Comments on: Spiritual and Physical Resistance to the Nazis http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/ A Journal of Jewish Thought and Opinion Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:15:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Shira Schmidt http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-132034 Shira Schmidt Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:37:11 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-132034 See "Rabbi, Who should die first?" at https://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/848043.html This article is a very fair and respectful treatment of a new CD collection of HOlocaust reponsa. It was described by Shahar Ilan(who is usually very critical of the religious sector)in Haaretz (yes Haaretz!) in their Holocaust Memoiral Day edition. The CD is available from the same distributor who handles Esther Farbstein's Holocaust Rabbinic Prefaces. http://www.talsys.net Tal systems, Tel Aviv. See “Rabbi, Who should die first?” at https://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/848043.html
This article is a very fair and respectful treatment of a new CD collection of HOlocaust reponsa. It was described by Shahar Ilan(who is usually very critical of the religious sector)in Haaretz (yes Haaretz!) in their Holocaust Memoiral Day edition. The CD is available from the same distributor who handles Esther Farbstein’s Holocaust Rabbinic Prefaces. http://www.talsys.net Tal systems, Tel Aviv.

]]> By: Ori Pomerantz http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-130185 Ori Pomerantz Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:28:55 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-130185 Honor has many different meanings. One of them is related to the simple barbaric calculation of which victims to attack and which victims are not worth it. This honor depends primarily on the ability to fight and the willingness to fight. This was the one concept of honor the Nazis understood. When they reintroduced conscription in '35 and sent their army into the Rhineland in '36, both violations of the Versailles treaty ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler#Rearmament_and_new_alliances ), they were probing the willingness of their major enemies, the French and the British, to fight. <b>This</b> is the Jewish honor that the Warsaw rebels fought for. It was too late to change the course of the Nazis, but it may have been relevant later on. In the fifties most Arab governments allowed their Jews to escape to Israel, rather than massacre them ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_lands ). Honor has many different meanings. One of them is related to the simple barbaric calculation of which victims to attack and which victims are not worth it. This honor depends primarily on the ability to fight and the willingness to fight.

This was the one concept of honor the Nazis understood. When they reintroduced conscription in ‘35 and sent their army into the Rhineland in ‘36, both violations of the Versailles treaty ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler#Rearmament_and_new_alliances ), they were probing the willingness of their major enemies, the French and the British, to fight.

This is the Jewish honor that the Warsaw rebels fought for. It was too late to change the course of the Nazis, but it may have been relevant later on. In the fifties most Arab governments allowed their Jews to escape to Israel, rather than massacre them ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_lands ).

]]> By: Steve Brizel http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-130054 Steve Brizel Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:27:43 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-130054 The original Hebrew version of Hidden in Thunderwas published by Mossad HaRav Kook. I spent many a Shabbos and Sunday afternoon over the course of a summer in slowly disgesting this excellent work in the original. It is especially important reading for the Three Weeks if one deems Tisha BAv the proper time for mourning the victims of the Shoah or Churban Europa. I urge anyone interested in these issues to run and buy either the original or the two volume English translation. I can state that my own views on this era were transformed by this book as I resolved never to accept the view that spiritual resistance was deemed superior to physical resistance or vice versa or that the Jews of Eastewrn Europe merely went like sheep to be slaughtered R"L. I do not believe that one can talk intelligently about the role of the Torah leadership during this period without having read this very important book. The original Hebrew version of Hidden in Thunderwas published by Mossad HaRav Kook. I spent many a Shabbos and Sunday afternoon over the course of a summer in slowly disgesting this excellent work in the original. It is especially important reading for the Three Weeks if one deems Tisha BAv the proper time for mourning the victims of the Shoah or Churban Europa. I urge anyone interested in these issues to run and buy either the original or the two volume English translation. I can state that my own views on this era were transformed by this book as I resolved never to accept the view that spiritual resistance was deemed superior to physical resistance or vice versa or that the Jews of Eastewrn Europe merely went like sheep to be slaughtered R”L. I do not believe that one can talk intelligently about the role of the Torah leadership during this period without having read this very important book.

]]> By: Toby Katz http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129813 Toby Katz Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:32:58 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129813 Yaffa Eliach, author of the wonderful book of true stories of survival (all documented)called Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust, is a wonderful speaker whose main theme for years has been the specifically *Jewish* heroism shown by so many in the camps and ghettos -- smuggling in a shofar, baking matza with almost nothing and so on. www.amazon.com/Hasidic-Tales-Holocaust-Yaffa-Eliach/dp/067972043X This is not to gainsay that where possible and appropriate, physical resistance is not only permissible, it is IMO a positive mitzva. Even though I don't agree with the premise of Yom Hashoah's date that it was only the Warsaw Ghetto uprising that "saved our honor," I do look upon the ghetto fighters as kedoshim, not less holy than those who offered spiritual resistance. Yaffa Eliach, author of the wonderful book of true stories of survival (all documented)called Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust, is a wonderful speaker whose main theme for years has been the specifically *Jewish* heroism shown by so many in the camps and ghettos — smuggling in a shofar, baking matza with almost nothing and so on. http://www.amazon.com/Hasidic-Tales-Holocaust-Yaffa-Eliach/dp/067972043X

This is not to gainsay that where possible and appropriate, physical resistance is not only permissible, it is IMO a positive mitzva. Even though I don’t agree with the premise of Yom Hashoah’s date that it was only the Warsaw Ghetto uprising that “saved our honor,” I do look upon the ghetto fighters as kedoshim, not less holy than those who offered spiritual resistance.

]]> By: easterner http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129805 easterner Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:08:55 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129805 noticing that the 6 holocaust survivors participating in the israeli national ceremony are not frum, i wonder if this is at this point reflective of the State's anti-haredism, or of the haredi community's anti-yomhashoah-ism.... noticing that the 6 holocaust survivors participating in the israeli national ceremony are not frum, i wonder if this is at this point reflective of the State’s anti-haredism, or of the haredi community’s anti-yomhashoah-ism….

]]> By: Shira Schmidt http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129656 Shira Schmidt Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:24:03 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129656 (1) Mathew Wagner wrote a fair and perceptive article in the J.Post. Kudos to him. Esther Farbstein's book, Hidden in Thunder, is published by Mosad Harav Kook. There are 2 days left to their annual book fair Mon,Tures April 16,17 (Nisan 28,29). The sale price of Hidden in Thunder is 83 NIS (regular 150NIS. Phone orders 10 am-9pm daily Israel time. 011-972-2-651-5592. Mosad Harav Kook catalog is at http://www.virtualgeula.com/mrk/mrk-07.pdf You can also obtain the book by contacting Michael Rose info@jbcbooks.com Judaica Book Centre, Jerusalem http://www.jbcbooks.com He can mail it to the US also. tel. 011-972-26223215; fax 011-072-29993239 Rebbetzin Farbstein will be speaking in NY on 12 bIyar (April 30). More details tomorrow. (2) Full disclosure – it is my privilege to be working on the translation of Esther Farbstein’s new project, Rabbinic Memoirs, which will be launched this Tuesday in Jerusalem. The public (men and women) are invited to the launching (in Hebrew) of the newly released computerized database "The Holocaust in Rabbinic Literature". (Rabbanit Esther ferreted out over 100 prefaces by Holocaust survivors to scholarly religious books. The prefaces are a gold mine of new information about the Hurban. Her lecture is Tuesday, 29 bNissan,17 April 7:00 - 9:30pm at the Zalman Shazar Center, Beit Hatayelet(the Promenade) Rehov Beitar 2, Talpiyot Jerusalem On the program:R. Dr. Binyamin Lau (nephew of R. Israel Meir Lau),. Zvi Inbar Claims Conference; Dr. Nathan Cohen, Bar-Ilan; Dr. Hava Ben-Sasson, Hebrew University, Yad Vashem; and Presentation of the Database of Rabbinic Memoirs by Esther Farbstein,Jeru. Buses 7,8,12,21,30 Free parking in the Beit Hatayelet parking lot.To get an idea of the innovative and useful aspects of this CD database see http://www.talsys.net/?d=p/34 or contact info@talsys.net (1) Mathew Wagner wrote a fair and perceptive article in the J.Post. Kudos to him. Esther Farbstein’s book, Hidden in Thunder, is published by Mosad Harav Kook. There are 2 days left to their annual book fair Mon,Tures April 16,17 (Nisan 28,29). The sale price of Hidden in Thunder is 83 NIS (regular 150NIS. Phone orders 10 am-9pm daily Israel time. 011-972-2-651-5592. Mosad Harav Kook catalog is at
http://www.virtualgeula.com/mrk/mrk-07.pdf

You can also obtain the book by contacting Michael Rose info@jbcbooks.com
Judaica Book Centre, Jerusalem
http://www.jbcbooks.com He can mail it to the US also.
tel. 011-972-26223215; fax 011-072-29993239
Rebbetzin Farbstein will be speaking in NY on
12 bIyar (April 30). More details tomorrow.
(2) Full disclosure – it is my privilege to be working on the translation of Esther Farbstein’s new project, Rabbinic Memoirs, which will be launched this Tuesday in Jerusalem. The public (men and women) are invited to the launching (in Hebrew) of the newly released
computerized database
“The Holocaust in Rabbinic Literature”. (Rabbanit Esther ferreted out over 100 prefaces by Holocaust survivors to scholarly religious books. The prefaces are a gold mine of new information about the Hurban.
Her lecture is Tuesday, 29 bNissan,17 April 7:00 - 9:30pm
at the Zalman Shazar Center, Beit Hatayelet(the Promenade) Rehov Beitar 2, Talpiyot Jerusalem

On the program:R. Dr. Binyamin Lau (nephew of R. Israel Meir Lau),. Zvi Inbar Claims Conference; Dr. Nathan Cohen, Bar-Ilan; Dr. Hava Ben-Sasson, Hebrew University, Yad Vashem; and Presentation of the Database of Rabbinic Memoirs by
Esther Farbstein,Jeru. Buses 7,8,12,21,30
Free parking in the Beit Hatayelet parking lot.To get an idea of the innovative and useful aspects of this CD database see http://www.talsys.net/?d=p/34 or contact info@talsys.net

]]> By: YM http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129608 YM Sun, 15 Apr 2007 21:20:56 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129608 Who is the publisher? I couldn't find this on amazon.com Who is the publisher? I couldn’t find this on amazon.com

]]> By: Shaul Robinson http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129588 Shaul Robinson Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:17:32 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/04/15/spiritual-and-physical-resistance-to-the-nazis/#comment-129588 Excellent article - and what a contrast to an article in Yated Neman 2 years ago that dismissed the warsaw ghetto fighters as vain and proud - see quote below: These rebels were confronted by a mythos of "we will take our destiny in our own hands," created by the Zionist movement. They feared that they would not measure up to the expectations of the arrogant Israeli pioneers of their day. Considerations of life and death were not the only issues they weighed, but also considerations of vain pride and empty self-glorification. These appear to have been the deciding factor. The rebels desired "three lines in history," and for that they decided to sacrifice themselves, so as to sanctify the national myth. Excellent article - and what a contrast to an article in Yated Neman 2 years ago that dismissed the warsaw ghetto fighters as vain and proud -
see quote below:

These rebels were confronted by a mythos of “we will take our destiny in our own hands,” created by the Zionist movement. They feared that they would not measure up to the expectations of the arrogant Israeli pioneers of their day. Considerations of life and death were not the only issues they weighed, but also considerations of vain pride and empty self-glorification. These appear to have been the deciding factor. The rebels desired “three lines in history,” and for that they decided to sacrifice themselves, so as to sanctify the national myth.

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