Tefillah During the Shoah | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | April 14th 2026

Yes, thank you of Jeremy and thank you of Jeremy for all that you do uh to keep these uh these shirim this sharim going. Um it is really great to see everybody in person. Um it's been a long time since we had the opportunity to to learn together certainly in person. Um before I begin this my my sheer is sponsored by Hedi and Ben Lipshits. So thank you to the Lipchitses for for your sponsorship. Um, I hope that everybody had a meaningful. Um, and uh I I I would say get getting back to routine, but I think living here everyone knows that it's I would call it semi- routine. Maybe routine. Uh unclear if it's routine. We don't the new norm. Well, we don't even know we don't even know the new norm even means yet. So, we'll we'll see. Hashem, uh, as always, we uh we dive in that our learning together today should be as forem a protection form. um should be for all those who are injured and all those families who are affected by the war and of course we also dive in that our learning should be nishmat all of those uh who perished in the in the shaah um what I wanted to do today because it is yawah and that the actual siren falls out during my shure um I wanted to do something that I think that that I felt that that is connected to the shaah um of course I also wanted to make sure that it was connected to filah in some way but I felt that just moving on and doing a regular tila class um wouldn't be the best way to commemorate. So I've tried to find something that I felt would be um that could combine our our lim of together with uh together with something that commemorates the sha. What we're going to do today is something a little bit different. We're going to be going through a number of shimot response is the proper English term that is usually given. Um questions that were asked during the shawah itself to um to the rv of the kavna ghetto. His name was Raafry Oshri um and he was the RV of the of the of of the of the Kavna ghetto in the 1940s or really the ghetto in the 1940s during during the Shawah. Uh now just a quick word about shay vuvot and a quick word about these specific responses for those who are not familiar are response questions that are that are that are that were asked of Rabanim. And as opposed to just giving the answer, very often many rabbis would then give the answer, but they would also write and print their logic and the entire research they did in giving in in the giving of the answer in order for us to be able to see their thought process, understand the sources. And it's a very powerful way and a wonderful way to get to see rabbitic thought in progress to see how how rabbis come to conclusions. Very often in in our world, we see just the the final the final pak. We don't always get an understanding for how Raban get to the conclusions that they often do. Some answers are easy, some are much more detailed and and responsi rabbis come to the conclusions that they often do by understanding and seeing the sources. U the challenge some sometimes comes with with learning response is that most questions or shord are very specific. Okay. Okay. When a when a when someone asks the RV a question and the RV then shares his thought process that's not necessarily meant to then be taken as a that should be applied in all of our situations. That was a specific that was a specific that was given to a specific person in a unique situation. And and therefore, while it's meaningful to learn, use us as an opportunity to learn Torah and to understand the theic process, it's important to know that we are not meant to necessarily pusin for our own situations based on these specific respons. These are just simply opportunities for us to learn and to and to understand more uh about about the process. But when it comes to response from the sha and specifically the response that we're going to be going through today, the the name of the is called right from the depths. The meaning I'm obviously is referring to the depths of of pain and as it's really a double antandre. It it means on the one hand the pain uh uh of of the holocaust but also probably as I understand it probably refers to the depths of Torah and the depths of gura as we're going to hear soon uh the tremendous gura because when we learn these questions and as we're going to go through these questions and answers the goal here isn't simply as it is normally with responsive to understand the process. What we're going to also get a glimpse of is the tremendous gur the tremendous strength of the Jews during the Holocaust. The fact that they asked these questions as we will see is mindboggling. Okay. And yashawa today as we as many of us know is not just called yashawa. It's called yomash because we don't just commemorate those who perished. also think about the tremendous gura that they showed each in their own way in how they responded to the challenges that they faced during the Holocaust. And by learning hearing the question and hearing the way that Ra Oshri writes his chuvot, it gives us a glimpse into the the tremendous tremendous sensitivity to halaka and Torah that the communities had despite the unimaginable challenges that they that they were facing. And so that's why I I I I wanted I wanted to to do this today because from in my to my mind it's one of the most powerful ways to commemorate Yamashawa is to not just commemorate those who died but to really learn and hear firsthand from these shot some of the questions they were asking and understand the power of who they were. >> Will these send to him by mail or was he >> No, I'm going to I'm going to explain that right now. I'm going to I'm going to read to you a little bit of history that's that's published right now. So So where did where did these questions come from? So I'm going to read just just read to you a little bit that was um published. Um the most comprehensive collection of Holocaust error responses was written by Rafim Oshri in the Kavnog ghetto between June 1941 and August 1944. He wrote these response on scraps of paper buried them in the ground and then later came back and reclaimed them. Now, now, so these were actually given these weren't just mailed to him. They were said to him, meaning this was all questions. He was the rv of the covento. And these were questions that were people approached him and asked these questions during the war while the community was in the ghetto wanting to know how do I deal with this situation? How do I deal with this situation? And how do I deal with this? So, these were actual questions that were asked to him in in person. Now, how was he able to as we're going to see some of the questions are, you know, the the tremendous knowledge that he had to have in order to answer these questions cuz again, he wasn't like sitting in his office with his uh with his base major. So, how was he right the ghetto meant that people were displaced, they were moved into areas. It was it was there was a lack of space. He wasn't sitting there, you know, with with all of his he didn't he didn't have baron uh you know, disc at his at his disposal. What was fascinating was was that the Nazis put Roshri in charge of a warehouse. Again, not on purpose they did it, but they put him in charge of a warehouse that housed many of the that had been collected in the Kavna ghetto. And that they therefore gave him access to that he normally would not necessarily have had access to in a regular in a regular ghetto situation. And therefore, aside from obviously his tremendous knowledge and whatever he had learned, he also did have access to the or to many that enabled him to then be able to uh write these chuvot and and and answer and answer the chuvote in the way in the way that he did. >> Um he survived they want to kill him. >> Well again that's an excellent excellent question. I don't know the specifics. You mean him meaning I don't know the specifics of how he survived with every story of survival there's always stories about how exactly he specifically survived we don't I mean I'm sure was hashka and and and and many different definition >> yes 100% 100% uh whether they recognized that he was the r of the of the of the of of meaning the fact that he was the r of the cno wasn't an official appointment he was just the r of the community whether or not the nazis knew his position and who he was I don't know Yes 100% 100%. Now what's fascinating is that Roashri then he survived and he actually moved to New York and he published these when he was when he was in New York he lived in Muny I think he passed away in 2003 if not if I'm not mistaken and then and there it's four four books four volumes of respons all in Hebrew what I brought you is an English translation some of them were published in English uh meaning what happened was they were all they were all printed in Hebrew regular vuvot like all classic old anyone's ever seen shuvot has same that same style years later um many of them were amended and translated and published in published in English in English as well. And so what I wanted to do today is I picked ones that were specifically connected to um to read the questions with you to go through his responses and I brought for some for some of his responses I brought some of the primary sources as well to go through and this way we'll we'll learn something about while also gaining a greater appreciation for uh for for for for the for the Jews in the Holocaust and for Shri and his tremendous his tremendous knowledge as well. And of course as as Ray Plo mentioned at 10 o'clock when we do have the siren we'll stop uh everyone is invited to if they feel comfortable to stand up uh and to commemorate and however you feel comfortable stand silently say to him whatever you want to do and we will then uh continue after after the the siren goes off but this way we can create hopefully a meaningful framework for for the siren. So the first question I brought you here as I think one of the most jarring okay we'll read we'll read it read it together inside uh source source number one during morning prayers we're in question reach the blessing but blessed are you Lord our God shalom who has not made me a slave and shouted bitterly to the master of all masters. How can I recite the blessing of a free man? How can a hungry slave, repeatedly abused and demeaned, praise his creator by uttering, who has not made me a slave? I was then asked the Torah ruling on this question. Should the blessing be omitted because it seemed to be a travesty, in which case it would be forbidden to recite it, or was it forbidden to alter or skip any part of the prayer text established by our sages? Now, just to be clear, obviously, I want to make it clear anyone who on a personal level didn't feel comfortable saying this to that is a personal decision that each person made. But the fact that he didn't just ask this question but then they turn to the rav and they said rabbi what do you think right very often someone in in in a in in most situations would say I can't say this and then they would just go on and decide not to do it but here you have the community that feels so strongly about about the text of and the halaka and they say I want to do right I want to do what I'm supposed to do so they turned to the and they said what should we do this doesn't seem to make sense to us to be appropriate to be said during the holocaust in our current situation but yet I what does the have to say about that. The fact that they even asked that question to me is mind-boggling. And this was his response. This question has already been discussed by the great authorities, foremost among them, the the David Avu Draam. Well, actually now use that as an opportunity to skip to source number two. If you look now at the bottom of your page, I brought for you the Avraham. The Au Rahab was an early was a was an early commentator and he has a safer that he goes through the text of the we actually quoted him a couple of times already in some of our learning that we've done so far and he goes through the text of the and often comments on the various parts of the of the look what look what the of asks shali so first he says well there is a dual question I was asked he says first of If someone is a convert, should they say the braha shalani? They were made into a nonju. They were a nonju. So is it appropriate them for them to say shalani vavoy? And somebody who's taken captive shalani. Should they be should they say shalani of after all right now they are a captive. They're a slave. Should they say that? And this was the answer that the other drum quotes. The doesn't refer to your current status. It refers to how you were born. When you were born, what were you born as? Okay. And therefore he says a a someone who converts was born a non-Jew and therefore says the quoting the Rama they should not make the because even though right now they are Jewish because they were born is a reference apparently to how I was created says therefore they shouldn't say that they shouldn't say because they were created okay the only person who should say is somebody who was born with what we call kushhati is born as a Jew. What about shave? Now again that's interesting but not not our not our not our case right now. boy. Somebody who was taken captive, he should say. Why is there two potential reasons that we could have given for why we for the of it could be because if we're slaves, we're limited in the things that we can do. Okay? when I'm a slave, I don't have control over my time. I don't have control over my actions. That's the that's how we would have thought to understand it. And in which case, if I'm now in captive and I don't have control over those things, maybe I shouldn't say the shal because I am now like an e but says that's not the idea. The reason why invid says shal is not because he can't control his time is because there's another aspect to that's limiting and that is in is not init and says when we talk about we say again we'll get into this more when we talk about these what these are about is not about status and it's not about control over my actions it's about obligation or opportunity in mitzvot and he says therefore a guy has no mitzvoted if you're is more limited certainly if also you're more limited in the mitzvot that you're obligated in a woman is is even is even obligated even in less mitzvot and that's what these are about is recognizing that mitzvot are an opportunity to connect to a bar and being in he is limiting in that in that way and therefore says the draan if somebody is ace captive Which means on the one hand they have less control over their physical what what they do right now but they're still in terms of who they are obligated in mitzvot and I think the way that I would say it is free from a spiritual perspective then that person should still say the that's what he says because an is not in the same way that a person is based off of that let's go back now to the response that Rav Oshri gives to this person. Yes. >> We're not supposed to be there. >> Oh, okay. So, again, you're right. There is an idea that we're not supposed to the word if I think of the right word. I can't think of the right word. Excuse me. I can't think of the right English. But we're not supposed to remind them and we're not supposed to. So again here this isn't about saying ah I remember when you were this is just telling him that this specific brah shouldn't apply doesn't does doesn't does not apply to me it's a good question I saying that could be a daily reminder of the fact that he converted I don't think that we're not allowed to remind him that he converted I think we're not supposed to like look down upon him or or say things in a negative way because of his past and that's considered l to afflict I think that's the word lano just basically means we're not supposed to use his past as a way to demean him or or or anything like that but then there's a specific bra that refers to the way that we were born or the way that we were created. Um, and in this specific case, I it's an interesting question. I hear what you're saying, but I don't think that necessarily qualifies as in the way that in the way that the Torah prohibits it. Okay, let's go back to the response. This question has already been discussed by the great authorities, foremost among them Au Jaham, who wrote regarding the blessing who has not made me a slave, whether a captive should recite the blessing who has not made me a slave. He wrote that the blessing was not instituted because of physical servitude. That is, the blessing is not recited merely because one is not required to perform slave labor like servants. Rather, the essence of the blessing is that a Canaanite slave is not fit to enter the congregation and is exempt from commandments. Therefore, a Jewish captive is certainly obligated in this blessing. Meaning if the braha is not about physical subjugation but is about spiritual freedom and that's the reason why we say that an eb shouldn't say it. So he said the same thing should be here in this case even though from a practical physical perspective we're limited in our minds we still have the ability to do certain obviously we can all there's the limit to what they can do and they're in the holocaust but they were they were spiritually quote unquote free in their mind accordingly. Look at the second paragraph. It follows that the essence of this blessing was established not regarding physical liberty but regarding spiritual liberty as expressed in the case of the Canaanite slave who is not fit for the commandments and is not fit to enter the congregation. But a Jew who is obligated in the commandments even when he is held captive is still able to fulfill the commandments and if he is unable to fulfill them because of coercion let's say there are certain mitzvot he can't do right a person can't well we'll get to fill in hopefully soon but a person can't do filling because he can't because they'll beat him that's called then he then he is called anus if a person can't do something because of coercion then he's exempt from the mitzvot so you have so whatever mitzvah he can do the obligation still exists, he still has the opportunity to connect. Nevertheless, in terms of hisic status, he remains obligated in the commandments and is still called one who is bound by mitzvot. Now, again, seeing that that's that's a privilege in the mind of a rush. That's not a that's not a challenge. That's something positive. Therefore, he certainly recites this blessing even when he is under siege and in captivity. But here's what I think is the most important part. Look at the next paragraph. Therefore, I said to those who asked me that he heaven forbid they should cancel this blessing which was instituted by our rabbis. On the contrary, specifically now, it is our obligation to recite this blessing so that our enemies and persecutors may recognize that although we are in their hands to do to us as they desire in their evil way, nevertheless, we still see ourselves as free people who are under siege and in captivity. and our salvation is near to come and our redemption is soon to be revealed. So says Raashri, not only should we are we allowed to say this but we should because we need to show the the Nazis and I would even say maybe he would add ourselves that despite the physical limitations that we have, we still are spiritually free. We still have within ourselves the ability to to to to make certain decisions and to control certain things. Again, it comes to mind a lot of the things that Victor Victor Frankle wrote in his in in in his book and we've seen this in many different people have written that despite I think I think if I remember correctly even Nathan Sharansky would talk about this during his time in the in in right in jail that he wanted to show his capttors that even though they controlled him physically they did not control him emotionally and spiritually and and there Yes. And there and the hostages as well. Thank you. Correct. 100%. You're right. And and we saw that in one of the many of the things that the hostages spoke about u and that it's all a lot of this is about is a mindset and therefore says it's important that we try to now again remember somebody of course we're saying if somebody emotionally couldn't get themselves to say this we're not judging anything but from a perspective the the obligation or the application still existed and it was and and there was an effort to do this in order to encourage them to hopefully uh feel feel better. Now when I when I when I saw this this chuva, it reminded me and I was thinking about how appropriate this concept or this distinction between physical freedom and spiritual freedom is so relevant to the kag that we just celebrated in the kag of pes the concept that and again I want to highlight this actually if I brought for you here uh um a uh excerpt from my father's book on safer shimote because one of the interesting things that that is discussed when it comes to and Pesak night and this is one of the questions that my father my father asked is it's very interesting what we celebrate on Pesak night if we were to ourselves have put together a to celebrate the exodus the leaving of Egypt when would we have celebrated that commemoration to take place the next day or on the you could argue on the seventh okay but or at the very least on the 15th midday which is what which is what happened that day when they actually left that's when they left Egypt. They left Egypt the next day. When do we celebrate or commemorate Pesak the night before? They hadn't even left yet. What were the Jews doing the night before? They were sitting in Egypt having a meal. What we call the Corban Pesak, the Kuran Pesak Mitz. It's a bit funny that we don't celebrate the Exodus on the at the moment that they actually exited Egypt. Why are we celebrating Pesak the night before before they actually even left? And so one of the there's many different suggestions to this answers to this question, but one of the most important ones and my father writes about if you look at source number three is the difference between what we would call in in in in Judaism drawer which is physical liberty, physical freedom and which is actually more spiritual freedom. Look at source number three. God's insistence that the ritual be performed on the night before the physical exodus from Egypt highlights the difference between two dimensions of freedom in Jewish thought. Draw liberty the removal of external constraints physical or otherwise that impede an individual's personal choice and independent action. And two freedom the injection of positive purpose and value into one's life. One can be at liberty and yet not be free. One can be free even though he is not at liberty. While surrounded by the darkness of Egyptian servitude even before their liberty is achieved, the Israelites are commanded to declare their kirut by setting aside a lamb, the god of Egypt on the 10th day of Nissan by publicly waiting 4 days and then slaughtering and consuming that lamb on Pesak Eve. The Israelites demonstrate that they are already free from Egypt and the Egyptians. On the night before the exodus through the Corb Pesak, the Israelites attain their freedom. And so what my father has highlighted here is the same idea that there is a distinction between physical freedom. It's true they didn't leave the next their actual physical freedom what we were called draw they they they they they received the next day but what we're celebrating is in their minds when they became free and when they became free was the moment they slaughtered the pesaf they took the god of the Egyptians and said you don't control me anymore at that moment the kut began and that's what we commemorate because to us the most important thing is not always our physical freedom but is our spiritual freedom especially as a people that have experienced what we have experienced over the generations where our physical liberty, our physical freedom was very often limited, we had to always remind ourselves that most important is our spiritual freedom is our our psychological freedom. And that's what we commemorate every year on on Pesak night. So that was one chuva that I wanted to do with you. The next one is also really a beautiful chuva. Again, uh you know in deciding how much to because very often most of these English the chuva could be very long. the questions could be long and the answers could be long and I tried to kind of break them down and only bring the most important aspects. We didn't sit here reading just pages and pages but sometimes the way that the describes the questions here are just so beautiful. Um and here's an example. Look at source number four. This is a question that was asked um to him by a boy who was before bar mitzvah in the ghetto hell. We're in source number four a question. In the ghetto hell, we discovered that the main design of the Germans was to strip away our divine image and to show the world that Jews were a subhuban species whose blood could be shed with fear of punishment. That killing a Jew was like killing a fly. Not only had no crime been committed, but you had done the world a favor by getting rid of a troublesome creature. Part of their overall plan to develop a smooth running machine for the annihilation of the Jews was the effort to instill in their victims a spirit of dispondency so pervasive and deep that it would destroy whatever sense of hope we Jews might have and leave nothing but broken shells to be led like cattle and sheep to the slaughter. That is why I took upon myself to encourage and inspire the brokenhearted to inject within them a spoke a spark of hope. the belief that Hashem, the God of the Jews, would turn away his fury, heed our prayers, and not leave us in the hands of our enemies. I organized a group of boys called Tiferis Bakim whom I taught Torah and fear of God, implanting in them the seeds for eternal living that would sprout from doing God's will wholeheartedly. Among the boys in the Tepheris Bakim was an extraordinary boy from Kavno named Sherishvki, who dedicated himself totally to the study of Torah. Even though he was not yet bar mitzvah, he was as precise as an adult in his fulfillment of mitzvah. This extraordinary boy asked me if he might be permitted to dance fill in despite the fact that his bar mitzvah was three months away. Okay, so for many of many of you are familiar with the idea that that there's a minhug to or a custom uh to put fill in that that bar mitzvah starts to put on fill in a month before a week before. There's different hugs. Some only do it a day before. The idea is to get him used to putting on fill in so that when he's barit he knows how to how to do it already. Here the boy was asking if he could do it even earlier than the the classic one month. When I fathomed the simple sincerity of this boy's request, dear tears gushed from my eyes. I could not help studying the words of Prophet Yahu, who would grant that my head be watered, my eyes a source of tears that I could day and night bewail the dead of my nation. For death has come up in our windows, has entered our house to destroy the youth outside, our chosen ones from the streets. Now, what's he highlighting? Why was this boy asking this question? Why was it so important to him that now if he's gonna be bar mitzvah in three months, why not wait two more months and then put on fill like he was supposed to? Why is he asking to put on fill earlier? >> He might not make it. He might not be alive. That is the reality that they were all living. Here you have a young boy who so badly wants to have the opportunity to put on fill in that he's asking to do it earlier than normal so that he can be Zohan to have the mitzvah. I ruled. This is now the response. I ruled a precious child who had such a great desire to merit the privilege of fulfilling this mitzvah because he feared that he might not live fulfill it if he waited to reach 13 certainly had authorization for dawning fillin. I relied on the opinions that permit a minor to dawn fillin if he knows how to guard them in cleanliness. Now just a bit of background. What is the reason that a katan someone who is below the age of barit does not wear fillin? So there's different reasons that are suggested, but the mainstream opinion is the reason why a katan does not wear fillin is because he cannot be careful with his body. A person who is wearing fillin is not meant to pass gas, certainly not to go to the bathroom. And therefore, we're concerned that a child who's below the age of bar mitzvah cannot has less control over his bodily functions and therefore it's not appropriate. It's it's a biz for him to wearin. So it says there is there are some who say that if we have a katan who we know to be someone who's under he's generally more mature he's emotionally mature and we believe that he is someone who can have more control over his bodily functions then there's nothing wrong with having him put on fill in before his bar mitzvah this was certainly I'm now in the middle of that paragraph this was certainly applicable to the sherishky boy who had already demonstrated his fear of god and was a tomid student aware and capable of maintaining the degree of b bodily cleanliness regarded required to Don Fillin. Moreover, since he was ah one second moreover since he was three months short of his 13th birthday, I relied on the prevailing custom that a boy dons fill in two or three months. There there are some who have the minuck that they wear it even 3 months before. So you can put all that together and allow him to do this. Okay, but here's the problem. What's going to happen if he is standing there in a minion? He's in a shul. You just ask the question, does he count for a minion? Can can a boy who is a month before mitzvah count for a minion? No. He has to be mitzvah. So what's going to happen? There's a concern here that if he's in the minion, he's in shul and the the beginning of shul and sometimes you may have heard of this idea that sometimes the beginning of when shul first starts it's hard to get 10 men for the minion and people come a little bit late. So they're all going to be counting who's here and they might assume that because he's wearing fing mitzvah. So Cesar Vashri although I had ruled he might don fill it even though he was still a minor I warned him that if he should find himself with nine other Jews who wish to count him as a 10th for a minion he was obligated to let them know that he was not yet old enough to be counted in the minion. So he said even though I'm letting you wear it fillin make sure that you pay attention that if anyone tries to count you for the minion you let them know that you're not over bar mitzvah that's that's the only other concern with letting him wear it fillin and he concludes new edicts by the German taskmasters were issued against us every day especially upon Jewish children who could assure that this boy would ever who could assure this would ever reach the age of 13 fulfill the mitzvah this was why he could not wait to donate okay so that's again another powerful fascinating again 13-year-old coming and doing this. This is what a 13-year-old who was who was probably dying of hunger and and and and and all the things that kids want and missing all that and yet here you had a child coming and saying, "I just want to put on fill in. Do I have the opportunity to do so?" It's mind-blowing. Really really mind-boggling. Next question. Again, a different a different a different approach, a different uh kun here, but I think a very very interesting question. During the days of affliction, when the occursed Germans, we're in source number five now, mercilelessly annihilated young and old men and women, the Lithuanian Gentiles with whom the Jews had lived for hundreds of years, conspired with the German murderers to kill Jews and loot their property. Right? Of course, there were many people who were not quote unquote innocent bystanders. Even those who were not members of the Nazi, they conspired with the Nazis to kill the Jews, to loot their to loot their property, etc. They sought out the Jews wherever they were hiding and whenever they caught one immediately handed over to the Germans who proceeded to torture and kill him. Despite the violent hatred that the Gentiles had for the Jews, a hatred which the Germans fanned into a flame of vengeance. There were among them unique individuals who were anguished by the cruelty committed against Jews and would not sit by doing nothing. Whatever they did though was done at an enormous risk because the Germans immediately shot anyone they suspected of aiding Jews. So right there were we what we call um am right the pi righteous amongst the nations who were involved in saving Jews. We know that that did happen. Nevertheless, such people existed and they saved Jews at whatever cost. In 1945, shortly after our liberation, Reb Mosha Seagull came to me with the following question. He had been saved by a gentile woman who had enormous risk to herself had hidden him in their basement together with 10 other Jews, providing them all with food and shelter until the liberation. After the war, when these Jews wanted to repay her in some way for her great compassion, they discovered to their deep sorrow that she had died right after the liberation. The idea took root in their minds to say kadesh for her and Raosha seagull was chosen for the task. The question was, was it permissible to say kadesh for a gentile? Is it permissible for me for me, let somebody who feels that my life was saved by a righteous gentile to say the of kades? cottage as we know is the file that we say for loved ones that have perished in their memory in order to dive in for their souls. Is it appropriate to do that for a gentile? Now obviously this is a a packed question emotionally and halically in terms of I'm sure many people are are are reacting to this question in many different ways. Maybe also based on our association with Kadesh and how we feel towards Kadesh and and and our own life experiences and how we look towards the Holocaust a little bit. This is the fact that this question was asked again shows something amazing about the people and shows something amazing about about the group. Now what I want to share with you is to see some of the response. Again this was a this happens to have been a long a long response. Um but I want I want to go through parts of it because I think some of it is is is important. Look at the response. Now the very essence of kadesh its meaning and its content is that of a prayer. Meaning what is kadesh? Kadesh is eight. kind of say that though we ask for Hashem that he should grant certain type of you want to call it salvation or or of to the soul of the of the departed. There there it is recounted concerning the appointment again if you historically he points out here that it's very interesting that historically when Rabin Nassan who is one of the one of the in was appointed as the gala that when the caner said kadesh they would add because the kadesh says means in your life and in your days and the lives now who is that referring to that's referring to God as long as God exists which is forever But there were and we also say is apparently there were communities that at times when they had certain great leaders they would also add that person. So for example in this was a a tradition that was it's not mentioned in the gumar but the tradition was that when Rabbi Nassan was appointed as gala they would add in gaan and then and apparently the same thing was done for the raam. Apparently there were certain communities out of respect and out of thanks for the Rambam they would add Rabenu Moshe Benm. So the point was that we already see that there were people who were willing to that there were communities that instituted or included different things into into the into the kadesh. So what we see is that kadesh is mainly at we also know we also have tradition says Rushri that in many different places we are meant to davin for other communities and other kingdoms around us. Okay, if you go down now to the bottom of the page, source number six, source number six is you of lamar. Who is carvona? Carvona was a funny character in the migilla who ultimately was the one who suggested that hangman he was not Jewish and yet whenever we mention his name we always say even though someone was not Jewish we still mention them and we d that they should be that they should be mentioned in kindness. Okay. If you look at source number seven, going to the next page for one second, there's also a source for the idea points out that oh there also is an idea in that we're supposed to for the kingdom or the community that which we live because otherwise there would be anarchy. There would be total chaos. And in fact, if you look at source number eight, the uh the Bira the the Meri in his commentary points out that this isn't just referring to Jewish Malus. This is referring to non-Jewish Musl meaning >> one minute. Thank you. This is referring to Jew the not to non-Jewish malus. This is referring to the non-Jewish kingdom that were meant to dav in for them. And therefore again I want just to just to finish this basically Rav Ori without going into all the detail because we have more to do after this. He basically concludes that it would that it it is totally fine and appropriate for this Jewish person to say kadesh for this non-Jewish gentile because of what she did and because she saved the lives of of these people. And he even brings a source. It's it's it's a whole he he discusses another situation. What happens if if someone converts and he wants to say kadesh for his non-Jewish parent? Is he allowed to? Should he shouldn't he? He gets into that discussion as well. And even there the general pak is he is allowed to as I understand at least based on what rover says he is allowed to uh to say kadesh for the non-Jewish person. So says Rashri based on that pak it is certainly okay and appropriate. Okay. Um so just to even um conclude this this chuva if you look uh the page we were on we'll read we'll read the last the last two paragraphs of this chuva so you can see the final pak of roshri. This uh the final two paragraphs of source number five says, "Now all the more so regarding this non-Jewish woman that were it not for the great kindness she did for the Jews in saving them from death so the wicked cursed oppressors would not swallow them alive. Certainly it is a mitzvah to pray on her behalf after her death and to say kadesh for the whole essence of Kadesh's prayer as we have demonstrated. Therefore I granted permission to Mosha Seagull mentioning mentioned above to say kadesh after this non-Jewish woman who rescued his soul from death and his life from descending into the pit. And may he who bestows good kindness upon his people, Israel, bestow good kindness upon the righteous amongst the nations who risk their lives in saving Israel. We'll just we'll end with that. So that is that was the that was the final pock that he that he had given. Uh moving on, I think we have two more. We'll see if we're able to do both of them. Two other again really I think incredible incredible chuvote or incredible questions and then and then chuvote. This is really also another another tough one. We're in source number nine. When our people fell into the hands of an enemy with none to help them, fears indeed and thought visited us in distress. For we had become exhausted for bearing the anger and wrath poured upon us from above. Our souls were consumed and bowed down, seeking a redeemer and delivered from deliverance from the pit. For our strength had failed us to bear bear the burden and the breaking and we truly thought that the Lord had delivered us into hands from whom which we could not rise. Now this is an important part. He's basically saying that the mentality of many people was they were broken. They just felt broken. And this is an important introduction to the question that's about to be asked. It happened one day that a large march of forced laborers was being led to their work. It was in the days of frost and bitter cold, and who could stand before such cold, especially as those wretched people were clothed only in poor garments that did not warm them? The cursed overseers lashed them with whips and scorpions, saying, "Hurry and walk." But the feet of these dejected ones were no longer straight, for they were swollen from hunger and the strain of the path. Therefore, their feet stumbled again and again. They bent and also fell. And many of those marching did not rise again for their souls departed in affliction. Now one of the these miserable marchers whose soul had become exceedingly bitter and whose spirit had fallen within him from the abundance of faith, pain, grief, suffering and despair, excuse me, seeing the many people whose strength had failed and who were falling graasping out their souls and returning to their spirits, called out to his fellow from who was walking behind him. So one person said to the other person the following. Please my brother, if I have found favor in your eyes, do kindness and truth with me. Gather all your strength and give me a mighty push so that I may fall to the ground. And then return and push me once and twice more. Perhaps by this my strength will cease and I will remain lying upon the earth powerless and my soul will depart from within me. For my strength to endure po poverty and suffering has failed and death is better to me than life. So one guy was asking his friend to basically push him and cause him to not be able to get up and cause him to die. As he said this to his fellow again and again, the man's compassion was aroused towards him. For he said in his heart, "What gain is there in his blood whether he descends into the pit sooner or later? Truly death is better than such a life. Since this man presses me with his request, I see that it burns within him. Perhaps I would indeed be doing him kindness and truth if I fulfill this request." Obviously, there's a there's a certain um dissonance. Should I do this? Should I not do this? Obviously, doing it kills somebody. But on the one hand, maybe for this person in his state, this is what he wants and this is where he's at. Maybe I'm doing him a service. And he's asking me over and over and over again. He doesn't stop. What do I do? Therefore, he decided to fulfill the request and pushed him with all his strength once and twice. Each time the man fell full length to the ground because of these pushes until finally when they came to the place of labor, the man was so weakened and powerless that he collapsed to the ground and remained there lying without breath. After the Lord turned his face toward us and granted us salvation. So many years later after this happened years later by breaking the power of the wicked when the holy days of judgment approach at the end of the year 5704 we began making arrangements that we might pray together as a shul. Right? So it's now after they've been liberated, they're now coming together as a communion. They want to dive in for yin. We then searched for a man fit to lead the prayers on high holy days, one proper and with such a pleasant voice as is the custom in all communities of Israel from ancient times. After much searching, this very man was brought before us to be appointed as prayer for prayer leader as the as the forashiper. And this was the question. We found that in every respect he was worthy and suitable for this honorable office to stand and supplicate on behalf of the people of Israel. However, objections were raised saying that he was disqualified from serving as prayer leader under the law applying to one who has killed the soul. We're going to see soon the says that if somebody has killed another Jew, he is not fit to be certainly not. We're going to see we'll discuss the but that is the basic question. I was then asked whether this man may serve as prayer leader, whether he must undergo special repentance as you have to do chuva for what he did and whether such repentance would help so he could receive the appointment. Because it was difficult to find another cander and it was truly a time of great necessity, I was asked to delve deeply into the law and draw out a pearl of permission according to the law. They basically said, "Try to find a header because we're in a situation we really need somebody. Could this possibly be Mutar?" Again, the fact that they're asking such a question is to me mind-boggling and really just gives us a sense of the their desire despite everything to follow the as much as much as possible. Before we see the response, let's skip now to a couple of sources. Look at source number 10. the some regarding who is appropriate to be a uh um during more in general these Cairo in source number 10 says the following shots he needs to be appropriate someone who's going to represent the community needs to be appropriate the what does mean ideally he should be somebody who does not have many sins He has to have someone who has a good reputation because if he's someone who is not does not have a good reputation amongst the people then he won't be able to represent the people appropriately. He should be somebody who is humble and again accepted by the community. He has a pleasantness to him. He has a nice voice and he often reads reads through the Torah. If you can find somebody like this, please let me know. No, I'm just kidding. Uh Barak Hashem, we have wonderful people. Not all of them are fully rake of of a wrote, but have qualify in many different ways. Yes. >> This person, >> this person is an >> Well, that's the question ostensibly. We're going to see soon. This person helped this other person die. Maybe even his act might have killed them. And the question was we're going to see soon says specifically that if someone killed somebody else they are not allowed to be. >> So first of all obviously it gets into that question of euthanasia and all of that obviously yes of course but we without getting into that euthanasia is obviously a totally different world. The other question is going to be that this might have been a unique situation we're going to get delve into the but the question was he was act an active participant in somebody's death and therefore is it appropriate for him to to to be the kazan? That's the question that was asked. Okay. If you look at a bish, if somebody did an a by accident, let's say they accidentally killed somebody. Okay, a car accident that wasn't negligent. Okay, I'm using that as a just an example. And somebody died. So then maybe he shouldn't be says that but he is he does chuva. He repents for any kind for the sin and any and any source of responsibility that he might have had then he is allowed to be the okay so there is a repentance for for killing by accident you're allowed to do that then then if you do chuva you can be the let's say he killed on purpose low even if later on he does chuva for what he did he regrets it he all of that no mika shame Rakholden because a rep there will be an issue with his reputation and therefore it's what's called in the is that somebody who was active or purposely killed somebody else cannot be even if he does now again evenly it's not so clear that we pos like this if you look at the mra who is a commentary on the he says the following he says why does it why why do we need all these all of these qualifications mikra ela He says because if it was done by accident so then there's no issue. The issue is if this person is a personality who does things that he shouldn't be doing. If someone does something by accident and then he does chuva so then he could be at because he he wasn't he didn't do it on purpose. But then he continues from the middle of towards the end of the second line of the of verse 11 says from the language of the if he did it once on purpose vish and does chuva then maybe it could be allowed because it could be that if you look at the language language might mean that if you if a person kills once on purpose does that establish a pattern of behavior not necessarily so Even if a person did it by act on purpose once that might not show a pattern of behavior in which case maybe we could argue on the Rama and say that if he does full chuva he could be the okay that's just the background discussion for Raos's response. Let's go back now to Raashri's response and we will finish we'll finish with this. The rules that a prayer leader must be proper free of transgressions and without an evil reputation. The Rama writes that one who intent killed unintentionally and repented may serve as a prayer leader. But if he acted intentionally not so. From all this it appears at first glance that in our case one should forbid this man from serving since from the plain wording of the Rama it is clear that if one killed intentionally even repentance does not help. Even if the guy felt bad afterwards because the act that he did was on purpose maybe he can't be the Kazan. Okay. Uh nevertheless we'll skip I'm going to skip two paragraphs now for one second. Um actually let's skip three paragraphs. Therefore he said he points out right now one cannot classify this as straightforward deliberate murder. However he says this might not be straightforward regular murder. When we talk about murder that like that that the sharak was talking about that might be classic murder. In our case the pushed man did not die immediately. It wasn't necessar could we even say that when he pushed him he was the one who caused it. He died a little bit after he got pushed. So maybe his action wasn't even the wasn't even the wasn't even the thing that actually killed him. rather he still had strength to continue marching with the others until the work site and only afterward he collapsed. Who can say with certainty that he died because of those pushes? It is possible that even without them he would have died and then some say that maybe he would have died anyway because the Nazis would have killed them. Again, there's a lot of different shikim that were part of this conversation. What does he say in the very very end? Uh the second to last paragraph, the last two paragraphs we'll read together. However, a serious repentance must be opposed upon him before he may be appointed, since his act must still be regarded as having caused his fellow's death. Accordingly, I rule that this man must accept upon himself complete repentance, and after his repentance, he should immerse in the mikvah of purification. Indeed, after he accepted the full repentance that I instructed, he prayed on the holy days with great weeping and sighing. Among those praying were many Jewish soldiers from Russia who had come to the sh to pray together with their brothers who had been in siege and captivity. They too were greatly moved by the prayers of this caner who prayed with a broken heart and crushed spirit and with a sweet voice that stirred souls. Okay, there's one other chuva that we have here. We're not going to have time to do it right now. I love it for you. You're welcome to go through it yourself. Today is a wonderful day to really it's really again an incredible question and answer uh that I think really highlights for us as I mentioned not just Yashawa is not just Yamashua but Yamashua and it's an opportunity for us not only to commemorate those who passed away but to also commemorate their tremendous gura and just reading these questions and hearing the things that they were that were asked in the ghetto during the inhumane conditions that they faced is something that I think is a tremendous uh a tremendous um inspiration for us on this day and and and and and we hope that uh that the learning that we're doing should be a uh and for all those who perished uh during the Holocaust. Wishing everybody a meaningful day.