YOM HASHOAH: We are all survivors.

"Those who endured the horrors of the camps are not the only Holocaust survivors. That group includes a wide range of Jews from all over the world. At the beginning of the 1980s, Ed Koch, mayor of New York City, invited me to his office. He is*a warm Jew, sensitive and emotional, a great lover of Israel and the Jewish people.

At our first meeting, he introduced himself to me and declared that he was also a Holocaust survivor. Out of politeness, I refrained from asking him what exactly he survived and where he had been during the Second World War. I wanted to give him a chance to tell his story himself. He said that he had been born in the Bronx and had lived his whole life in New York, but insisted that he was a real survivor. Smiling, I dared to ask how that could be- and Ed Koch began to explain.Years earlier, he had traveled to Germany for an educational trip. At one of the stops, the guide showed the group the globe that had sat on Hitler's desk. "It reminded me of Charlie Chaplain's movie about the great dictator. But unlike the one in Chaplain's movie," Koch recounted, "that big globe had lots of numbers written on it in black marker. When the guide spun the globe, Europe blackened with numbers. Other continents had far fewer black marks. The guide explained that when World War II broke out, Hitler recorded the Jewish population of each country. After all, they represented his life's goal. Albania, for example, bore the number 1 for the single Jew living there. Our enemy decided that he would not rest as long as that one Jew from Albania, a total stranger to him, remained alive. The territory of the United States bore the number six million.[The population statistics are slightly inaccurate] That includes me," said Ed Koch with undisguised anger. "So I am also a Holocaust survivor-if the Allies hadn't stopped the Nazi beast, no doubt I would have been destroyed."

I shook his hand warmly and said, "Today I have learned an important lesson from you, and I will carry it home with me to Israel. I've heard that not all Jewish communities feel a connection to Holocaust Day. From now on, I'll tell them about the Jew born in New York who lived all his life in an American city, but who feels like a Holocaust survivor..."

A story From Rabbi Israel Meir Lau's book "Out of the Depths" (p. 241-242)  

*Mayor Ed Koch z"l died this year, February 1, 2013, at age 88. 

Yom haShoahh siren, this morning, April 8th 2013 in Jerusalem.  

My Holocaust Experience by Ben hiller  

A survivor tells his story for the very first time. After participating in the November 2010 Aish.com Mission to Israel, Mr Ben Hiller was inspired to share his experiences during the Holocaust for the very first time, as a legacy to his family and future generations. Mr Hiller, born in Grojec, Poland, is one of 17 survivors of a city that once had a Jewish population of 7,000. In this clip he recalls his Holocaust experiences through various ghettos, a labor camp and Theresienstadt. 

The Habdala ceremony

   Previously, we saw the different opinions regarding the time Shabbat ends ( see here). We also began to explain the Habdala ceremony, which is the official way we depart from Shabbat, and the fulfillment of a biblical commandment ( see this  ). 

Before we do the Habdala ceremony we pray Tefilat 'arbit, as we do every night, including a special text: "Ata honantanu", which means"You, haShem, granted us wisdom and understanding... enabling us to distinguish between light and darkness, between the holy and mundane and between the Seventh day and the rest of the week.... ". By reciting this text we acknowledge the distinction between Shabbat, ending as we speak, and the rest of the week, that is beginning right now.   In ancient times, when the Jewish people were such a difficult financial situation that they were not able to afford wine for the hadbala, the Rabbis (anshe keneset hagedola) did not require to perform the Habdala ceremony, but just the recitation of Ata honantanu. 

Because we love Shabbat and we have a particular instruction to add some time from the weekdays (Friday and Sunday) to Shabbat we do not rush to pray 'arbit. On the contrary, we actually recite some Psalms from Tehilim (leDavid... laMnatzeah) and the Hazan sings the qaddish and other prayers with a slow melodie, to delay the end of Shabbat. 

After the 'arbit prayer, the custom is that the Hazan recites the Habdala for all the congregants in the Synagogue.  Particularly for those who for any reason will not recite the Habdala at home.  

Therefore, all those who listen to this Habdala with the intention of being included in it, fulfill the Mitzva of Habdala (even if they did not drink from the wine).   

Now, those who already participated in this public Habdala, can still do Habdala at home for their family members. 

The correct custom, following the shulhan 'arukh, is to say or listen to the Habdala while seated. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Candle lighting in NYC:   7.05 pm

Shabbat ends in NYC:      8.06 pm

For Minhaguim of Sefirat ha'Omer see  THIS

For Sefirat ha'Omer app for your Iphone, Ipad click here

For Sefirat ha'Omer reminder app for your android see this 

HAG SAMEAH!!!

Ta'anit Bekhorot (Fast of the first born) 

       

In order to persuade Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go out of Egypt, the Almighty inflicted upon them ten plagues.  The last one, the plague that finally persuaded Pharaoh to let the people go, was the death of the first-born.  While every Egyptian first born was killed the Jewish first-born were saved because the Almighty  (Ex. 11:27)  "...protected (=pasah) the houses of the people of Israel, at the time the angel of death (=mashchit) was inflicting the Egyptians first-born with death".  In remembrance of this special protection, this festival is named "Pesah", and the first-born fast on Pesah eve.

 If on the fast day there is a Berit Mila, a Pidion or a Siyum Masekhet (=the conclusion of a Talmudic treatise) and the first-born is present at the event, he will be exempted from the fast.  It is customary that the Rabbi of the community arranges for a Siyum Masekhet for that day so the first-born would circumvent the fast and thus won't feel weak at the time of the Seder.

In most communities this fast is only customary for first-born males, not females.  In case the first-born is a young boy, many communities follow the tradition that the father fasts on his son's behalf. Many families  have the tradition that when the first born breaks the fast they do not eat Hametz anymore and the females first-born also refrain from eating Hametz.

Each community should follow their own traditions and customs. 

Akhilat Matza  (Eating Matza  on Pesah Eve)

On Pesah eve we should not eat Matza .  We keep the taste of the Matza for its ideal moment: the night of the Seder. We are allowed to eat Matza 'ashira or egg Matza  (see HERE) .  In general, today we should eat light at noon and afternoon so we reserve our appetite for the Seder. 

LAST TIME TO EAT HAMETZ TODAY: 10.14 am (in some communities they set this time at 10.00 am)

  

LAST TIME FOR BI'UR HAMETZ  (getting rid of Hametz by burning, throwing away, to the sea, etc. see this) , and LAST TIME for stating the second and last BITUL HAMETZ  (see this) is 11.23 am (in some communities they set this time every year at 11.00 am).

The text for the last bitul is: 

"KAL CHAMIRA DEIKA BIRSHUTI DECHAZITEH VEDELA CHAZITEH DEBI'ARTEH VEDELA BI'ARTEH LIBTIL VELEHEVE HEFKER KE'AFRA DEAR'A" All kind of Hametz or fermenting agent that belongs to me, that I have seen or that I haven't seen,  that I have eliminated or that I haven't eliminated, should be considered ownerless as the dust of the earth."

  

Candle lighting tonight:   6:53pm