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Category: Holocaust

A World War II Liberator’s Letter to his Hometown Rabbi

A World War II Liberator’s Letter to his Hometown Rabbi

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I recently realized that this year, January 26th will correspond to the 26th of Teves. That date marks the tenth Yahrtzeit of a remarkable man — who lived through some extraordinary experiences exactly eighty years ago. I had the honor of knowing Mr. Charles Press (1920 – 2015) for the last eight years of his life. However, others in Harrisburg, PA (where I served as a pulpit Rabbi from 2007 – 2016) enjoyed his friendship for over nine decades. Over…

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The Ghetto Library and Daily Life Under the Nazis

The Ghetto Library and Daily Life Under the Nazis

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In giving the public this opportunity to learn more about the spiritual resistance of the Vilna Ghetto, we seek to immortalize the moral heroism of the victims of the Holocaust. And bring to light the phenomenon of the vitality and endurance of the Jewish people – throughout their long existence, laden with suffering and restrictions, it has forced them not to give up but to seek the means of self-expression and foster their traditions and culture no matter what adversity…

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The Paper Brigade’s Recording of Epitaphs in Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery: A Literary Analysis

The Paper Brigade’s Recording of Epitaphs in Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery: A Literary Analysis

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I. Introduction. Shortly after the Nazis captured Vilna on June 24, 1941, representatives from the “Special Detail of Reich-Administrator Alfred Rosenberg” (Einsatzstab des Reichleiter Alfred Rosenberg) arrived in Vilna. Their task was to loot the literary (and other) treasures of Vilna’s Jewish community, and to ship them to Frankfurt. Under the aegis of Nazi “experts” in Jewish matters, a slave-labor unit consisting at times of some 40 Jews was established. Like the other slave-labor units, the group gathered early in…

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Hirschian Humanism After the Holocaust: An Analysis of the Approach of Rabbi Shimon Schwab

Hirschian Humanism After the Holocaust: An Analysis of the Approach of Rabbi Shimon Schwab

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Rabbi Shmuel Lesher is a Machon Beren Kollel fellow at RIETS / Yeshiva University. Prior to completing his rabbinic ordination at RIETS, Rabbi Lesher studied at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem and Yeshiva of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, Maryland. Rabbi Lesher lives in Washington Heights, with his wife Leora and their three children. This is his first contribution to the Seforim Blog. In 1959, Rabbi Shimon Schwab made a unique contribution to the way his community and others commemorate…

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Rav Aryeh Tzvi Frommer HY”D: סנגורם של ישראל

Rav Aryeh Tzvi Frommer HY”D: סנגורם של ישראל

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הכל מלמדין זכות” – משנה סנהדרין ד:א” In the fall of 1933, immediately after the death of Rabbi Meir Shapira zt”l – Rosh Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin, an article appeared in the “Lubliner Tugenblatt” newspaper. The title reads “Who will be the next Rosh Yeshiva?” The article references multiple distinguished candidates for the prestigious appointment, including Rav Menachem Zemba hy”d and Rav Dov Berish Weidenfeld zt”l – The Tchebiner Rav. Interestingly enough, the eventual successor to Rabbi Meir Shapira, was not…

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“שואה, מדוע אלו שנהרגו בה נקראו “קדושים

“שואה, מדוע אלו שנהרגו בה נקראו “קדושים

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“שואה, מדוע אלו שנהרגו בה נקראו “קדושים הרב משה צוריאל הרבה חקרו בשאלה מה הוא המקור לכך שאומתנו מעניקה תואר-כבוד “קדושים” לנהרגים בשואה במלחמת העולם השניה. פשוט הדבר שהנהרג מפני שהוא מקיים אחת ממצוות התורה, והגוים הורגים אותו על כך, הוא נקרא “קדוש”. אבל ההרוגים בשואה לא נהרגו מפני שקיימו מצוות. גם אם נגיד שנהרגו מפני שהיו יהודים, רק אם היתה להם אפשרות להכחיש יהדותם ולהמלט, ובכל זאת בחרו להודות ביהדותם, אפשר לכנותם “קדושים”. אבל העובדה היא שלרובם של ההרוגים…

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Happy July 4th

Happy July 4th

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From a Hebrew Bible printed by the Vaad Hatzalah, Munich, 1947, for the use of Displaced Persons (DPs), the”Sherith Hepleita,” with a dedication to President Harry S. Truman

The 93 Beit Yaakov Martyrs: A Modern Midrash

The 93 Beit Yaakov Martyrs: A Modern Midrash

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On January 8, 1943 an article appeared in The New York Times which the fate of 93 young women who took their own lives rather than serve as prostitutes for the German enemy. The article makes reference to a letter written some time earlier in which the plight of these young women was described in “real time.” 11 August 1942 My dear friend Mr. Schenkalewsky in New York, I do not know whether this letter will reach you. Do you…

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Announcement – Lecture by Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber at the Sprecher home

Announcement – Lecture by Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber at the Sprecher home

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The readership of the Seforim Blog is invited to a shiur that will be taking place Sunday November 29 at 8:00 PM. The shiur will be given by the noted scholar and author Rav Yechiel Goldhaber of Eretz Yisroel (link). He has authored many wonderful articles and works on a wide range of topics most notably Minhagei Kehilos about customs, and Kunditon (link) about the Titanic, and the Cherem on Spain. The subject of the Shiur is על חרדים ויום…

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Hunted Bears, Cantonists and Nazi Victims

Hunted Bears, Cantonists and Nazi Victims

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Yitzhak, בין דין לדין. I thank Dan Rabinowitz for graciously allowing me to post this essay. Hunted Bears This is the cover image of the Gary Larson collection Beyond The Far Side: I have long found this cartoon profoundly depressing, in its humorous but acute portrayal of the moral degradation of which we are capable. עור בעד עור, וכל אשר לאיש יתן בעד נפשו 1; the desperate bear grins inanely as he attempts to persuade the hunter to shoot his…

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