The Glory of Sepharad

This post is dedicated le'ilui nishmato shel my sabba, Avraham (Alberto) ben Yaakov Shitreet z"l. May his memory be a for a blessing.

My sabba was a relic from a bygone time. He was born in turn-of the century Palestine, in Hebron, where his father was stationed as a Turkish soldier in WWI. His family was visiting from Jerusalem, in which they lived. My sabba told of how, as a baby, he was saddled onto a donkey for the trip from Hebron to Jerusalem. He was an exceptionnaly beautiful baby so his mother placed around his neck a hamsa medallion to ward off the evil eye. As the donkey swayed back and forth, the hamsa good luck charm almost strangled him, ironisally. His family lived in Yemin Moshe, the first neighbourhood to be built outside of the walls of the Old City, funded by Jewish philantropist Moses Montefiore. My sabba used to play as a little boy in the mulino, the windmill, built in the neibourhood.


He came from a lost world. His family had come to the Holy Land 500 years prior, at the time of the Expulsion from Spain in 1492. They still spoke the Ladino language, Judeo-Spanish. In his memory, I would like to share some the fascinating history and culture of Sephardic (Spanish) Jewry.

Jews had already begun to settle in Spain during the time of the king Solomon. The Golden Age of Spanish Jewry, however, was between the 8th and 11th centuries, when Spain was under Muslim rule. Jewish intellectual and spiritual life flourished and many Jews served in Spanish courts. Jewish economic expansion was unparalleled. In Toledo, Jews were involved in translating Arabic texts to the romance languages, as well as translating Greek and Hebrew texts into Arabic. Jews also contributed to botany, geography, medicine, mathematics, poetry and philosophy.

A number of well-known Jewish physicians practiced during this period, including Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-970), who was the doctor for the Caliph (leader of Spain). Many famous Jewish figures lived during the Golden Age and contributed to making this a flourishing period for Jewish thought. These included Samuel Ha-Nagid, Moses ibn Ezra, Solomon ibn Gabirol Judah Halevi and Moses Maimonides.


While Jews suffered from many discriminatory measures in Muslim al-Andalus, such as being forced to wear distinctive clothing or paying a special tax, they flourished. Islamic culture also influenced the Jews. Muslim and Jewish customs and practices became intertwined. For example, Arabic was used for prayers rather than Hebrew or Spanish. Before entering the synagogue, Jews washed their hands and feet, which is a practice done before entering a mosque. Arab melodies were used for Jewish songs. Jews wore the clothing style of their Moorish neighbors, although they were not allowed to wear silk or furs.

The Golden Age came to an abrupt end in 1147 when the fanatical Almohad dynasty came to power. The family of the great Moses Maimonides (the Rambam) fled to Morroco to escape the harshness of their reign. In 1098, the Christians conquered Toledo and Jews in Christian Spain prosepered while Muslim Spain was in decline. There was tremendous pressure on Jews to convert to Catholicism and many did, although some practiced Judaism in secret. These "New Christians" proved very irritating to the Church. Jews were forced into religious "Disputations" by the Church, although skilled rabbis often embarrassed Christianity by proving the validity of Judaism. Many riots broke out against the Jews and crypto-Jews ("maranos" or "anousim") were hunted, tortured, and murdered by the Inquisition. When the last Muslim stronghold of Granada fell to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in the 15th century, they felt that this was a divine sign that Spain should be united under Christianity. The Grand Inquisitor, Tomas de Torquemada, convinced the King and Queen that the expulsion of Spain's Jews was necessary. Two influential Jews, don Abarbanel and don Soneor, offered the King and Queen an enormous ransom of thirty thousand ducats to let the Jews stay. Upon hearing this, Torquemada, who was waiting outside the door, burst into the room holding a crucifix. He placed it on the table and said: "Judas sold his Master for thirty ducats. You would sell Him for thirty thousand ... Take Him and sell Him, but do not let it be said that I have had any share in this transaction." The Jews were given four months to convert to to Christianity or to leave Spain. On Tisha Be'Av of 1492, an estimated 100 000 Jews left Sepharad, their Spanish homeland.

The Sephardim wandered all over Europe and North Africa. Many of them settled in Venice, Morocco and the Maghreb, the Ottoman Empire, Turkey and the Balkans, and in the Holy Land. Some also settled in the New World, hoping to escape the Inquisition, although anousim were persecuted in Mexico, Brasil and other Spanish conquests. The Sephardim lived according to their unique culture and way of life, speaking the Ladino language, dressing and eating in the way of medieval Spain, and practicing various religious customs. Most of the Sephardic communities of Europe were obliterated during the Holocaust, such as the communities of Bulgaria and Greece. Before the war, 55 000 Jews lived in Saloniki in Greece. They were such a large and influential part of the city that the port would close down on Shabbat. Over 54 000 Saloniki Jews were murdered in Auschwitz and Treblinka; only a handful survived the war.

Sephardic Jews spoke the Ladino language, which was Judeo-Spanish. The Sephardi Jews preserved their special language, which was a combination of Hebrew and Spanish, known as Ladino. Ladino is still spoken by some Sephardic communities, such as those in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania, France and Latin America. Today the largest Ladino-speaking community can be found in Israel. One can also read Ladino in Sephardic literature.

When Jews left Spain and Portugal they continued to speak Ladino, in the same grammar and vocabulary of 14th and 15th century Spanish. The Sephardic exile communities of Amsterdam, London and Italy were still in contact with Spain and hence they continued to speak Castillian Spanish.

Exile communities in the Ottoman Empire, however, retained the 14th and 15th century Spanish and borrowed words from Hebrew, Arabic Greek, Turkish and French and diverged considerably from Castillian Spanish. There are many different Ladino dialects. An Oriental Ladino was used in Turkey and Rhodes, while a Western Ladino was spoken in Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia and Rumania.

Today, there are about 200 000 people who still speak or understand the language in Israel, although the language is rapidly declining. My sabba used to sing Ladino songs. One of his favourites was Avre Tu Puerta Cerrada. It means 'Open Your Door for Me'. It was a love song of Spanish troubadours during the Golden Age and could still be heard sung by Sephardic women in the evening in early 20th century Jerusalem.



It is extremely beautiful. The lyrics are:

Avre tu puerta cerrada,
qu´en tu balcòn luz no hay
el amor a ti te vela,
partemos Rosa, partemos de aqui.

Yo demandi por la tu hermozura,
como te la dio el Dio
la hermozura tuya es pura,
la meresco solo yo.

Open your closed door,
because there is no light on your balcony.
Love may protect you,
let us go, Rosa, let us go away from here.

I have prayed for your beauty,
which is given to you from God.
Your beauty is pure,
it´s reserved for me.

Same Old Deceiver

The wicked Esau was a very cunning and manipulative man. The Torah tell us that his father Isaac loved him over Jacob ki tzayid be'fiv (Gen.25:28). Literally, this means that that he would ensnare him with his mouth. Esau would pretend to be ultra-devout and asked Isaac questions to which he knew the answers, such as how much tithes must be given on salt and straw, already aware that these are exempt from tithing. Isaac believed that Esau was very pious and interested in the minutia of observance. This blinded him to the idolatry of Esau, his murder and rape. He could not believe that his son, who mouthed all the words of righteousness and payed them lip service, could be so cruel and evil.

It seems like Esau has never stopped being a deceiver. On Monday, French President Nicholas Sarkozy spoke before the Knessey, reassuring Israel that France stood by her and was a true friend. Sarkozy vowed, "France will always be Israel's friend and will always stand in the way of those calling to destroy it." Once he gained the trust of the members of the Knesset, he prompty said that Israel must stop building in Judea and Samaria, pass a Knesset bill to compensate the Jews living in these lands, and to deport them all. Aparently, a good friend of Israel is one who firmly believes that portions of Israel's territory must be judenrein. While Sarkozy said "Israel will always be every Jewish person's sanctuary. It is the only place where Jews will always be safe," he clarified that of course he did not mean that as a good thing, but rather would like to divide Jerusalem and ensure that Jews have no where to be safe. (France certainly doesn't cut it. Just the other day, a Jewish teen was brutally attacked in a Paris suburb by "immigrants"-- Chinese immigrants? I don't think so.) Sarkozy visited Yad VaShem museum this morning yet he seems to have learnt no lesson. In a report by the New York Time, Sarkozy pledged French aid for Israel. "France is ready to provide its guarantee, ready to mobilize its diplomatic services, its resources, its soldiers. You can trust France." Israel has no need for France's help on the battlefield. History has shown the French to be pretty useless in this department. However, the French have traditionally excelled in deporting Jews, a skill that could come in handy in Judea and Samaria. On July 16-17, 1942, the infamous "Round-Up of Paris", French police captured 12 000 Parisian Jews and whisked them off to Drancy, only to meet their ends in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. While the Nazis asked for 8 000 Jews, the French, not known for their proficiency, added a bonus 4 000 Jews for the German crematorium, and herded them off in cattle cars. In light of this horrendous history, France, while claiming to have turned over a new leaf, demands that Israel carve itself in half, deport 100 000 Jews to the greater Tel-Aviv ghetto, and effectively surrended to the genocidal forces of barbarism, Islam. But we shouldn't worry- he promised as that he's a good friend of Israel. The same old Esau, luring us to our deaths with his promises and flowery praises.

Just think of Barack Obama firmly stating that Jerusalem is the individed capital of Israel, only to explain that what he meant by that is that Jerusalem should be divided and should be the capital of "Palestine". But Obama has a lot of Jewish friends... go back to sleep. Unfortunately, Israel is so quick to find friends that it doesn't listen in between the lines. No true lover of Israel would demand that it carve itself in half and create a terrorist state on the outskirts of Jerusalem. There is already one Arab State in "Palestine". Its called Jordan. It is very unwise for Sarkozy to get into the habit of capitulating to Islam, especially since his banlieues and suburbs are fast becoming the newest provinces of the House of Islam. But Esau and Ishmael are often able to set aside any difference in their desire to destroy Jacob. Actions speak louder than words. Saying that you are a friend of Israel is meaningless when that really means that you promise to lead the funeral procession and will pay the funds for the next museum dedicated to the murdered Jews. If Sarkozy's friendship, or that of anyone else, mandates putting ourselves at risk, it is no deal. Let him save his lofty words. They are meaningless. The world did not love us in the 1500s as hot irons combed our skin, nor did they love us in 1945 when the evil poison filled our lungs. They may cry crocodile tears when Israel is overrun by massacring Arabs (G-d forbid), but they mean nothing. It is an eternal rule: Esav soneh et Yaakov. Esau hates Jacob. The world hates the Jews. The end. Period. Point final.

We must not carried away by the offers of friendship by the murderous Esau. He is treacherous and wants only to see the end of the nation of Israel. We must remember that we are always but a handsbreath away from annhilation and we have ourselves ourselves (and HK"BH) to rely on. As for Esau, G-d has already decreed his end. "And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken... And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S." (Ob. 1:19-21) Amen, speedily in our days.

I Have Never Forgotten You

My heart sank as I read the news this morning. Henryk Mandelbaum, Poland's last surviving Sonderkommando (Jews who were forced to man the Nazi gas chambers) passed away on Tuesday at the age of 85. Mandelbaum was forced as a prisoner to strip victims' bodies of their valuables, pull out their gold teeth and fillings and carry them to crematoria for burning. It makes me very sad to think that the survivors who keep the memory of the Holocaust alive are slowly disappearing. Without Mandelbaum, who will be able to teach the world about the gas chambers, the Sonderkommando, about the Holocaust? Will we allow the horrors of our past to simple fade away and turn to dust?

I recently came back from an amazing trip in Poland and Israel, to commemorate our tragic past and to affirm our glorious future. I sat in synagogues and yeshivot that once housed thousands of Jewish worshippers and students and now sit emtpy. Krakow's beautifully decorated and extremely ornate Tempel Shul is unused for most of the year. In Lublin, a city which was once refered to as the Jerusalem of Poland, if one did not know to look for a Jewish cemetary or synagogue, one would have no idea that Jews once lived there. In Poland, I noticed how easy it was to forget. In Placzow work camp, a park was created out of the mass grave. On the bones of 20 000 Jews (one of the survivors who accompanied us on our trip explained to us that her cousin of 6 was shot right were we stood), Poles sunbathe and walk their dogs. The distance between Auschwitz and Birkenau is flanked with restaurants and shops. Majdanek, certainly the most evil place on Earth, is 5 minuted from the center of Lublin. Inhabitted houses sit at the edge of the barbed wire, standing while its horrible furnaces burnt human flesh. In Warsaw, nothing of the ghetto remains besides two walls. The area was rebuilt and today is full of apartments and stores. In Umschlagplatz, the train depot from which 300 000 Jews were taken to the gas chambers at Treblinka, these tracks now carry tour trolleys and cable cars. While we emersed ourselves bitterly in the pain of our people over 60 years ago, the Poles continued their daily lives, undaunted.

On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, we marched the 2.5 kilometres between Auschwitz and Birkenau in solidarity of the millions murdered. At the end of the Birkenau death camp, we had a ceremony with survivors, at which the former chief rabbi of Israel and the IDF Chief of Staff spoke to us. Sitting in a cold and damp barrack, the 5 survivors who accompanied us told us their stories and experiences. One eldery woman told us that when the war finished, she would often meet with other survivors to speak about their experiences. She had always assumed that when she would die, her story would die with her. She told us that now, she has no fear of this. She knows that we will keep her story alive.

What an incredible responsibility! I am scared of this challenge. We are the first generation to live in a world without Holocaust survivors. With the ever-rising anti-semitism and alarming Holocaust denial, will we be able to stand up and set the record straight? Or will we simply let the memories of the Holocaust victims turn to dust. On our last day in Poland, we visited Treblinka, a death camp in which one millions Jews were gassed. Treblinka was completely destroyed after the war and nothing stands there besides a monument of granite slabs representing the train tracks into annhilation and tens of thousands of enormous pillars representing communtites that were wiped out. Treblinka is surrounded by a beautiful forest which the Germans grew on the ashes of murdered Jews used as fertilizer, in an attempt to cover up their horror. Standing in that awful place, I felt so alone, so empty, so forsaken. The million that were exterminated there went up in smoke and ashes. They have no tomb, no yarzheit. They had no funeral, nobody sat shiva over them or said kaddish for them. Another survivor told us how his entire village besides his family and a few other were rounded up and sent to Treblinka. He is the sole survivor of his 60 young classmates. He told us that he thinks about them every day. When he, after 120 years, passes away, will I be able to do their legacy honour? I cannot let time make their names and memories grow cold. I promise to educate people about the Holocaust, about the dangers of anti-semtism and intolerance, in the memory of the 6 million murdered Jews.

Many years after the war had finished, Simon Wiesenthal, the legendary Nazi hunter, went to visit a friend of his in New York. This friend, after the war, had moved on with his life and had become a businessman. He wanted to know why Wiesenthal did not do the same. "You're a religious man," replied Wiesenthal. "You believe in God and life after death. I also believe. When we come to the other world and meet the millions of Jews who died in the camps and they ask us, ‘What have you done?,’ there will be many answers. You will say, ‘I became a jeweler,’ Another will say, ‘I have smuggled coffee and American cigarettes,’ Another will say, ‘I built houses,’ But I will say, ‘I did not forget you’." There must certainly be great agitation in the heavens as the President of Iran claims that the Holocaust is a myth and that he will wipe Israel off the map. As anti-semitism from the Far Right and Islamofascists continues to rise in Europe and North America, we can ill afford to forget.

To the 6 million men, women and children, holy and pure martyrs, killed because they were Jews, who have vanished to the wind: I have never forgotten you.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Deal with the Devil

Amid rocket fire, continued attacks on Sderot schools and homes, and ever hateful rhetoric, Hamas and Israel have declared a ceasefire for the umpteenth time. Before we go and pat ourselves on the back and sing kumbaya for "giving peace a chance", we should examine the truth behind the Islamic term hudna, which is the word Hamas uses for its ceasefire.

Muhammad is considered by Muslims to be a perfect being and an exemplary role model. Jihadists often invoke his actions to support their attacks. As such, it is of crucial importance for the West to enlighten itself as to the less savoury aspects of this Islamic holy figure's life. In 628 CE, a group of 1400 Muslims pilgrims approached Mecca to perform an Islamic ritual, where they were met by a much larger force of Quraysh tribesmen. Muhammad originally intended to attack the city but he soon realized that his band of holy warrior were no match for the vastly superior Quraysh. Muhammad drew up a treaty with the Quraysh which guaranteed peace and non-belligerence for 10 years. This became known as the treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Two years later, when commanded commanded a band of 10 000 Muslims, as opposed to the meagre 1400 that he had 2 years prior, he dissolved his treaty with the Quraysh and conquered Mecca. From this, Islamic scholars and judges derive that it is permissible to declare a hudna with non-Muslims for a maximum of ten years when Muslims are at a disadvantage, and to violate it when Muslims are strong enough. According to the traditional Islamic view, the natural state of relations between Islam and non-Muslims is war. In fact, the world is divided into Dar al-Islam, the House of Islam, and Dar al-Harb. Muhammad declared that he had been sent "to fight until all declare that there is no god but Allah" ie. until Islam rules to world. Therefore, the reason for a ceasefire between the House of Islam and the House of War is to further to cause of jihad and Islam conquest. The medieval summar of Shafi'i jurisprudence makes the intention of the hudna clear. "If Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with the Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud." ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16). It also quotes this Qur'anic verse: "So do not be fainthearted and call for peace, when it is you who are the uppermost" (47:35). Hamas does not even recognize Israel's right to exist, let alone want to lay down its arms and make peace. It has violated its past hudnas numerous times and attacked Israel when it had the chance. In January 2004, senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year hudna in return for complete withdrawal from all territories captured in the Six Day War, and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Rantissi said the hudna was limited to ten years and represented a decision by the movement because it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage; the hudna would however not signal a recognition of the state of Israel." This is the strategy of those who claim to want a Palestinian state: that state will be used as a launch pad for the eventual destruction of all of Israel. Clearly, Hamas feels that it is not in a position of strength to continue its campaign of murder and terror. Instead of finishing the job, Israel is giving Hamas the chance to regroup and reorganize.

Hamas is not a "resistance" movement, nor does it represent the legitimate political will of the "Palestinians". It is an anti-semitic terrorist movement with the genocide of the Jewish people and the destruction of Israel at its core. The Hamas Covenant spells out its goal quite clearly: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." With such an enemy, there can be no real peace. Hamas is using the excuse of a ceasefire, which it has no intention of respecting, to prepare for more deadly attacks against Israeli citizens. The Covenant quotes the hadith of the Sahi Bukari and Sahi Moslem, making its plans for the Final Solution known. "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." This is an organization that sponsors and carries out murderous attacks on Israeli cafes, restaurants, schools and public buildings. When an Arab gunman massacred Jewish students studying in a yeshiva, in cold blood, Hamas organized parties in the streets, gave out candies, danced and celebrated. This are not people but animals, pure and evil. With them there can be no compromise. Israel must not be in the habit of negoatiating and dealing with Jew-murdering thugs. They deserve no sympathy and should not be given any legitimacy by making deals with them. According to Israeli law, it is forbidden to aid Nazis and anyone guilty of "crime against the Jewish people", defined as killing Jews, causing serious bodily or mental harm to Jews or inciting hatred against Jews, among other things, is subject to the death penalty. (Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law (Amendment) 5723-1963). Hamas's goal is the eradication of the Jewish people, young and old, religious and secular, Zionist and non-Zionist. It seeks to wipe the Jewish nation off the face of the Earth and has tried to do so through suicide bombings, shootings and other terrorist attacks.

Evil cannot be tolerated or negotiated with. Evil can only be destroyed. Israel must hunt down and eliminate Hamas members and supporters. Now is the time, since Hamas is feeling weak and strained. Jew-haters can be shown no mercy or respite. The hudna is a sham and only serves to advance the cause of jihad and the ultimate destruction of Israel. Israel's leaders are fools indeed if they think that they can appease those who wish to murder us. We must follow the dictum of the rabbis: "If somebody comes to kill you, rise to kill him first."

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Straight talk about Jerusalem

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Dear World

Dear World,

I see that you're in an uproar again. Israel is building homes in East Jerusalem and you are not happy about it. Its really amazing, given your reputation as being slow-moving and inefficient, at your speed if the Jews are the culprits. Nothing escapes your watchful eyes, does it? And yet, what brings about this newfound rapidity and resolution with regards to Israel? You seemed to sit around on idly while thousands were being slaughtered in Rwanda and as thousands continue to die in Darfur. But no one will ever accuse you of ignoring the situation in Israel.

Dear World, why did you not jump and issue condemnations when Hitler marked the Jewish people for destruction? And where were you when the Jews of Europe were burnt and suffocated? Why did you shut your eyes to the cries and pleas of the oppressed and close your doors to them? When the St. Louis, bearing refugees escaping the Nazis, came to your shores, you could find no place for these Jews and delivered them into the hands of their tormenters, directly to the gas chambers. And when the Jews of Rome were deported right under the Pope's windows, why did you keep quiet? You flew bombers over Auschwitz but destroying the gas chambers in which 12 000 Jews a day were murdered never seemed to be a priority. You closed every avenue of escape and looked on apatheticaly as the Jews were rounded up from every corner and humiliated, tortured and massacred. A conspiracy of silence abandonned the Jews to their fate. But thankfully, 60 years later, you have regained your voice.

Dear World, why did you abandon the inhabitants of the fledgeling State of Israel to the Arab onslaught, determined to drive its people into the sea? Could you not find one word of condemnation for their genocidal rhetoric and intentions? And when close to a million Sephardic Jews were expelled from lands in which they had lived for millenia, where were you? Could some of your sympathy focused on the "Palestinian" refugees, displaced by their own accord, have been directed towards the expelled Jews? Or did Jewish suffering not move you? When the Jordanians bombarded and besieged Jerusalem, you had nothing to say. For the first time in thousands of years, Jerusalem's Old City was empty of Jews. Jews were forbidden access to their holiest of sites. As the Jewish Quarter in the Old City was made judenrein, synagogues desecrated and Jewish gravestones used as latrines, you held your tongue. Luckily, you do not make the same mistake today.

Dear World, why, when Stalin and the Soviets, closed off the portals of escape from their Communist prison and tried to suppress Judaism, were you deathly silent? When the Iron Curtain fell, trapping millions of Jews, you did not stand up for their freedoms. You had your own problems and the troubles of a few Jewish dissidents in Siberia did not trouble you. You were unswayed by the cries of "Let My People Go!" coming from the Soviet Union and worldwide Jewry. Why should you care if some Jews were forbidden to go to Jewish school, lay tefillin or keep their holidays? And yet, these things disturb you greatly if performed in Judea and Samaria.

Dear World, when the Arabs tried to annhilate the people of Israel in '67, '73 and all the subsequent wars and terrorist attacks, could you not lend any support to the Jews? Not a helping hand, a smile, a kind word. You were too busy ranting and raving about the "Occupation", "apartheid", "the refugee crisis", "land-for-peace" and all the other code words for the Final Solution. World, you find in yourself the strength to protest whenever Israel's defense accidentally killed an Arab civilian. Strange that your voice seemed to disappear when Israeli teens were blown to smitherenes in a discotheque in Tel-Aviv or when terrorists massacred families celebrating the Passover holiday in a Netanyah hotel. You were sure to denounce Israeli "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, but said nothing about the constant barrage of rockets falling on homes, schools and businesses in Sderot. When Israeli yeshiva students, aged 14-20, were gunned down in cold blood studying Judaism's sacred texts, there was no solidarity or sympathy. Instead, you issued cold rationalizations and understanding of the terrorist's motives. As Iran's president is publically vowing to wipe Israel off the face of the Eart, you lull us to sleep and complacency.

Dear World, you have proven too many times in the past not to have the best interests of the Jewish People at heart. In fact, some may say that you are downright hostile to us. It is odd that you perk up every time Israel defends herself, a Jew build a home in Judea and Samaria or wants to pray on the Temple Mount. Millions can be denied civil rights in China or Saudi Arabia, women condemned to death for being raped in Iran, blacks slaughtered in Darfur and crisis in Burma, but you can only blame the Jews. Dear World, we have learnt better than to listen to you. You will not be happy until we are wiped out, dead, destroyed.

Well world, that is not an option.

Sincerely,

A Proud Jew

Cross-posted to Stop Raping Israel, Goat's Barnyard and Jewish Vengeance

What did we do to deserve this?

The 'Why do the Hate us?' club has a new member. Rabbi Menachem Froman, chief rabbi of Tekoa, explains that since Hamas is a religious movement, rabbis can use their status to negotiate with them. You heard correctly. The basis of this claim is that Hamas hates secular Israel but will respect fellow religious leaders of another Abrahamitic faith. This claim has been repeated many times before. Dinesh D'Souza, in his book 'The Enemy At Home', he argues that "the cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11 … the cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the non-profit sector and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world." The Islamic world views the West as a land of debauchery, immorality and sin and for that reason they must impose Islam's purity.

This is ludicrous. Islam does not hate the West because of its abortion on demand, MTV or premarital sex. Islam wants to subjugate the West because of its Judeo-Christian foundation. The Qur'an mandates Muslims to conquer non-Muslims not because they are immoral but because they are non-Muslims. Jihadist ired is focused equally on G-dless Hollywood, church-going Poland, Bible-thumping Texas or morally relativist Sweden. Rabbi Froman's argument misses the point. Hamas is not committed to Israel's destruction because its Jews break shabbat or eat pork. Islamic fundamentalists cannot accept an independent Infidel, especially Jewish Infidel, state in the heart of the Arab world. The Hamas charter relates the words of Muhammad as recorded by the Sahi Bukhari: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." Nowhere in this verse does it say that religious Jews will be spared this longed-for genocide. As evident by the targets of terrorist attacks, Hamas and other terrorist groups attack secular and religious Jews. Teenagers studying in a yeshiva and worshippers in a Meah Shearim synagogue have been attacked just as teenagers in a discotheque erev shabbat. Islam's anger will not abate as long as we insist on being proud and free and refuse to submit to dhimmitude.

It is frequently said that Islam is a fellow Abrahamitic religion with Judaism and Christianity. That is really a misnomer. According to Islam, it is the only Abrahamitic religion. Abraham was a Muslim, thereby making Judaism and Christianity illegitimate. "Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists. Most surely the nearest of people to Ibrahim are those who followed him and this Prophet and those who believe and Allah is the guardian of the believers." (Qur'an 3:66-67) All of these calls for universal love and brotherhood are completely silly. Islam has no such pretensions. It believes itself to be the only religion of Abraham and that all others are deviant. It does not view itself as one of three brother religions which share beliefs and values but rather as a ruler and conqueror over these false faiths. We cannot expect Hamas or al-Qaeda to accord a rabbi any sort of respect since he is following a corruption of Allah's original message. Islam holds that the Torah originally contained references to Muhammad's coming but that the Jews conspired to "extinguish the lights of Allah".

Rabbi Froman's suggestion is not only idiotic but dangerous. Think about the horror that the Jewish world felt as it saw Neturai Karta members clad in chassidic garb shaking hands with Iran's president at his Holocaust-denial hate-fest. Neturai Karta is a fringe group with several hundred supporters. Imagine the incredible amount of legitimacy that would be bestowed upon Hamas if well-respected rabbis met and discussed with them. It would be tantamount to negotiating with murderers. This suggestion perpetuates the theme of Western or Israeli guilt in terrorist attacks. Islam is responsible for terrorism, not its victims. Even if Israel became the most observant and moral country (speedily in our days, amen!), Arab and Muslim hatred would not be reduced one iota. It is not our secularism or immorality that is to blame but the very text of the Qur'an. Once they tear out the offending passages, I'm sure my rabbi would happy to give their imams a call.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Reclaiming "Zionism" - Part II

The Holy Land: full of synagogues, history, scenery, McDonald's cheeseburgers, discotheques and Gay "Pride" Parades. The rampant secularism promoted by a small but influential minority of extremists has long been a point of contention for more traditional and observant Jews. Many often bemoan the lack of observance among some Israelis and their pitiful ignorance of Judaism. Coupled with successive self-loathing, post-Zionist governments, many religious and nationalist Jews no longer identify with the State of Israel. One reaction to the Disengagement from Gaza in summer 2005 was to disengage from the State. In certain synagogues, the Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel was omitted and the blue and white flags taken down. In the minds of many, Zionism is associated with the post-Jewish "new Jew", with secularism, with clubbing on Erev Shabbat and land-for-peace deals.

In the 2nd century BCE, the oppressed Jews led a revolt against the mighty Seleucid empire. After 7 long years of intense struggle, the people of Judeah drove out the cruel Greeks and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to G-d's service. To commemorate this amazing victory, the holiday of Chanukkah was established. What began as an idealistic revolt in the name of religious freedom and self-determination soon became corrupt. Subsequent Hasmonean rulers, descendants of the brave revolutionaries, were more interested in pride and greed than in perpetuating the ideals that their fathers had fought for. Divided into squabbling religious sects, the Jews fought amongst one another and internal hatred weakened them. Ironically, while the early Hasmoneans fought against assimilation and suppression of Judaism, the later Hasmonean kings brought Roman influence into the the Land and assisted greatly in its Hellenization. Eventually, through a combination of civil war, corruption and obsession with materialism, the Hamonean kingdom was brought to an end by the conquering Romans. 70 years of Jewish independence was crushed by Roman legions. Despite the complete assimilation in the final days of the Hasmonean kingdom, Jews until this day observe the holiday of Chanukkah and sing Hallel to remember the miraculous victory. Even when the rulers of the independent Judea brought in foreign philosophies and cultures and tried to erase Judaism, nobody even suggested that Chanukkah be abolished.

Some religious Jews who support the IDF and our Jewish brethren in the Israel tend to shy away from the word "Zionist" as they associate it with the secularism of the early Chalutzim and Zionist leaders. It is not common knowledge that a hundred or so years before Herzl, great rabbis such as the Baal Shem Tov or the Vilna Gaon were encouraging their disciples to make aliyah so as to build up the Land. Zionism did is not a 19th century imperialist movement or a new ideology founded by Herzl or Weitzman. Zionism has its origins in G-d's promise to Avraham Avinu that to his descendants He would give the Land of Israel. Zionism is the thrice-daily prayer for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and our declaration at the end of our Pesach seder. It is the dictum of our Sages that living in Israel is equivalent to the entire Torah. Zionism is the essential component of Judaism which teaches that Jews must form a G-dly society in the Holy Land. By rejecting the so-called "Zionists", these people are perpetuating the sin of the Meraglim who slandered the Land and caused Israel to wander in the desert for 40 years.

When asked if they recite Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut, some will jokingly reply that they follow Ben Gurion's custom: they don't say Hallel, but they don't say Tachanun either. Behind this witty quip is the insinuation that because the State was founded by secular Jews, it is worthless. Little do they know that oftentimes, the most lofty of ideas has very humble origins. The Moshiach's ancestry, that of the most noble king ever to rule Israel, will be descended of the debauchery of Moav which was conceived through incest, and from the adultery of David and Bathshevah. G-d conceals the Redemption through natural and ignoble means so as to confuse the klipah. As king Chizikiyahu lay on his deathbed, the prophet Yishayahu came to visit him. He explained to him that his death had been decreed for the sin of not having children. Chizikiyahu protested and defended himself by saying that he had known through prophesy that his children would be wicked and that he prefered not having them. Yishayahu answered him: "Why do you involved yourself with the Merciful One's matters? You must do as you are commanded and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will do as He sees fit." Why should these "super-frum" Jews involve themselves with G-d's matters? Let them fulfill the mitzvah of the conquest and settling of the Land and let HaShem do as He sees fit. Do they really imagine the Moshiach to come to a deserted and empty land? Rather, every single house built and tree planted in Israel hastens the Geula.

The State of Israel, Reishit Tzmichat Geulateinu, the Dawn of our Deliverance, has certainly fallen short of the promises of the Neviim. However, it is out of the husk of this secularism that our redemption will sprout. Just as I will continue to light Chanukkah candles even though the Hasmonean kingdom eventually persectued the rabbis, I will continue to dance on Yom HaAtzmaut and thank G-d for His miracles. The proper response to such secularism is not to isolate ourselves but rather to get involved and to change the State from within. Any Jew who accepts G-d's promise to the Avot, who affirm's the central mitzvah of the settlement and conquest of the Land, who prays for G-d to return His people to Israel and who proudly declares every Passover, "Next Year in Jerusalem!", is a Zionist. Zionism cannot be separated from Judaism just as Israel cannot be removed from the Torah. Israel does not depend on the religiosity of its people or leaders but rather on HaShem's promise to avenge His great and holy Name that was desecrated among the nations. And HaShem is a G-d who keeps His word.

Cross-posted to Jewish Vengeance

Reclaiming "Zionism" - Part I

Over 60 years ago, when the Jews were a beaten and broken nation, Zionism resotred pride to the name "Jew". To be a Zionist was a source of inspiration, to be associated with a little David state fighting an enormous Arab Goliath, the people that had returned to their ancient homeland and against all odds, made her blossom and bloom. Unfortunately, today, the term "Zionist" is often villified and smeared. The slander directed towards Zionism is absolutely disgusting and must be refuted by all decent and good-hearted people.

Zionism is the most natural expression of a Jew to return to his homeland and to control his own destiny with a sovereign state of his own. After suffering 2000 years of wandering, exile, oppression, degradation and outright extermination attempts, the Jew resolved never again to exist on the sufferance of the gentiles, but to live as a free people in his own land. The exiles by the rivers of Babylon lamented, "How can we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil?" Truly, Judaism in exile was incomplete, missing its glorious redemptive component. Only in the Land of Israel can the Jewish people attain their full potential and develop its culture, religion and language. In a majority gentile society, Judaism is under constant threat from the twin demons of anti-semitism and assimilation. It is only in an independent and free Jewish state where these fears disappear.

Any attempt to make a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-semitism is artificial and contrived. Since its inception, the national component of Judaism has been essential to its theology and beliefs. Especially today, when most Jews no longer follow the traditional Jewish faith in its authenticity, the identification with the people of Israel has grown more important. Somebody who denies the legitimate right of the Jewish people to their land, claiming to simply be anti-Zionist, is an enemy of the Jewish people. The singular reason for the denial of this principal right of self-determination which is accorded to all other peoples of the world is anti-semitism. Let every opponent of Israel who claims not be an anti-semite realize that the only final result for the Jews of Israel, upon Israel's (G-d forbid) destruction, will be nothing other than death. Many hold the mistaken worldview of a Zionist imperialism threatening the peace of the region. This view is unfounded and the complete opposite of reality. Zionism is a national liberation movement with the intention of impowering an oppressed people. It is opposed by a very poweful and violent Arabic and Islamic imperialism dedicated to cleansing the Middle-East of non-Arabs and non-Muslims. Any person who claims to be a liberal and support the rights of indigenous peoples against aggression should rally to the cause of Israel, the only nation in the world to be living, 4000 years later, in the same country, called by the same name, speaking the same language and following the same faith.

When so many defame and accuse Israel of the most vile of things, it is our duty to defend her. Just as Zionism once restored pride to the title "Jew", every Jew must restore pride to the title "Zionist". Zionism and Judaism are inseperable, being conceived at the same time. Judaism was created when G-d called our forefather Avraham from Haran and Zionism came into being when He promised his descendants the entire Land of Canaan. Zionism has contributed so much good to the world, from scientific advances to democracy and tolerance. It is faced by the cruel and genocidal forces of barbarism and savagery. Should Israel fall, the rest of the civilized world will shortly follow.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard and Jewish Vengeance

Arrival in Israel and Jerusalem

May 8th


But a few short hours ago, we were at the gates of death, Treblinka. I sit in the rebuilt Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Driving into the city, it is clear that the Holocaust did not mark the end of the nation of Israel. As dawn broke, we made our way down the holy streets until we reach the Kotel. My heart swelled at the sight of the last remnants of our Holy Temple. I prayed with all my heart and marvelled at the beauty of our city.


The contrast between here and Treblinka is amazing. In Poland, I was an unwanted stranger, a foreigner, someone hated and loathed. Walking the streets of Jerusalem, I am home. This is where I belong. The sound of Hebrew and the familiar sight of living, breathing Jews makes me giddy. For a week I had seen nothing but traces of a glorious Jewish past and scars of a terrible destruction. The nation of Israel lives.


Kibbutz Ramat Rachel is set in the scenic Jerusalem mountains. A full Israeli breakfast awaits us. I almost cried with joy at the Israeli salads, eggs, borekas, teats, veges, etc. After a week of eating packaged deli meats in Poland, fresh food is a mechayeh.

Still early, we drove to the Dead Sea. I floated, took a mud bath, tanned, swam in the sulphur pool and showered. The sun on my skin is such a great feeling. We ate the most delicious grilled pita pizzas.

That night was Yom HaZikaron. On a hill overlooking all of Jerusalem, we had a memorial ceremony. It was extremely touching to realize that the only reason why I can walk freely in Jerusalem is because of the sacrifice of these young soldiers. Their ages were astonishing. So many feel so young and now lie coldly in the ground just so I could raise my head proudly as a Jew. This legacy of both pain and pride is written on the face of every Israeli.



May 9th

We started the day off at the by saying the Shehecheyanu prayer overlooking Jerusalem. I am so thankful to G-d that He has preserved me and brought me to this moment. Afterwards, we explored the ancient Jewish Quarter. Spending so much time in Poland, it boggled my mind to see a city entirely designed for Jews, and suited to our unique needs. There were kosher restaurants, synagogues, mezuzot and all the Jewish paraphernalia everywhere. We searched for shawarma and devoured it with great gusto.



At night, we had a ceremony marking the end of Yom HaZikaron and the beginning of Yom HaAztmaut at Mini Israel. The transition was overwhelming. We went from the depths of sadness and loss to complete joy. We danced and sang, celebrating 60 years of Israel’s existence and miraculous accomplishments. We took part in the largest simultaneous anthem singing ever, joining Jews all over the world in singing HaTikvah.

May 10th

Today is Yom HaAtzmaut. We celebrated by marching through the streets of Jerusalem. It began with a concert in the square outside of Jerusalem’s city hall. We then proceeded, accompanied by music, down the streets, around the walls of the Old City and finally to the Kotel. Imagine how many thousands of generations of Jews only dreamed to see Jerusalem and how I have been privileged to fulfill their aspirations. While our first march between Auschwitz and Birkenau was solemn, this march celebrated our survival and thriving.


We visited Latrun, the tanks museum and military memorial. It was extremely interesting. We had an MOL mega-event with 6000 people. It was an outdoor concert and show in an amphitheatre. Shai Gabso, one of Israel’s most popular singers, performed. It was so much fun.

Never Again?

Having posted my experiences in Poland, before I post about Israel, I feel that it is important to draw some lessons from the horrors of the Holocaust. Clearly, the Holocaust was the worst crime ever perpetrated by humanity. It is our duty to ensure that it never occurs again, either to the Jewish people or to any other nation. Did we learn anything? Is the world any different? Is there hope?

As Hitler intensified his persecutions of the Jews, culminating in the pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1939, the world decided to close its doors to those who needed asylum the most. During the war, when Allied intelligence reported the extermination of European Jews, the world still chose to keep silent. Allied airplanes even bombed a factory attached to the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex yet didn't feel that bombing the gas chambers or crematorium was an important goal. There was a conspiracy of silence against the Jews: half of the world tried to wipe us out, while the other half prefered to sit silently and watch. Only once the war was over did world leaders open their eyes to their complicity and began to realize how they could have prevented such a tragedy. If only we had known before! If only we saw! Never Again, they cried as they cried crocodile tears for the murdered Jews. They beat their chests in anguish and pledged never again would they be apathetic in the face of hatred and genocide. Unfortunately, 63 years since the end of the Holocaust, their words ring hollow.

Since 2003, Arab janjaweed militia backed by the Sudanese government have been systimatically murdered, raping, torturing and killing black Darfuris. They have massacred entire villages and destroyed food and water sources to exacerbate the drought and famine. About 400 000 thousand lives have already been lost. While some may claim (erroneously) that the Holocaust was hidden from public knowledge, no such thing can be said about Darfur. The horrors of ethnic cleansing, massacres and rape have happened in full view of the international community. Endless parades of diplomats, world leaders and officials have visited Khartoum with sporadic, unclear and incoherent messages. Diplomacy has failed the people of Darfur as thousands are slaughtered each day. We are our brother's keeper. It is not enough to build museums and monuments after the genocide, but to stop it or prevent it from happening in the first place.


Neither has the world learnt the dangerous and deadly results of unchecked anti-semitism. In recent weeks, violent attacks against Jews have taken place in Los Angeles, New York and London. In LA, a 58-year old man wearing a kippah was attacked by two men who called him a "dirty Jew" before punching him and beating him down. The police report a steep rise in anti-semitic attacks, including vandalism and a improvised bomb at a Jewish community center. In Germany, an Arab man was sentenced to three years in jail (only?!) for stabbing a rabbi repeatedly. Walls, shops and sidewalks outside four synagogues in northeast London Clapton Common and Stamford Hill neighborhoods were desecrated with anti-Jewish graffiti last week. The slogans called for 'Jihad to Israel' and 'Jihad to Tel-Aviv'. A 16-year old Jewish boy was severely beaten and mugged last week. A Jewish man living in Ireland last week had his home defaced with Nazi symbols and swastikas, with the slogan "Go Home, Jew". In fact, anti-semitic incidents are up almost 400% worldwide in recent years. It is actually the most worrisome increase in attacks since the Second World War. Violent attacks and desecrations of synagogues and cemetaries is commonplace in much of Europe. Jewish communities, such as those of Paris and London, feel as if under siege and live in constant danger. In Western Europe, fanatical imams incite their flocks against the Jews and the Zionists, the source of all of their problems. In the East, where the Muslim population is insignificant, neo-Nazi groups are undergoing a revival. During the first year of the commemoration of Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, it was defaced with swastikas five times.

This anti-semitism is not only the workings of hateful individuals or fringe groups. For the first time since Hitler, there is a world leader publically calling for the destruction of the Jewish people. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced his intentions to "wipe Israel off the map" and called the Holocaust "a myth", even holding a conference to spread his poisonous denial. Ahmadinejad threatened, on Yom HaAztmaut, that Israel will soon be destroyed. "The Zionist regime is dying," said Ahmadinejad during a speech in northern Iran. "The criminals assume that by holding celebrations ... they can save the sinister Zionist regime from death and annihilation... Nations of the region hate this criminal fabricated regime [Israel] and will uproot this fabricated regime if the smallest and shortest opportunity is given to them." His terminology is very reminiscent of Nazi speech as he dehumanizes Jews and demonizes Israel, calling it a "cancer" and insisting on its demise. These are not the mere rantings of a lunatic. Ahmadinejad is rapidly advancing his country's nuclear arms program which he will certainly use as a weapon to bring about his hoped-for destruction of Israel. Iran is responsible for arming Hizbullah and supporting them during their war with Israel, two summers ago. Hizbullah's leader, Nasrallah, an Iranian pawn, made very clear his genocidal intent when he said that "the Jews should all gather in Israel to save us [Hizbualllah] the trouble of going after them worldwide." Just as people prefered to do nothing as the Jews chocked to death in the gas chambers or burnt in the ovens, thinking that Hitler was "just a Jewish problem", the world does not condemn Ahmadinejad for his incitement to genocide. Quite the contrary- he was even invited to spead before the UN, granting him worldwide legitimacy.

Once Iran bombs Israel, G-d forbid, the world will be quite to realize its fault. Leaders will beat their chest in sorrow and cry bitter crocodile tears at their willful blindness. Surely, monuments will be built to commemorate the now-extinct Jews. International money will pour in to build museums to memorialize the tragedy and people will use this blood money to atone for their collective guilt. No! This is not enough! Now that there is still a chance, Ahmadinejad must be brought to justice for inciting hatred against the nation of Israel. We do not want another Yad VaShem or a Holocaust memorial day. What we want is for the world to wake up and to make good on its promise of never again. As Jews, we must know that the world will never realize until its too late and that we cannot go once more like sheep to the slaughter.

NEVER AGAIN!

Warsaw Ghetto and Treblinka

May 6th

After a 3 hour bus ride from Lublin, we finally arrived in Warsaw. We visited the immense cemetery of Warsaw which dates back to medieval times and contains hundreds of thousands of people. The richness of the ancient city’s Jewish community is outstanding. The cemetery is full of old monuments and tombs of famous rabbis, scholars, professors and writers. We toured the cemetery and read the incriptions, until we noticed a large empty space marked by black lines. The tour guide explained that this is a mass grave for those who died in the Warsaw Ghetto. 70 000- 80 000 bodies are buried in that little space, without even a tomb marker. They are nameless, without monument or identity, unmourned with no kaddish or shivah. I was asked to recite the El Maleh Rachamim prayer and a surge of emotion came over me as I pleaded with HaShem to remember and have mercy on those poor souls who died.

Later on, we toured the ghetto, little of which is left. Only a few fragments of the walls survive. The ghetto best captures my feelings in Poland: constricted, restrained, trapped. I am not wanted here.



Walking into Umchlagplatz, the train depot from which 300 000 Jews were sent to Teblinka, I was in awe. It was the last stop for hundreds of thousands before the gas chambers, and I could walk out freely. I cried when the madrich said that we would not be going to our deaths but priviliedged to fulfill the dream of thousands: going to Eretz Yisrael.

It is astonishing to see Poles living in formerly Jewish areas. Next to the remaining ghetto wall are apartments and the Poles living there yelled at us for trespassing. At the heart of the ghetto, the Poles felt the need to erect a huge crucifix in honour of one of their saints, and a huge church sits on the main street. Not only were the Jewish bodies desecrated but the Jewish soul is spat upon. Cable cars with Kitkat advertisements run on the same haunted tracks as cattle cars used to. Have the Poles simply forgotten or chosen to forget? I think the little Jewish figurines holding money bags, sold at the hotel giftshop, answers my questions.

One final ceremony with all of the Canadian delegates was held at the Warsaw University. A righteous gentile who saved 25 Jews, and a few others were honoured. I am eternally grateful to their heroism. The Holocaust survivors also spoke. They are filled with such courage and inner strength. They suffered such horrors yet they have returned to the land of their torment to teach us. After that, 300 delegates sand Hebrew songs and danced, bringing Jewish music back to the city where it was extinguished 63 years ago.

May 7th

A short 3h drive from Warsaw is Treblinka- death, destruction, torture. There is nothing left of the camp as the Nazis tried to hide all evidence. It is surrounded by a lovely forest, growing from the ashes of murdered Jews which the Nazis used as fertilizer. At Treblinka, there is a stone monument representing the train tracks to oblivion. Stones stretch as far as the eye can see, representing communities that are no extinct. Over 17 000 communities were wiped out at Treblinka. Where the gas chambers used to stand, there is a large monument with engraving of chocking Jews in their last moments.


Treblinka means death. It is but a short distance from the trains to the gas chambers. Arrivals were greeted by an orchestra and were given postcard to send to their loved ones. Deceived, they were sent to the gas chambers.

We sang Ani Maamin like so many did in their last moments. We then proceeded to walk out alive from that factory of death.

Majdanek and Shabbat in Lublin

May 2nd

In the morning, we drove to see the medieval Jewish cemetery of Lublin. It is filled with rabbis, mystics, scholars, etc. Lublin was once considered the Jerusalem of Poland, with an extremely strong and vibrant Jewish community. It was the site of the famous Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin. What is incredible now is that unless one knows to visit a Jewish cemetery or synagogue, one would have no idea that Jews ever lived there. A mezuzah, a kippah, or a kosher restaurant will not be found.

Smoke and ashes. This entire civilization vanished in the gas chambers and torture of Majdanek. Majdanek is hell on Earth. In that evil place, tens of thousands of people were brutalized, dehumanized, sadistically tortured and murdered. They lost everything. All that is left of them is a mound of ash. This accursed camp sits but a few minutes from the heart of Lublin, not hidden away in some remote area. On its edges, there are homes which have stood there since the day when its furnaces burnt human flesh.

We began our day at Majdanek at the huge monument of 6 scarred pillars, symbolizing the 6 million, with steps leading down through a valley of jagged rocks, representing the valley of the shadow of death. We then took the same path as the inmates of Majdanek took upon entering. The accursed villa of the commandant stood mocking the pain adjacent to it. We read testimony of survivours describing it as a lovely house, complete with a white picket fence, a garden, pets and a loving family. The banality of evil shocked me.

At the entrance to the camp, with a sign reading “Bath and Disinfection”, are the experimental gas chambers. When we entered the gas chambers, where so many went to their deaths, I broke down. The walls are stained blue from the Zyklon B and covered in scratches. I touched the walls and jumped back from shock. I was crushed by the pain of those gasping for their last breathe of life. The cruelty of our enemies is outstanding. Amazingly, as we left the gas chambers, alive, unlike thousands, we were hugged and comforted by our survivours.

In one barrack stood thousands upon thousands of shoes taken from those who were killed. Who wore them? They sit silently, eternally forlorn. Among the multitudes of grey, I noticed one pair of red shoes. Did the bearer believe herself to be going to a safe haven and wore red to celebrate? I will never know.

At the end of the camp, we saw the prime gas chambers. And inspiring site was yarzheit candles lie on the dissection table where Jewish prisoners were forced to search the bodies of the murdered, and a survivor recited kaddish over it. The evil commandant’s bathtub build next to the crematorium and heated with the suffering of our people, glared wickedly. The crematorium was ablaze once more, but this time not with human corpses, but with yarzheit candles.

The last sight was the enormous mountain of ashes, in a domed monument outside. I cried as I thought of how many people vanished into smoke and dust, leaving nothing but ashes in a mound. They have no tombstone, no yarzheit, no name. Nobody sat shiva for them or recited kaddish for their souls. Tearfully, we said kaddish for them and sang the Shemah, indicating that the Jewish faith has not died.

“Shemah Yisrael, HaShem Elokeinu, HaShem Echad!”

May 3rd

Shabbat in Lublin was an interesting experience. Our hotel was located directly opposite the seat of German occupation government during the War. We lit Shabbat candles Friday night and then had dinner. Spontaneously, we broke out in song and dance for well over an hour. Broken from our morning visit to Majdanek, we all somehow felt the need to greet the Shabbat with joy.
Shabbat morning, we had an upbeat service in a room above the lobby, ironically looking out on the building where the cruel plots against our nation were hatched. 63 years later, we prayed with all our might and sang the Shabbat praises. As one of our Holocaust survivor was called to the Torah, I felt a wave of emotion. The Torah is still alive.

After Shabbat lunch, we made our way to the famous Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin. It is quite ornate although tragically silent. Its libraries which one held thousands of seforim were empty. When the Nazis conquered Lublin, they made a bonfire of all of the holy texts, outside the Yeshiva walls. To hide the bitter weeping of the Jews forced to watch, they had an orchestra play. In the yeshiva, we studied Talmudic texts and then sang Jewish songs of life, in order to drown out the wicked music of the Nazis. “Coincidentally”, one guy had been studying a daf yomi and completed the tractate that day. We held the siyyum in the yeshiva and the sound of Torah once again returned to Lublin.

At night, we had a beautiful havdallah with participants all from all over Canada.

One thought that kept running through my mind is how Jewish life in Lublin simply vanished. It breaks my heart to think of the hassidim who no longer sing and dance, the yeshivot that sit silent, that Torah scrolls that grow dusty and the synagogues that will never again see another bar mitzvah or wedding. Even though we still live, the shtetl culture and the Yiddish language have been murdered. Did the streets of Lublin really once teem with Jews? Was it really the Jerusalem of Poland? It seems impossible, like a dream. It surely disappeared in the ashes of Majdanek.

Krakow, Placzow and Auschwitz-Birkenau

With the goal of perpetuating the legacy of the Holocaust and of describing the incredible miracle that is the State of Israel, I will share excerpts from my journal. I will post some more every few day

April 31st, 2008

We landed in Krakow late morning. We drove to the Placzow labour camp in the outskirts of the city. Nothing remains of this torture facility and mass grave. Across the streets from this place of evil are restaurants and shops. Without the stone monuments commemorating the murder that went on there, the Polish sunbathers might tempt you into believing that this is nothing but a lovely park. One of the survivors who accompanied us on our trip, told us about her experiences in Placzow and how her little cousin of 6 was shot by the Nazis on the very ground on which we sat, and how his resting place is unknown. It was extremely moving.

We toured the Kazimicz region of Krakow, the Jewish Quarter. We saw the synagogue of the Ramah, and the medieval cemetery attached to it, full of legendary rabbis. The stories told of the amazing feats and miracles that they performed were quite amazing. Krakow had such a rich Jewish history; everything remains he same, with lovely synagogues, cemeteries and Jewish symbols- except there are no more Jews. It is incredible to this that an entire community of tens of thousands of people just vanished, gone. We saw the remains of the ghetto and were witnesses to how this most vibrant community was forced into such a small area. Jewish life in Krakow has disappeared. And the Poles continue to live, unabated.

May 1st



Auschwitz, the most evil place on Earth, is a museum. Gone are the trains, the snarling dogs, screams, ashes rising from the chimney. It is cleaned up, sanitized, almost plastic. It was very difficult to imagine the horrors that went on there through the crowds of marches and giggling girls. Auschwitz left me cold as we rushed from exhibit to exhibit with barely time to process. It was very disturbing to see a place that was literally hell on Earth, behind glass, with signs and displays.

The March itself was not what I expected. It was hard to maintain the mood because of the enormous mass of people. It was inspiring, though, to see 15 000 Jews draped in Israeli flags marching the same march of death between Auschwitz and Birkenau.

Birkenau was an unsettling sight. One enters the accursed gates to see a line of trees, train tracks, barracks and ruined chimneys. At the end of the camp, we had a ceremony with survivors, the IDF chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, chief rabbi of Tel-Aviv, HaRav Meir Lau, and a choir. Ashkenazi, as head of the IDF, vowed that never again will Jews be weak and powerless and that never again shall we allow Jewish blood to be spillt cheaply. The chazzan led us in a moving prayer and I’m sure that he pierced the heavens with his cries.

Finally, we stood in a cold and dark barrack and lit yarzheit candles. Survivors shared with us their experiences. It was chilling to be in the very place where they endured such torment. Afterwards, we prayed a quick minchah in the barracks at Birkenau. Imagine the beauty and absurdity of the scene: Jewish prayer continues in a place where our foes tried to wipe us out but 63 years ago.