Gadlus!!!

Just a small snippit regarding R' Dov Lior's escape from the Shoah and what greatness means.

Yom HaShoah -- was the Holocaust unique among Jewish tragedies?

Last year I raised the question of whether the Shoah was unique among Jewish tragedies or "just" one more event on the long list of Jewish tragedies that began with the churban and continued through crusades, inquisitions, pogroms. Those who would argue against establishing a seperate Yom haShoah would most likely take the latter view, e.g. R' Soloveitchik held that 9 Av is the day of mourning for all Jewish tragedies down through the ages and the Shoah should be mourned in that context. Before this year I had not been aware that the Piecezna Rebbe, R' Klonamus Kalmish, who died in the Warsaw Ghetto, clearly took the former position. He writes in Aish Kodesh (Chanukah 1942) that he cannot understand why a Jew who learned in gemara or Midrash of the great Jewish tragedies and was untroubled by questions of faith now finds himself in religious crisis, "for those who say that suffering like ours never happened to the Jewish people are mistaken, as in the Churban and destruction of Beiter there was similar suffering..." That line is footnoted with the following -- "This applied to the sufferings we saw until 1942, but based on my knowledge of Chazal and Jewish history, the abnormal suffering, the abnormal and evil death which the evildoes have created and brought upon the Jewish people from 1942 onward, is unprecedented. May G-d have mercy and save us speedily." The footnote is dated Erev Shabbos Kodesh, 18 Kislev. The fact that this appears as a footnote, that there is a "hava amina" and a "maskana" to this discussion, is itself fascinating, but more over, we should not forget the context of the quote -- are questions of faith justifiable in light of the Holocaust? The Piecezna in the body of the text does not offer easy answers to the question of theodicy -- the comfort he offers is the historical lesson that our people have survived and outlived past suffering in many other circumstances with unwavering faith. The footnote is an acknowledgment that this faith which stood us in good stead in coping with past suffering is perhaps alone insufficient when considering the unique persecutions of the Holocaust.

theological response to the Shoah

Cross Currents raises the question (link) of whether the Shoah is sui generis or simply one of many tragedies to befall the Jewish people through the ages. As the article notes, some prefer the term “Churban” to "Shoah" or "Holocaust" because it connotes continuity with other events in Jewish history. For those opposed to creating a unique Yom haShoah, 10 Teves is an opportunity to mourn the Churban/Shoah in the context of other tragedies.

By coincidence, I recently came across the following words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (VaYechi 5751). Aside from his use of the term Shoah, the implicit recognition of the Holocaust as a sui generis event (except perhaps the churban habayis itself), the Rebbe’s theological approach to the tragedy is worth taking note of:

ישנם עמינים בלתי-רצויים שאינם באים בתור עונש על עונות כי אם מפני שכך גזר הקב״ה ללא טעם והסברה כלל בשכל וחכמת התורה. ובלשון חז״ל...״שתוק כך עלה במחשבה לפני״, ״גזירה היא לפני״

ובנד״ד: השמדת ששה מליון יהודים באכזריות הכי גדולה ונוראה - שואה איומה שלא היתה (ולא תהי׳ ר״ל) דוגמתה במשך כל הדורות - לא יכולה להיות בתור עונש על עונות, שכן אפילו השטן עצמו לא יוכל למצוא חשבון עונות בדור ההוא שיהי׳ בו כדי להצדיק ח״ו עונש חמור כזה
!
אין לנו שום הסבר וביאור (ע״פ חכמת התורה) כלל וכלל על השואה, כי אם ידיעת העובדה ש״כך עלה במחשבה לפני״... ובודאי ובודאי לא הסבר דעונש על עונות.

In other words: while we are all familiar with the “mipnei chataeinu” approach which connects tragedy to sin, there are events which cannot be understood using that model. For example, the angels complained to G-d that Rabbi Akiva was unworthy of death – his suffering could not be ascribed to any sin for which he was guilty of (Menachos 29). G-d responded that the explanation for Rabbi Akiva’s death was held in G-d’s own thoughts. We are not privy to the reasons for such matters – G-d’s inner thought is not revealed - and can say no more than such is G-d’s unfathomable will.

The death of six million is such an event. Even Satan himself could not find enough sins in that generation to justify the horrific fate which those who perished suffered. We have no explanation for what occurred other than to say such is G-d’s unfathomable will – but certainly, our sins alone cannot explain such a tragedy.

Yom haShoah

Today, as hopefully most of you know, is Yom haShoah. Now, I agree that there is room to debate from a halachic perspective whether such a day is necessary when we already have 9 Av. (It does strike me as ironic to argue that no mourning period can be designated apart from 9 Av in the midst of sefirah, itself a distinct mourning period.) However, the bottom line is such a day does exist, so ex post facto the debate is moot. To ignore the day risks causing ill will that far outweighs any gain. I think it is a bit disingenuous to think that 9 Av in a typical summer camp is given over to real reflection on the Holocaust. Yes, a kinah or two is added at the end, but that does not do justice to the topic in the way a day like today can. The Holocaust is rightly understood as one of the two defining events of 20th century Jewish life (the other being the creation of the State of Israel), and in fact, an event of unparalleled magnitude in modern world history. I recall when we lived in NJ that even the secular school system had a requirement that the Holocaust be taught as part of the curriculum (I do not know if the same holds true in NY State). Since our students learn world history anyway, why should we also not take the opportunity to use this day for Holocaust study and remembrance?