Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Rabbi yoel teitelbaum the satmar rebbe was among the most known rabbinical figures after the holocaust. The continuing search for the perpetrators of the holocaust ktav and as editor rescue attempts during. Response of orthodox jewery to the holocaust by efraim. Shaped by different historical experiences, political and national interests, our approximations of the holocaust remain elusive.
The first threequarters of the book do not concern attempts to rescue jews from the nazi holocaust but from stalinist russia. While this purports to be a book about the holocaust, in reality it is not. This committee, which later became known by its hebrew name as the vaad hahatzala rescue committee emerged as the official rescue and relief agency of american orthodox jewry during the holocaust. If there were a god, he would surely have prevented the holocaust.
Part i brings together for the first time a major selection of ultra orthodox responses to the holocaust, written originally in hebrew and yiddish during and after the war. Philosophical and theological responses to the holocaust jewish. The book describes wiesenthals experience in the lemberg concentration camp and discusses the moral ethics of the decisions he made. It focuses on one of many questionandresponse exchanges between rabbis and their faithful that took place in the jewish ghettos of europe. Some pre holocaust responses to evil and suffering modern thinkers confronted the problem of evil and suffering long before the holocaust. Project muse the romanian orthodox church and the holocaust. When nazis began targeting jews in prewar germany at the outset of the holocaust, the orthodox jews conspicuous black garb, beards and side locks made them visible targets and they were hit first and hardest. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Jewish philosophical and theological responses to the. In this remarkable book, zuroff tells the story of the vaad hahatzala. Rubinstein may 2001 this work illustrates something of both the best and worst of recent holocaust scholarship. The orthodox jewish response during the holocaust artscroll judaiscope series david kranzler, isaac lewin on. Braitermans scholarship on the role of theodicy in holocaust theology has drawn responses from other theologians.
Tradition and change in post holocaust jewish thought, he coined the term antitheodicy for a refusal to connect god with evil or a refusal to justify god. Holocaust remembrance and orthodox jews the jerusalem post. The nature of ultraorthodox responses to the holocaust. The scandalous rejection of my hasidic roots paperback october 2, 2012. This book defends orthodox jewry in the period of the holocaust against the charge that.
Rubenstein and roth 1987 includes varieties of religious response to the holocaust in orthodox and liberal jewish and christian religious thought. As with the post holocaust theologians who followed, thinkers such as abraham isaac kook and mordecai kaplan mediated traditional jewish theology with the specific challenges of the modern world. Yad vashem only honors holocaust s secular victims. However, there were individuals in the ultraorthodox world of eastern europe that made. He became known for establishing a large and prosperous hasidic court while at the same time maintaining ultraconservative, extreme orthodox and antizionist views.
However, it is often misunderstood in general or in its specifics by some of its adherents and certainly by those who do not live by its tenets. This book examines the reactions of orthodox british jews and their leaders to the holocaust as it unfolded in the years 19421945. Fewer than 1 million jews killed in holocaust, ultra orthodox outreach rabbi says. Based on a huge number of archival sources, both published and unpublished, it tells the story of the power of such an institution as the orthodox church. This volume presents a wideranging selection of jewish theological responses to the holocaust. Part i brings together for the first time a major selection of ultraorthodox responses to the holocaust, written originally in hebrew and yiddish during and after the war. At the end of world war ii, approximately half of them survived. Haredim have authored their own holocaust history books, developed their own curricula to teach it to their children and are building their own museums to memorialize the martyrs. Includes ultraorthodox writings from shortly after the war, postholocaust thought, and contemporary theology and critical studies. Review of zuroff, efraim, the response of orthodox jewry in the.
Theodicy on planet auschwitz alexander goldberg can job suggest and answer to the terrible question of where was god when six million jews were murdered. This reference text book its a thick, scholarly tome, not intended for easy reading presents a collection of jewish theological writings about the holocaust. Coronavirus, the greatest challenge to ultra orthodox jewish life since the holocaust. Zuroff, author of a new book, the response of orthodox jewry in the united states to the holocaust yeshiva university press, said he thought that. Jewish responses to the shaoh, to the holocaust, have been understandably multifaceted. The response of orthodox jewry in the united states to the holocaust. The third position contends that zionism was the sin that caused the holocaust, as the jews should have waited for the messiah rather than proactively try to build a jewish state in palestine. Yet, what is most important in this orthodox response is the stubborn refusal to admit that the holocaust was unique among the many destructions and hardships which are replete in jewish history. The ultra orthodox inevitably view the holocaust through a different lens than other jews. This study examines the religious response to the shoah of rabbi kalonymous shapira, a chasidic leader in the warsaw ghetto during the second world war. Considered the leading haredi scholar of the holocaust, she focuses on the spiritual responses of jews to nazi persecution.
My rav rabbi, who heads a community in lakewood, new jersey, does not see the driving focus of. Within all of the monotheistic faiths many answers theodicies have been. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Ny orthodox center writes book for pope on faith in the holocaust. She has introduced new sources for academic research on the holocaust and has also shepherded the incorporation of holocaust education in haredi girls. The coronavirus has dealt an unimaginable blow to the rabbinical authority and worldview that ultra orthodox jews previously regarded as infallible and eternal. Flavor of prewar hungarian jewish life captured in book of. This book records the history of the vaad hahatzala, which initially focused exclusively on the rescue of rabbis and yeshiva students, but later expanded its efforts to include all iews threatened by. The romanian orthodox church and the holocaust by ion popa. It will be the most complete anthology of its sort, bringing together for the first time. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel.
The orthodox jewish response during the holocaust artscroll judaiscope series. Is the holocaust indeed the driving force of ultra orthodox jewish communities such as mine. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Jewish theological responses during and after the holocaust kindle edition by katz, steven t.
Coronavirus, the greatest challenge to ultraorthodox. In the same breath as calling howard stern impure and despicable, rabbi yosef mizrachi says rate of intermarriage in europe before the holocaust proves fewer than 1 million real jews actually perished. Irving greenberg is a modern orthodox rabbi who has written extensively on how the holocaust should affect jewish theology. The activities of the vaadhatzalah rescue committee by william d. The authors have done an excellent job of picking the most important jewish thinkers about this. To the disapproval of his father, eliezer spends time discussing the kabbalah with moshe a the beadle, caretaker of the hasidic shtiebel house of prayer. Contemporary responses to the holocaust by konrad kwiet. Book awards book club selections books by author books by series coming soon kids books new releases teens books this months biggest new releases. This book is important and well written, but anyone interested in knowing about the response of orthodox jewry in the united states should also be sure to read the book they called him mike, about the heroic measures taken by the charismatic and selfless mike tress and other members of the youth movement that he put together as a leader of the agudath israel of america.
Only recently, after the fall of communism, are details of the history of the holocaust in romania coming to light. The book s narrator is eliezer, an orthodox jewish teenager who studies the talmud by day, and by night weeps over the destruction of the temple. Specific chapters cover responses in germany and in eastern europe. It may have been bigger in quantity of murders and much more cruel, but it is not qualitatively, or essentially, different. Is the holocaust indeed the driving force of ultraorthodox jewish communities such as mine. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading wrestling with god.
The responses of the ultra orthodox to the holocaust have long been neglected andor. The romanian orthodox church and the holocaust is an important book. His response and my answer to his response is found in jewish action spring,2003, pp. Despite the immense, everincreasing body of holocaust literature and representation, no single interpretation can provide definitive answers. By examining the ineffectual responses of american jewish organizations to news of the holocaust the book explains why orthodox rabbis preferred to go it alone, and even to ignore governmental. Holocaust theology is a body of theological and philosophical debate concerning the role of. Hopefully, this book will help change the common misconception that the orthodox went like sheep to the slaughter. It focuses on the efforts of solomon schonfeld, who was the leader of the ultra orthodox haredi community in britain at the time, and concentrates on the communitys efforts on behalf of the beleaguered jews on the continent rather than the. Katz 1985, schweid 1994, and braiterman 1998 are all scholarly monographs that investigate a variety of jewish thinkers, from liberal to orthodox. A new brooklyn museum aims to tell the story of its horrors from their perspective.
In one of his books, norman lamm treats wiesels theological novel, the. Philosophical and theological responses to the holocaust. Volume editors establish the thematic and conceptual framework within which the various holocaust responses are being analyzed. Greenberg has an orthodox understanding of god, he does not believe that god forces people to follow jewish law. The holocaust nearly wiped out the european population of orthodox jews, and saw their neighborhoods and religious institutions destroyed. Ion popa explores this history by scrutinizing the role of the romanian orthodox church from 1938 to the present day. I could even picture unaffiliated jews leaving the museum and assuming that traditional judaism no longer even exists. Hasidic responses to the holocaust in the light of. On the possibilities and limits of forgiveness is a book on the holocaust by holocaust survivor simon wiesenthal, in which he recounts his experience with a mortally wounded nazi during world war ii.
Since god did not prevent it, then god as traditionally understood either does not exist or has changed in some way. Holocaust remembrance and orthodox jews that is what bothered me the most. The romanian orthodox church and the holocaust is an extremely important, remarkable and wellwritten book. Most modern orthodox jews reject the idea that the holocaust was gods fault. Is ultraorthodox judaism a response to the holocaust. This book takes stock of the attempts within and across nations to come to terms with the murders. Orthodox judaism is an ideology that has a recognized niche in todays society, both secular and jewish. Jewish theological responses during and after the holocaust. The uniqueness of the holocaust my jewish learning. These writings show a profound, distinctive, religious sensibility that grew out of a deep commitment to the jewish theological tradition. The second view states that the holocaust happened as a result of the rise of reform and other nonorthodox forms of judaism. The orthodox jewish response during the holocaust, page 68, one of my ten books devoted to rescue and rescue attempts during the. In his controversial book, after auschwitz, he asserted that none of the traditional forms of. Its value is found in the fact that it exposes the extent to which the thread of continuity that runs through romanian christian nationalist discourse from the 1930s and 1940s, through the communist period, all the way to the present, is sustained by a systematic and organised.