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The Surviving Jewish Community of Syria
"We are not afraid," says an influential member of the shrunken Jewish community of Damascus, several days after the dramatic revolution which felled the Assad rule. "No one barged into Jewish properties, shuls or homes," he assures his interviewer from the "Here are the News" program. "Very recently, I was walking along when one of the rebels even greeted me."
However, behind the reserved optimism is hidden a complex background of a historic community which was almost totally obliterated.
In the 40's of the previous century, the Jewish Syrian population numbered 30,000. Today, according to a well updated estimate, it is comprised of a mere three to thirty Jews in all, most of them elderly people hiding their identity.
Some good news for a change. The Institute for Freedom and Responsibility of the Reichman University ran a survey among Israelis, examining how the present war has impacted their level of religiosity. Citizens were asked if their belief in Supreme Providence has changed since the beginning of the war. Also, if their connection to Jewish tradition has been strengthened.
The findings show a marked rise in the religious level of Israelis because of the war. 31% of the participants felt that their belief in Hashem has grown and 28% reported that their connection to Jewish heritage has also increased.
Another interesting finding was that the religious spiritual reinforcement varied with age. Surprisingly, it was stronger among the youth, 37% of those between the ages of 18 and 35 reported a growth in their belief in Hashem since the beginning of the war, as opposed to a mere 18% of people from the 56 bracket and up. Similarly, younger people reported a newfound affinity to Jewish tradition.
The researchers' conclusion: ...
Among the great tzadikim and gedolim who illuminated the Torah world in the generation before the Second World War, a select few stand out as the major path finders of Klal Yisroel, and whose every thought and deed was given over to help Klal Yisroel as a whole. They made the important decisions and carried the heavy burden on their shoulders.
One of these select few was the Chortkover Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman zt'l. His chassidim numbered in their tens of thousands, and included quite a few famous Rebbes and rabbonim. The poseik hador, Reb Meir Arik of Tarnov and also the Lubliner Rov, Reb Meir Shapiro zt'l were faithful chassidim of the Rebbe of Chortkov, as were the rebbes of Slonim, Amshinov and Radomsk. It was not an uncommon sight to see up to 200 rabbonim sitting at the Rebbe's tish.
Part II
Avoda of Tzedoko
Even though great sums of money were deposited in the Rebbe's hands by those who had been helped through him, the Rebbe was very careful never to use money received from non-kosher sources. This point is illustrated through the following story which was told over by Reb Dovid Prever zt'l from Antwerp. Reb Dovid who was a well known Chortkov chassid lived in Berlin.
One Friday night Reb Dovid's door bell rang. An assimilated Jew who had heard that Reb Dovid intended to visit his Rebbe soon and he wanted to ask for a brocho for himself. The assimilated Jew took out a kvittel and some money and put them down on Reb Dovid's table, asking him to please hand them over to the Rebbe.
Reb Dovid, aghast at this open display of chilul Shabbos, thought at first that he would not take the kvittel with him. On second thought however, he decided that since he had been asked to carry out a mission, he would do so and whatever the Rebbe would do with the kvittel and pidyon was none of his business.
When Reb Dovid entered the Rebbe's room he put down on the Rebbe's table the two sums of money: his and the other Yid's. He made no mention of how the money from the other Jew had arrived into his hands. Normally the Rebbe never looked at the pidyon. He would ignore it leaving it to a gabbai to clear away. This time however the Rebbe took the money which the assimilated Jew had sent, and put it in his breast pocket. Reb Dovid noticed this sudden change but said nothing. Reb Dovid's money stayed lying on the table as usual, awaiting the gabbai.
After the conversation came to a close, the Rebbe told Reb Dovid that he had to go somewhere and that he wanted Reb Dovid to accompany him...
Rain and Kinneret Watch by Dei'ah Vedibur
Staff
Our weekly report of the rain and the level of the Kineret -
Winter, 5785.
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Outstanding Articles From Our Archives
IN-DEPTH FEATURES
My Grasp of this Maseches is More Childish"
The first years of Torah study of Rav Hutner were in special, private sessions. His father conveyed a great deal of his original approach to chinuch to his son in his first years of childhood.
The first maseches that he studied was Bava Kammo. Over fifty years later, he remarked: "I feel that this maseches gave me an advantage in the power of my memory. I remember this maseches more. However, in regard to understanding, my grasp of this maseches is more childish compared to other masechtos."
He added a pearl of wisdom: "This is the reason that we repeat with a child "Shema Yisroel" specifically when he is very young. This is the way something penetrates the memory. The more someone is accustomed to hearing something in his early years, the more he will remember it."
His parents were in financial difficulty. His father once traveled for business purposes, and after a while sent money to his wife for a new dress, with the instruction that she should wait for a certain special occasion to wear it for the first time. This special occasion was the siyum of Bava Kammo by their firstborn, beloved son!
In Slobodka
In Tishrei, 5682 (1922), Rav Hutner arrived in Yeshivas Slobodka. Soon after he arrived, the Alter of Slobodka, Maran HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt'l, sent HaRav Yechezkel Borstein zt'l, the author of the Divrei Yechezkel, during the Yom Kippur prayers to ask Rebbe Yitzchok for his mother's name so that he could pray for him. Rav Hutner went up to the Alter himself to give him his mother's name, which earned him affection from his Rebbe.
Rav Hutner wrote in a letter (5682): "Almost six months have passed since I arrived in Slobodka. I have changed a lot in this short amount of time. When I came to Slobodka I had various questions and problems. As long as I lack a complete, orderly world perspective I cannot be mussari (a person of high morals and ethics)."
Opinion & Comment
In the previous articles we have explained the importance of the ascending and descending order of the Alef Beis, and the significance of the At Bash alphabetic structure.
Rav Saadia Gaon explained how both the twenty-two and twenty- seven letter alphabets proclaim Yimloch Hashem in their own specific and unique way. The difference between the twenty-two letter alphabet and the twenty-seven letter one are the five 'final' letters which are referred to by their acronym Mantzpach. This stands for the five final letters: Mem, Nun, Tzadi, Pei, and Chof, which take on a different form when they occur at the end of a letter. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer refers to this MANTZPACH alphabet which is made up of the five final letters, as the alphabet of Redemption. It is for this reason that these letters always appear at the end of a word, as redemption is the final stage, at the end of each exile.
If we examine the order that these five letters appear in the acronym MANTZPACH, we find that they do not appear to follow any specific order. We would have expected the final two letters Pei and Chof to appear earlier in the sequence, if the word MANTZPACH follows an ascending order.
Of all the verses that we use in our siddur, there is only one that does not actually appear in Tanach but is compiled from three different sources. This is the verse, `Hashem melech, Hashem moloch, Hashem yimloch le'olom vo'ed.' The numerical value of each of the words melech and moloch equals ninety, whereas the word yimloch has a numerical value of one hundred.
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