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"covertext": "By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg In the Haggadah it states, \" It is our duty to thank and to praise in song and...",
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"body": "\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\">By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg</div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> <span> In the Haggadah it states, \" It is our duty to thank and to praise in song and prayer, to glorify and extol Him who performed all these wonders for our forefathers and for us. \" I, as a son of survivors thank God for allowing my parents to survive and giving me the opportunity to study and become a Rabbi.\"</span></span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> I personally feel no guilt for having the God-given privilege of being alive. I mourn for my grandparents, uncles, and aunts who perished at the hands of Nazi maniacs; often weeping for not having experienced their love. I cry in anguish when reminded that six million of my brethren, young and old, left this earth via <span><span>gas chambers</span></span> and crematoriums. I sense the pain of my family and friends who saw their elders shot before their very eyes and their babies hurled against brick walls and bayoneted. I experienced deep anger when I viewed the numbers branded on the arm of my father, of blessed memory. Yet I thanked God for sparing the lives of my beloved parents.</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> Yes, I blame humanity for remaining silent while my innocent brethren perished screaming in terror for someone to heed their outcries. Humanity; not God. We are not puppets to be controlled by our Creator. People caused the <span><span>Holocaust</span></span>; people remained silent. Leaders of countries refused to intercede on behalf of the defenseless. Should I then hate humanity? Should I live with anger in my heart, rebelling against the environment, rejecting those of other faiths and cultures? Perhaps I should bend in fear like a blade of grass when the winds of anti-Semitism turn toward me. Perhaps I should walk along the rocky paths of society fearing what the future may bring.</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> I openly and candidly answer in the negative. No, I will not live in a shell of neurotic chaos, and I will not reject society. I refuse to live in a world which rejects hope, receiving nourishment from the seeds of hatred. I admire and respect my beloved parents, Jacob and Rachel, of blessed memory, and honor them for their strength and courage. Even Auschwitz could not diminish their faith. They could have rejected humanity; instead they aided others in their daily fight for existence. No, a world of anger and hostility was not their banner.</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> Now that I am an orphaned adult, I appreciate even more the impact that my parents had upon me. All that I am and all that I ever will be I owe to them. They instilled within me pride and fortitude; their motto became my personal outcry, “Never Again.”</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\">\n<div>\n<div><span> Refuse to discuss the Holocaust? Sweep these memories under the rug? No-this is not our mission to the world and ourselves. Let the truth be known! Let others realize what the world did to an ethical, moral and religious populace. Let them hear the testimony of valiant survivors. Let them see our courage. Feel guilt for surviving, for speaking on behalf of children who wee silenced-<i>never!</i></span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> I became a rabbi to aid the living, to ensure our survival; to rekindle the Jewish flame. I am proud; proud of my heritage, proud of our strength, and proud of my beloved parents. Contrary to what we are told, the passage of time does not ease our pain, nor does it diminish the scope of the horror that was the Holocaust.</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\"><span> Oh yes, there are those, few in number, who feel that it is psychologically healthier to avoid reminders that keep painful and unpleasant events alive. Why subject our young to the brutal story of Nazi bestiality toward the Jewish people? What purpose will it serve? It would be wiser not to talk about it so that it can disappear. Never! We must never stop telling this story. Tell it we must, in every gory detail! We must do this because it is our sacred duty to alert them to the evils of men, so that they will never be lulled into a false sense of safety and security. We must alert them so that our children will be vigilant and will never be caught unaware as were the Jews who perished in the Holocaust. This is the message I emphasize to my beloved children, Ilana, Ayelet, <span>Yaakov</span> and Ari. Although we are cognizant that our children will be adversely affected, that they will feel great pain upon learning the true facts of the Holocaust, we know that this is something we must do.</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>",
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"handle": "where-was-god-holocaust-where-was-god-during-egyptian-slavery",
"title": " WHERE WAS GOD IN THE HOLOCAUST? WHERE WAS GOD DURING EGYPTIAN SLAVERY?",
"author": "Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg",
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"covertext": " LAMENT ...",
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"body": "<p><b><br /> </b></p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><strong><span> LAMENT</span></strong></div>\n<div style=\"text-align:center;\"><strong><span> </span></strong></div>\n<div style=\"text-align:center;\"><strong><span> </span></strong></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Where were You, <span>Adonai</span> *,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>in that black, bitter, unending night?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Were You asleep?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Unconscious? Comatose?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Or did You go away?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>How can we appeal to You</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>when You are not there?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Did You forsake us?</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Where were You, Adonai,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>when we needed Your help?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>We wept for You</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>but were not comforted.</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>We cried out to You</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>but were not answered.</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>We prayed to You,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>but our prayer did not rise.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Where were You, Adonai,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>when we labored as slaves,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>when adults became weak as children,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>when children became adults in a day</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>and too many of us were killed</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>in that black, bitter, unending night?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>How can we call on You</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>when we are ashes?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Did You forsake us?</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Now that daylight has returned,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>have You awakened, Adonai,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>thinking that this was just a dream?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>It was no dream, Adonai,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>it was Your people’s nightmare.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span></span><span>And now, Adonai, are You awake?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Conscious? Alert?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Have You returned from where You were?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>When we weep,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>will You now comfort us?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>When we cry out to You,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>will You now answer?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>When we pray to You,</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>will our prayer now rise?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Can our remnant now invoke You?</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span>Are You there, Adonai?</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>R. Gabriele S. Silten</span></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n",
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"title": " What Have I Learned This Year About the Holocaust And What Does it Mean to Me",
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"covertext": "The Haggadah tells us, \"In every generation they rise against us and seek our destruction.\" Remember and learn from the...",
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"body": "<div>\n<div><b>The <span>Haggadah</span> tells us, \"In every generation they rise against us and seek our destruction.\" Remember and learn from the past</b></div>\n<div> </div>\n<div> To me, the Holocaust is much more than a tragic event in Jewish and world history. To me, it was a wake up call. In the pre-Holocaust era, European Jewry was rapidly looking to assimilate. Jews were holding some of the most prestigious positions in society. Ranging from doctors to musicians to professors and even politicians, some Jews were so wrapped up in their <span>social ranks</span> that they did not even identify with their <span>Judaism</span> anymore. It is said that the Jewish Germans were Germans first, then Jews. They were more loyal to their country than their G-d.</div>\n<div> I think that the Holocaust was a wake up call to all of the Jews who forgot that G-d existed. They forgot that they were put on this earth to serve a higher being, not society.</div>\n<div> The Jews of that time tried to run from their Judaism. By assimilating into German society they thought they could exempt themselves from their religious responsiblities. Obviously they were wrong. Hitler did not care whether a Jew was assimilated or not. He saw them all as Jews. As much as they tried to run away, they were still Jews and in danger of being exterminated.</div>\n<div> We must realize that we are different, we are G-d's chosen people. This is a privilege not a chore. If we are proud of our heritage and do not try to deny it we can overcome anything. We need unity to keep Judaism alive. </div>\n<div> In my opinion the Holocaust could happen again. There will always be hatred against Jews; we are the scapegoats for society. When something goes wrong economically or politically we are blamed. If we remember and learn from the past, we can hope for a good future. If we forget we are doomed.</div>\n<div> </div>\n</div>\n",
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"title": " They Went Like Sheep to the Slaughter and Other Myths. Just As They Left Egypt After Oppression. They Fought in Egypt to Survive",
"author": "Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg",
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"covertext": "By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg As a child of survivors of the Nazi death camps who has published extensive articles...",
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"body": "<p>By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg</p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><br /> As a child of survivors of the <span><span>Nazi death camps</span></span> who has published extensive articles and editorials regarding the <span><span>Holocaust</span></span>, I am deeply disturbed and sense the deep pangs of anguish of those who still cannot either comprehend or appreciate the true acts of heroism which prevailed. As a practicing rabbi who refuses to allow the memories of the past to be distorted, I appeal to our fellow Jew: “Never forget the acts of heroism which made it possible for us to exist.”<br /> <br /> The recurring questions which haunts survivors and their children echo through the halls of time. “Why didn’t they fight back? Why did they enter the chambers of death like sheep to the slaughter?” By our standards, such actions as placidly lining up against a wall to be shot or walking silently into the <span><span>gas chambers</span></span> or standing nude and obedient at the edge of a ravine filled with blood-covered bodies awaiting one’s own turn to die, defy all understanding. Indeed, anti-Semites would suggest that Jews were different, somehow not quite as brave, not quite as courageous as the average person. Our enemies will even conclude that the Jews were guilty of the crimes they were accused of, and hence with heavy conscience and accepting the punishment for their “crimes,” the Jews quietly submitted to their deserved punishment.<br /> <br /> Nothing could be a greater falsification of the truth. The hopelessness seen in their faces was not a reflection of guilt; rather it was a realization that they had been completely deserted and betrayed by humanity. The light of morality, conscience and brotherhood had been completely extinguished and for them life became a terror-filled abyss. Responsibility for their death clearly lies with the Nazis and their collaborators.<br /> <br /> Individuals confronted by the Holocaust often ask obvious questions to which there are no simplistic answers. One needs to read, to study, to discuss, to reflect and to interview individuals who have lived through the tortures of hell on earth. Since it is evident that many will not read the volumes necessary for research, allow us to attempt to analyze the crucial and sensitive issue of “sheep to the slaughter.<br /> <br /> In order to understand the Jew of the Holocaust, we must attempt to put ourselves in his place. He knew of centuries of persecution carried out by the drunk and the sober, by the church and by government dictum. He had suffered many instances of prejudice, degradation and depersonalization prior to the Holocaust. <span><span>The Holocaust</span></span> begins with the <span><span>Nuremberg Laws</span></span>, anti Semitic newspaper articles, cartoons, radio broadcasts, rallies, humiliations, beatings, intimidations and economic boycott. <span><span>The Holocaust victim</span></span> begins to feel as if he is choking; fear becomes a part of daily life. <br /> <br /> Maybe he should leave Europe, he things. But to where should he go, and should he not stay together with his family? The International Conference at Evian, France, demonstrates that the world does not want the Jew. Not one country is willing to open the doors of freedom. The victim is trapped, like a child in a cage with a ravenous lion. The victim’s passport is marked with the letter “J” for Jude and <span><span>Kristallnacht</span></span> results in vast destruction; his home, his shop and even his place of worship cannot escape the wrath of maniacs bent upon the complete annihilation of the Jew.<br /> <br /> Some Jews are arrested and sent to concentration camps and the victim is informed that his children are expelled from school. The children do not understand, the victim is powerless to explain these atrocities to them. A yellow badge is to be worn and to be found on the streets without it means death.<br /> <br /> The <span><span>innocent victim</span></span> and his family are uprooted and resettled in a ghetto, seven people in a room, little food, almost no medicine. The old and the young perish in the street. The victim’s child falls ill and dies. He cries and screams in anguish. He is helpless to save her. A four-month-old baby perishes and the world remains silent.<br /> <br /> His family is ordered to report to the train station. On the journey there are no sanitary facilities, pressed together like sardines, there is no room for the corpses to fall. They stand like the rest for nine days. The victim’s grandfather dies begging for air.<br /> <br /> Finally, the concentration camp. They arrive ravenous with hunger, nearly unconscious. Here, a short man motions with his finger to the left or to the right. The victim goes to the right; his family to the left. He soon discovers that the only means of escape is through the chimney.<br /> <br /> His family, his wife, his two children are already in the next world. The chimney continues operating at full capacity. The heart and the soul of the world remain uncompassionate.<br /> <br /> An inmate attempts to overcome a guard. He is tortured brutally and hung in front of the inmates. Each victim begins thinking to himself that he wants to avoid that suffering, revolt is meaningless, and even if he escaped where would he go? No one wants him.<br /> <br /> The victim dreams and longs for a better world. He yearns for the time to come when he will no longer suffer and will begin to rebuild anew. The world remains silent to his pleas. His dreams remain unfulfilled. His heroic vision of hope for the future is clouded by the reality of the inferno surrounding him. He is tormented by recurring nightmares. He hears the voices of his children, wife, his parents and loved ones. He remembers the sight of Joseph, his friend and neighbor, who was buried alive. In front of his eyes stand Yaakov, his uncle who was disemboweled, Chaim who was hanged and Chana who was subjected to medical experiments and then tortured to death. Tears flow as he envisions Pinchas who was drowned and his brother who was trampled to death. He awakens, scarred by the memory of Shmuel who was burnt with cigarettes and then thrown into the burning crematorium while still alive. <br /> <br /> Today the world has the audacity to exclaim “Why didn’t they fight back? Why didn’t they rush the armed guards? Why didn’t they attempt mass suicide?” The world refuses to realize that courage and heroism is often expressed in the individual’s will to live; to seek to survive and build a better life, a better world for himself and his future family. The world dares to forget that numerous heroic uprisings did occur.<br /> <br /> The remnants of Hitler’s inferno came back from the grave to build a new nation, a nation conceived in blood and tears, a nation which loudly proclaims, “We will not be silent, Jews return to your own home, our gates are eagerly awaiting you.” These survivors dedicated themselves and their children to a new purpose; the atrocities of the past, the inhumanity of mankind, could not extinguish the Jewish spirit.<br /> <br /> Our young must be told that we have always fought tyranny, we did not die like sheep for the slaughter. The Jewish nation has experienced the inferno of humanity. Jews have been criticized, labeled, stereotyped and maligned, we have experienced anguish and peril, many have tried to murder us; others to missionize our young and yet, through it all, we unlike any other people, have survived.<br /> <br /> Sophisticated 20th ? Are the numbers branded on the arms of survivors beauty marks, reminders of the good old days when the orchestra played such melodic tunes as “Arbeit Macht Frei?”<br /> <br /> The propaganda machine rings aloud with the deceptions of Hitler’s <span><span>Mein Kampf</span></span>. Twentieth century anti-Semites declare that Jews control industry, that Jews operate the banks, direct <span><span>Wall Street</span></span> and t.<br /> <br /> We Jews have been gassed in the bathhouses of humanity, burned in crematoria constructed by the world’s intellectuals, our children bayoneted, their blood spilt on the walls of the most civilized nations in the world. We have returned from the grave. We did not perish in the inferno. Our nation will never march like sheep to the slaughter. The people of <span>Israel</span>shall live.</div>\n<div><br /> Free: Get the BJT top stories on Thursday night. Click here: <br /> <a href=\"http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/business/e_newsletter/\"><span>http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/business/e_newsletter/</span></a><br /> <br /> Guess what I just wrote on my blog? <a href=\"http://blogs.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/neilrubin\"><span>http://blogs.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/neilrubin</span></a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n",
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"body": "<p><strong> </strong></p>\n<p><span><strong>In the Haggadah it says, \"And the Egyptians did evil to us and they made us suffer. They set upon us hard work.\"</strong></span><span><strong><span> This is the story of how the Nazis, like the Egyptians, were taskmasters over your grandparents.</span></strong></span></p>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><i><span><span>This is a letter I sent to my youngest son, Ari, 18, who is a student at Yeshivat Shaarei <span>Mevaseret Zion</span> in <span>Israel</span>. He went on the Heritage Tour to <span>Poland</span> last month with hundreds of other students. Each is asked to speak about their family’s heritage on the trip.</span></span></i></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span>Dear Ari:</span></div>\n<div><span>This is your heritage as we know it: Your grandparents, Rachel and Jacob Rosenberg of blessed memory did not speak much about their families who were all murdered, and I did not ask questions since I knew it would hurt them terribly.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span>They died before the Shoah programs of getting parents to give witness were started by (Steven) Spielberg.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span>Out of both their large families, only one half sister of Zeide’s, his aunt, Regina, survived. She and her daughter, Maria Devinki, and Maria’s husband, Fred Devinki, were able to pay a farmer to hide them during the war.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span>Jacob Rosenberg, your grandfather, was born in Wodzislaw or Wrodzislaw (spelled many different ways), Poland. His parents, Berish and Feigel Miriam lived with their children on a street next to several other of their relatives. At least five houses were owned by their extended family.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span>We visited the town several years ago and found Jacob’s original <span>birth certificate</span> in the town hall records. Maria and her family hired someone years ago who found the original deed to the land our family owned, which is now the parking of the town hall.</span></div>\n<div><span><span> </span></span></div>\n<div><span>Jacob had <span>four brothers and sisters</span>, all married with children before the war. Jacob also was married before the war and had two children who were murdered. We do not know their names, but he worked in the town of Bezdin in the meat business.</span></div>\n<div><br /> <span>Jacob was in several <span>concentration camps</span>, escaped, was a partisan fighter, was shot and captured again and ended up in Auschwitz from which he was liberated. He had a tattooed number on his arm, but we cannot find the records at this point. We did find the old large shul in the town, which is falling down and dangerous to enter. There was a plaque on the outside wall indicating the Jews who were rounded up and taken to Treblinka.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n<div><span>Rachel Rosenberg’s maiden name was Frankel. Her parents were Jacob and Bluma. She had four brothers and sister who also were married with children. Her family was well off and owned a leather factory in <span>Cracow</span>. They lived in Slomnicki, Poland, near Cracow.</span></div>\n<div><span> </span></div>\n\n",
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"body": "<p>FROM THE ROSENBERG HOLOCAUST HAGGADAH BY RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG</p>\n\n<p>The Torah explains the meaning of Passover in four different ways, according to the questions put by four different types of children. And so now we sing the ,\"Ballad of the Four Sons,\" written by Ben Aronin.</p>\n<p>THE BALLAD OF THE FOUR SONS</p>\n<p>Said the father to his children,</p>\n<p>At the Seder you will dine,</p>\n<p>You will eat your fill of Matzoh,</p>\n<p>You will drink four cups of wine.</p>\n<p>Now this father had no daughters,</p>\n<p>But his sons they numbered four:</p>\n<p>One was wise and one was wicked,</p>\n<p>One was simple and a bore.</p>\n<p>And the fourth was sweet and winsome,</p>\n<p>He was young and he was small,</p>\n<p>While his brothers asked the questions, </p>\n<p>He could scarcely speak at all,</p>\n<p>Said the wise son to his father, </p>\n<p>Would you please explain the laws</p>\n<p>And the customs of the Seder. . </p>\n<p>Will you please explain the cause?</p>\n<p>And the father proudly answered,</p>\n<p>As our fathers ate in speed,</p>\n<p>Ate the Paschal lamb ere midnight</p>\n<p>And from slavery were freed.</p>\n<p>So we follow their example</p>\n<p>And ere midnight must complete</p>\n<p>All the Seder, and we should not After 12 remain to eat.</p>\n<p>Then did sneer the son so wicked</p>\n<p>What does all this mean to you?</p>\n<p>And the father's voice was bitter </p>\n<p>As his grief and anger grew.</p>\n<p>If yourself you don't consider</p>\n<p>As a son of Israel,</p>\n<p>Then for you this has no meaning</p>\n<p>You could be a slave as well.</p>\n<p>Then the simple son said simply,</p>\n<p>'What is this? and quietly,</p>\n<p>The good father told his offspring,</p>\n<p>We were freed from slavery.</p>\n<p>But the youngest son was silent,</p>\n<p>For he could not ask at all, </p>\n<p>His bright eyes were bright with wonder</p>\n<p>As his father told him all.</p>\n<p>Now dear children,</p>\n<p>heed the lesson and remember evermore</p>\n<p>What the father told his children,</p>\n\n",
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"covertext": "FROM THE ROSENBERG HOLOCAUST HAGGADAH BY RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG When Israel was in Egypt land. Let my people go! O...",
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"body": "<p>FROM THE ROSENBERG HOLOCAUST HAGGADAH BY RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG</p>\n<p>When Israel was in Egypt land. Let my people go!</p>\n<p>Oppressed so hard they could not stand. Let my people go!</p>\n<p>Go down Moses, way down in Egypt land. Let my people go!</p>\n<p>Lord told Moses what to do, let my people go!</p>\n<p>Tell ol' Pharaoh. Let my people go! </p>\n<p>If not I'll smite your first-born dead. Let my people go! </p>\n<p>To lend the children of Israel through, Let my people go! </p>\n<p>When they had reached the other shore, Let my people go!</p>\n<p>They sang a song of triumph o'er Let my people go!</p>\n",
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"covertext": "FROM THE ROSENBERG HOLOCAUST SIDDUR. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG \"These bitter herbs which we eat, what is their meani...",
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"body": "<p>FROM THE ROSENBERG HOLOCAUST SIDDUR. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG</p>\n<p>\"These bitter herbs which we eat, what is their meaning? They are eaten to recall that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our forefathers in Egypt.\" </p>\n<p>The past is never far away; it comes back uninvited, is unexpected and unwanted. In sleep and in wakefulness my yesterdays come back again, they morph into today. My nightmares become daymares. </p>\n<p>Sometimes a vision calls it up: someone dressed in unifor, leading a dog on a leash.The uniform color matters not, my eyes see it as black, add black, brightly polished, leather boots. The sniffing, friendly dog transforms into a slavering, growling monster. Sometimes a smell provokes it: the reek of dirty, sweating bodies, the pungent odor of unwashed clothes, or worse: a hint of gas inside the room, especially while a Yahrtzeit candle * calls forth memories with its open flame: an explosion waiting to happen. At other times, it is a sound: an ambulance howls alarm, fire trucks or police cars shriek by with blaring sirens. My ears hear all three without distinction; a noise which sends me instantly into my past where I hear again the air raid siren on the corner house of my apartment block, in the street where I lived. Taste can be disorienting: hash browned potatoes incompletely fried, so raw still in their center, bring back the rankness of the food from yesteryear. Thin soup refuses to be swallowed, no matter what flavor it has. My throat closes against it, remembering “soup” from long ago. Anything grating between my teeth, reminds my tongue of sawdust: the main ingredient in our “bread” in Terezin, so long ago, yet only yesterday. Touch is perhaps the worst: vegetables putrefied in my refrigerator because of power failure. Their slimy texture in my fingers revives yesterday’s reality, so long ago. Ashes drifting through the air, from fires burning in the neighboring town, conjure up the line of children working in Terezin’s crematorium to dispose of those ashes. Soot on my wet driveway evokes dusty, moist, wooden floors, water-besprinkled so they could be swept. Those floors were never clean.The past is never far away; it is a s close as a conjoined twin. It does not really “come back again”, since it is always with me, cannot ever leave me. I walk hand in hand with it. When my yesterdays become today, I can only endure. R. Gabriele S. Silten Pomona, CA </p>\n\n\n",
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A Child of Survivors Speaks Out
Haggadah Section: Commentary / Readings
By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg
In the Haggadah it states, " It is our duty to thank and to praise in song and prayer, to glorify and extol Him who performed all these wonders for our forefathers and for us. " I, as a son of survivors thank God for allowing my parents to survive and giving me the opportunity to study and become a Rabbi."
I personally feel no guilt for having the God-given privilege of being alive. I mourn for my grandparents, uncles, and aunts who perished at the hands of Nazi maniacs; often weeping for not having experienced their love. I cry in anguish when reminded that six million of my brethren, young and old, left this earth via gas chambers and crematoriums. I sense the pain of my family and friends who saw their elders shot before their very eyes and their babies hurled against brick walls and bayoneted. I experienced deep anger when I viewed the numbers branded on the arm of my father, of blessed memory. Yet I thanked God for sparing the lives of my beloved parents.
Yes, I blame humanity for remaining silent while my innocent brethren perished screaming in terror for someone to heed their outcries. Humanity; not God. We are not puppets to be controlled by our Creator. People caused the Holocaust; people remained silent. Leaders of countries refused to intercede on behalf of the defenseless. Should I then hate humanity? Should I live with anger in my heart, rebelling against the environment, rejecting those of other faiths and cultures? Perhaps I should bend in fear like a blade of grass when the winds of anti-Semitism turn toward me. Perhaps I should walk along the rocky paths of society fearing what the future may bring.
I openly and candidly answer in the negative. No, I will not live in a shell of neurotic chaos, and I will not reject society. I refuse to live in a world which rejects hope, receiving nourishment from the seeds of hatred. I admire and respect my beloved parents, Jacob and Rachel, of blessed memory, and honor them for their strength and courage. Even Auschwitz could not diminish their faith. They could have rejected humanity; instead they aided others in their daily fight for existence. No, a world of anger and hostility was not their banner.
Now that I am an orphaned adult, I appreciate even more the impact that my parents had upon me. All that I am and all that I ever will be I owe to them. They instilled within me pride and fortitude; their motto became my personal outcry, “Never Again.”
Refuse to discuss the Holocaust? Sweep these memories under the rug? No-this is not our mission to the world and ourselves. Let the truth be known! Let others realize what the world did to an ethical, moral and religious populace. Let them hear the testimony of valiant survivors. Let them see our courage. Feel guilt for surviving, for speaking on behalf of children who wee silenced-never!
I became a rabbi to aid the living, to ensure our survival; to rekindle the Jewish flame. I am proud; proud of my heritage, proud of our strength, and proud of my beloved parents. Contrary to what we are told, the passage of time does not ease our pain, nor does it diminish the scope of the horror that was the Holocaust.
Oh yes, there are those, few in number, who feel that it is psychologically healthier to avoid reminders that keep painful and unpleasant events alive. Why subject our young to the brutal story of Nazi bestiality toward the Jewish people? What purpose will it serve? It would be wiser not to talk about it so that it can disappear. Never! We must never stop telling this story. Tell it we must, in every gory detail! We must do this because it is our sacred duty to alert them to the evils of men, so that they will never be lulled into a false sense of safety and security. We must alert them so that our children will be vigilant and will never be caught unaware as were the Jews who perished in the Holocaust. This is the message I emphasize to my beloved children, Ilana, Ayelet, Yaakov and Ari. Although we are cognizant that our children will be adversely affected, that they will feel great pain upon learning the true facts of the Holocaust, we know that this is something we must do.
Source:
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg
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