“We were only a few broken Jews with two books, but…the day of the Siyum HaShas was my day of victory, the day of victory for all survivors, and the day of victory for every ‘Talmud Jew.’”

The brick crematoria of Dachau had barely cooled when the surviving remnants of European Jewry were called upon to mark the third Siyum HaShas in November, 1945. For most, it seemed unthinkable—in the wake of the most horrific genocide in human history, could the emaciated, traumatized survivors turn their attention to celebrating the third completion of the seven-year Daf Yomi cycle of Talmud study?

Outside the continent-sized graveyard that was Europe, subdued gatherings of Jews marked the occasion. In New York, where the black boots of the SS had never ground Jewish ashes into the soil, and of course in Jerusalem, students who cherished their daily study regimen came together to mark the transition from the end of the final tractate Nidah to the first page of the initial tractate Berakhot. In the Holy Land, British Mandate authorities were able to interfere with the Siyum HaShas by temporarily blocking one celebration in Tel Aviv, citing the potential for anti-British activity. If commemorations in lands that had not experienced the Holocaust firsthand were strained or cancelled—how would it be possible to hold the celebration in Germany, with ragged survivors whose daily existence during the war was more concerned with desperate survival than the intricacies of Talmudic law?

And yet it happened. In the words of a self-described “graduate of Auschwitz,” Joseph Friedenson, the Siyum HaShas in the Feldafing Displaced Person camp represented “the greatest rejuvenation in modern history to happen before our eyes.”

Please click here to read the full article in the OU Torah blog.

I think Torah New York is going to be amazing! Please come by and say hello. I will be hanging out with Rabbi Moshe Schwed and Ec Birnbaum, talking about the launch of the amazing new AllDAf app for Daf Yomi study. Please click here for more information on this amazing event!

This is what I’m thinking about during the Nine Days. Click here to read the article. Thanks to Laura Adkins for her superlative editing.

Answering a question from Dr. Fred Samuels of Rechovot regarding Synagogue architecture, I noticed that The Lost Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe (Carl Hersh, 1999) is available online for free. I think it’s especially appropriate viewing for the Nine Days and Tisha B’Av. Beautifully narrated by Theodor Bikel, the film documents the beauty and grandeur of these delicate structures made entirely of wood, unfortunately largely destroyed by the Nazis. You can view the film here: https://vimeo.com/261400925

The documentary won a few awards, and I am really proud to have worked with such a fantastic team, led by producer Albert Barry. Here’s a screenshot from the film, depicting the young historian they worked with back in 1999. Nice glasses.

Hopefully this event will be cancelled. If not, please join me at The Young Israel of Ft. Lee with Rabbi Zev Goldberg on Sunday, August 11 at 8:45 am or at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst at 6:00 pm. Lecture is free and open to the community.

Really proud to honor my mother’s request with this new edition of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Levels of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Date Palm of Devorah (Tomer Devorah) in LARGE PRINT. Interior beautifully designed by Mrs. Danit Mills.

It will be a while before it populates into Amazon and other online retailers, even longer before it gets to independent booksellers, but here’s the link straight from the press, with $10 off in honor of my mom.

The Kabbalah of Forgiveness LARGE PRINT Edition

348 pages, hardcover. $39.95 ($29.96 at this link only).

More information on The Kabbalah of Forgiveness available here.

The amazing legend, repeated in several medieval sources, of a Jewish kingdom in 8th century France. Part III of the Jews of the Rhone series.