By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
SAN DIEGO — Pesach is a time of salvation and redemption. Despite our bitter bondage, we were faithful to Hashem (G-d) and the ways of the Torah. Against all odds, open miracles occured to sustain our lives and freedom. This happened then and it still happens now as the following true story illustrates:
Mrs. Weiss (not her real name), a patient in Medical City Hospital, survived the nightmare years of Hitler, Yemach Shemo. As a teenage girl who hailed from Belgium, she witnessed the tightening of the noose around our people. Her blond hair and blue eyes masked her Jewish soul, and before the Nazis came for her family she slipped away from her home and assumed the identity of a Gentile.
Rabbi Aryeh Rodin of Congregation Ohev Shalom, Dallas Texas, was visiting Mrs. Weiss and inquired, “Mrs. Weiss, did you ever see miracles in your experiences during the Holocaust?”
“Rabbi, if it weren’t for miracles, I would never have made it out alive. Because of my non-Jewish appearance, I was able to travel freely and I would try to help my fellow Jews by smuggling into their hiding places different types of food.
“One year, right before Passover, I decided to load up a suitcase with Shmurah Matzah that was secretly baked and surreptitiously bring it to a place where I knew that it could be distributed to our people. The knowledge that soon my starving Jewish brothers and sisters would eat Shmurah Matzah filled me with great joy. Yet these feelings of immense happiness were shattered when the train that I was riding on was stopped and boarded by Gestapo agents.
“The Gestapo would carry out random raids where they could search any and everyone, any and everything. When the Gestapo took over a train as they did, all onboard were powerless to do anything but wait for as long as it took for them to conclude their inspection. For all of the passengers on the train this was a huge nuisance and inconvenience.
“But for me it was much worse. If they found the matza, whether they realized I was Jewish or not, I would be suspected of aiding and abetting the Jews. Forget about a trial, the mere suspicion was enough to get me shot on the spot; or worse, I could be detained and tortured to reveal the location of the Jewish hideout.
“One of them approached me and menacingly asked what was inside my suitcase. I was so frightened I couldn’t answer. He barked at me and ordered me to open it and I knew that he would murder me when he would see the contents that it contained. The suitcase was encircled by knotted, twisted cords and I fumbled in my half-hearted attempts to open it. In my heart I knew I was only prolonging the inevitability of my death when suddenly the Nazi grabbed my suitcase and, miracle upon miracle, he too could not undo the knots. Inexplicably he glowered at me, threw down my suitcase and moved on to search the remaining passengers.”
Dedicated by Linda & Ron Holman (who wish the entire congregation and fellow ShulWeek readers a Chag Pesach Sameach!) in honor of their twin grandchildren Gavriel and Yonah Mordechai Saida on the occasion of their upsherin.
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Rabbi Lederman is spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillas Torah in San Diego. He may be contacted at baruch.lederman@sdjewishworld.com