day[2] (and mean it).
  
• (Note -This is not on page 217 but I am adding it here) - Every thing that one does is either a mitzva (Anochi Hashem) or a transgression (Lo Yihiyeh Lecha). There is nothing that is neutral (see earlier post on Xenophobia).
  
• Every Jew is invited to the party - Black tie (and suit and hat and velvet kipa) optional.
  

The ideology that I am trying to promote throughout this entire project is the ideology of Torah, pure and simple, the way it would be presented by Rashi himself were we to be sitting at his feet 900 years ago.[3] I do not seek to add to it nor to subtract from it. In a nutshell, it is what we Ashkenazim call Yiddishkeit {Orthodox Judaism}. Ideally, it would follow that the best term for the followers of this discipline would be, well - Yidden {i.e., Orthodox Jews}!

[1] These would be the concepts that were covered in Chapter 7 – Maimonides Thirteen Principles of Faith, Pirkei Avot, Messilat Yesharim and Chovot HaLevavot.

[2] See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 45:23

[3] Moreover, I am not promoting any particular subjective understanding of the verse or of Rashi’s position. If the reader sincerely maintains an interpretation of the Torat Kohanim that differs with mine, then I urge him to follow his own viewpoint.

Any Questions-- just ASK...

Yechezkel

From my Inbox - The Power of the Few

Here is the tail end of a correspondence from a concerned reader:

By the way, I get really upset about how it looks that the 7b are by far the majority and we are just headed for camp Klala no matter how hard we try individually to improve ourselves. Can you tell me your perspective on this scenario? only give it to me nicely so it won't make me depressed. Thank you.

To follow is my response:

The staus of "Im Bechukosai Telechu" does not come easy. It takes conviction, commitment, discipline, "bitul hayesh" and TOIL (ameilus). Remember that I wrote that being there is only the first step toward our real goal (top of Mt. neverest) and I noted (page 192) that the legend is that even the Gaon of Vilna only attained 4 or 5 levels. So, obviously there is not going to be too big a crowd (maybe that's why mountains are narrower at the top). Also, just like I wrote on page 257 that there are no guardrails between one level to the next in the 7B but there is also no guardrail between the 1A to the 7B, so we are all fighting against the "force of gravity".

I am afraid that this much will indeed make you depressed. So, here's the bright side (and it's on page 93) - The value (or influence) of virtue is at least 500 times greater than the value (influence) of misbehavior. So, on the "great ship" each person who has a ticket to camp Bracha has 500 votes against each person who holds a ticket to Camp Kelala so even if they are outnumbered by 500-1, they can still turn the whole ship around (just like 50 tzaddikim could have saved Sodom).

Hatzlacha.

Y. Hirshman

Good Shabbos!!

How Many People Never Died?

On page 109 of my book I referred to Eliyahu HaNavi as the only Human being who ascended to Heaven alive. At least 2 readers contacted me to point out that according to Chazal, there were numerous others besides Eliyahu HaNavi.

Here is how I responded to the last reader:

Firstly, thank you for your letter and thank you for reading my book. Believe it or not, you are not the first person to challenge me on that statement concerning Eliyahu HaNavi. My response earlier, and now as well, is that what I had in mind is that Eliyahu HaNavi is the only human being that is attested to explicitly in the pasuk to have ascended to heaven alive. All of the other tzadikkim mentioned in Derech Eretz Zuta are based on our mesora from Chazal and, with the possible exception of Chanoch, there is no firm basis in the Tanach.

Although we live and breathe the words of Chazal, we cannot always consider their statements to be conclusive because they are often subject to conflicting Midrashim or a range of opinions among Chazal themselves. To point out a few examples, on the same page I note that there are at least 3 opinions as to which shevet produced Eliyahu HaNavi. The contention that he is a Cohen and that he is Pinchas is compromised thereby. Also, see footnote 25 on page 102 where I bring conflicting sources as to which tzadikkim were born circumcized including a head-on collision concerning Bilaam. Another example is a controversy as to whether Zimri was actually Shlumiel ben Tzurishadai which contradicts a Midrash that all of the original nesiim died in the maaseh Korach (according to Rabbenu Bechaye). There are numerous other examples of this. It's true that I have not actually seen any dissenting opinions on the Derech Eretz Zuta, but still I was relying on what is undisputed in the pasuk.

Still, your point is 100% valid and duly registered.