I would like to share with you the story of ‘Schneiweisz,’ a ‘kapo’ in the Concentration Camps, and why my father a”h would say Yizkor every Yom Kippur for his soul’s ascent. But before we start, a few words on the parshah.
Have you ever heard of the expression, “the Pinteleh Yid?” This refers to the Jew’s soul, which is a spark that always remains alight. Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, world-renowned psychiatrist and author, writes (in ‘Twerski on the Chumash,’ pages 59-60) that “within every Jew there is a Divine spark which is never extinguished, and given the right circumstances, even someone who is distant from Torah can rise to spiritual heights.”
Let us take a look at two characters in Jewish history and gain insight into both “the depths to which a person may sink and the dazzling spiritual heights to which one may rise from the depths,” (ibid).
The verse in this week’s parshah (27:27) states that, “and he smelt the scent of his garments…” The Rabbis point out that the Hebrew word for “his garments,” ‘begodov,’ is written without punctuation and can therefore be read also as ‘boigedov,’ i.e. G-d’s rebellious, or treacherous ones.
Yosef Meshisah was a Jew who lived at the time of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh, the holy Jewish Temple, at the hands of the Romans. Being that the Romans were afraid to themselves enter into the Temple, they requested of the Jews who remained alive that one of them enter – to so-to-speak affirm that the ‘coast was clear’ – and he would be rewarded with being allowed to keep for himself whatever vessel he laid his hands upon. Yosef Meshisah was that Jew, who volunteered himself. Imagine the brazenness and corruption displayed!
He came out of the Temple, holding the Menorah, the candelabra, in his hands. “This you cannot keep,” said the Romans, “for it is fitting as a national trophy but not for an individual person to keep…” “Go in again, select some other vessel and that one will be yours to keep.”
But Yosef Meshisah refused. “Is it not enough that I angered my Maker once, that I need to repeat it a second time?” at threat of death, he stood steadfast in his resolution to not comply with the Romans, and was ultimately tortured to death.
“Fortunate is he who acquires his portion in the world to come in one moment.”
And now we have the story of ‘Schneiweisz,’ the Jewish Kapo in the Concentration Camps.
The day was Yom Kippur, in the Concentration Camps. In their fiendish cruelty, the Nazis – may their names be blotted out – designed some ‘fun.’ It consisted of bringing steaming hot, delicious smelling food to the starving inmates, and granting permission on this day of all days – to partake of proper food; the Nazis knew full well that the Jews would be terribly afflicted with the conflict of starving people being teased and tormented with real food, for they knew that the Jews did not eat on Yom Kippur…
But when it came to it, the Jews simply refused to eat. Enraged, the Nazis turned to Schneiweisz, the Kapo. “Tell them to eat,” the Nazis instructed.
Schneiweisz, like many other Kapo’s, was notorious for his brutality towards his own brethren, those less-fortunate than himself. Now he spoke up, and in a deliberate manner, he stated that as today was Yom Kippur, he was not willing to comply with the Germans orders.
“Tell them to eat, or we will kill you,” screamed the infuriated Nazi commander. But Schneiweisz refused and was shot dead, ‘al Kiddush Hashem,’ in sanctification of G-d’s name; and so, my father would recited the memorial Yizkor prayer for Schneiweisz’s soul…
Every Jew has the Divine spark within him. Everyone can turn this spark into a bright light.
Good Shabbos, Yosef