Chanukah Day #8: Chanukah in Auschwitz: The Ninth Flame

[Music] the following story I heard from my brother rabbi Shimon Jacobsen who heard it from the man himself this was a Jew who survived the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp it was the last Hanukkah now it's Hanukkah 1944 he tells my brother all we were focused on day and night was survival trying to get our hands on another morsel of food the starvation is unbearable and you really can't think about anything else he says we couldn't think about which day we're in which month which week but there were a few people in the camp who seemed to operate on a higher level of consciousness despite the horrors and they would remind us when it was Shabbos when it was a holiday and he says one morning I tried to steal some bomb from the infirmary in order to help my father who had horrible sores on his body and I tried to relieve him from his pain I saw how much agony he was and I managed to get some balm and I came to the barrack where my father lay and I walked in and my father was not there till today I don't know what happened was it a Nazi bullet that killed him was it the typhus disease or some other horrible ailment my father was gone and I was frantic I was holding on to life because I had my father and now he was gone an older gentleman came over to me and he tried to comfort me I didn't know his name but I saw that he would converse with my father quite frequently and he looked me in my eyes and he said son I don't know where your father is I don't know what happened but I do want to tell you one thing today is Hanukkah and Hanukkah represents the victory of the few against the many of the righteous against the wicked of the weak against a strong and of light against darkness we are in the thicket of the greatest darkness of history your father would be so so proud of you knowing that you will live and you will allow light to defeat darkness the man's gentle voice this man said comforted me it gave me some solace and an excitement I said you know what let's light the Chanukah menorah here in Auschwitz the man smiled it was a smile that camouflaged deep grief and he said it's too dangerous to try this is not a place to light the Chanukah menorah but I was so enthusiastic I was so excited about it I told him you know what I'm going to get oil I'm going to go to the factory and get machine oil and we're going to light the menorah and I ran to the factory and I obtained a little oil and I came back to the barrack and it allowed me for a few moments to forget my my grief and the horror I was in and this man from one of the uniforms managed to get a wick a few weeks we had wicks we had oil and now we needed fire I saw that at the end of one of the buildings there were smoldering cinders so we made up that at the time when you have to light the candles in the evening after dusk we would go and get some fire and light our Hanukkah menorah is also more quiet it wouldn't be those so dangerous in the opportune time my older friend and I went out of our barrack and we went towards the cinders to get some fire to light our Chanukah menorah an SS guard caught us we knew him he was sadistic he was ruthless he was barbaric he began hollering at us cursing us he snatched the wicks and the oil and at that moment it looked like a miracle happened a superior of his barked a command and he had to follow him we were relieved but not for long he turned around and he said I will soon be back to get you he went off I was terrified I was trembling I thought it's over the older gentleman was serene he was gone we returned back to the Baron he looked at me and he said words I never forgot and I will never forget till the end of my life and these were the words he told me tonight we performed a miracle that was far greater than the Hanukkah miracle you see the Hanukkah miracle they had oil and the oil didn't last for more than one night and it burned for eight nights but they had a menorah they had oil they had a wick and they had a fire here in Auschwitz we perform the greater miracle we managed to light a menorah without oil without a wick and without a flame I call it the ninth invisible flame the Hanukkah menorah consists of eight candles but tonight we lit the ninth flame that is so deep and so real it's invisible you're going to come out of this hell alive and wherever you go I want you to tell the world and I want you to tell God that we perform the miracle much greater than the Hanukkah miracle here in the hell of a shoe 'it's in the deepest darkness of auschwitz the fire and the flame of the human spirit and the Jewish spirit could not be extinguished my child don't you think we did not Kindle a flame we did Kindle a flame it was the ninth flame and it was deeper than any flame that has been kindled in Jewish history I want you to hold on to this flame of hope of passion of love and of light that we Kindle tonight take it with you when you leave ouch wits take it with you wherever you go share it with people share it with the world and whenever you meet somebody who was in the spear tell them about this flame that we lit in Auschwitz tell them about the flame that is inextinguishable and the fire that could never die and when he finished these words this man says the SS guard who caught us came back he walk into the barrack he took this man out behind the barrack I managed to escape a few weeks later January 27th 1945 the Soviets liberated Auschwitz and I am here to tell the story about the menorah we lit or tried to light Hanukkah 1944 in Auschwitz Birkenau friends last Chanukah I took a group of approximately 60 secular Jewish students from campuses and universities around the United States of America for a trip to Poland we also visited Auschwitz it was Chanukah it was a freezing cold day I tell you was freezing were like 20 below zero we were dressed in coats and in front of one of the barracks I asked two grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who were in Auschwitz to come light the menorah it wasn't easy to light the menorah and the stormy winds but we managed to get one or two candles lit and then they asked me the students asked me to share a few words what words can I share in that place and I remembered this story that my brother heard from this survivor and I shared with them the story and when I finished telling them the story I said my dear students I'm telling you the story because I want you to know too what type of people you belong I want you to understand from what people you come I want you to know who you belong to you belong to a people who manage to light a candle of hope a flame of love a flame of faith of commitment of passion even in the darkest and thickest of nights and I want you to take this menorah with you wherever you go share with everybody this power of hope and light become ambassadors of Yiddish guide become ambassadors of love light and hope to the entire world and teach every person even those who look at their lives and they see no wick no flame no oil and no menorah people who have been hurt or abused and they look at their lives and they see no potential for illumination for luminescence for brightness teach them this lesson your flame never dies Happy Hanukkah [Music] this class is brought to you by the achieve Annette please help us continue the classes make even a small contribution at triple w dot they ueshiba net / donate