Years came and years went and one day we received a call
from Osher's Rebbe.
"Why has Osher left the yeshiva?" This was the first we
heard of it. When Papa came home from work, Mutti urged him
to stay calm. "Can anyone be compelled to study full time?
Against his wishes? First let's hear what he has to say.
Then we must express our confidence that whatever will be,
will not affect his religious observance and love of Torah
and mitzvos."
Soon a very abashed looking Osher came home. Mutti served
tea and cake in the Rosenthaler set -- a sign that this was
a serious occasion. Papa turned to Osher, "Nu, let's
hear."
"Sholom is the Torah scholar of the family," Osher began.
"He is a born teacher and sure to be a menahel in a
yeshiva. But I need to work, not only to study full time."
Then he cited a list of our gedolim who were weavers
and dyers, shoemakers and shepherds, men who worked in
fields and vineyards. "I will learn with one of my former
Rebbes three evenings a week after work. I got a job at the
Israeli Embassy in New York which will open shortly."
Fait accompli. What could be said?
Osher's first day at the Embassy was filled with pride and
excitement. He saw to it that every room had a kosher
mezuza but found that those which had already been
affixed proved to contain printed mezuzos. These he
quickly discarded. He spoke to one of the men in charge for
permission to buy kosher handwritten ones on parchment and
then went off to the East Side. He looked at the different
parchments and decided, "I will only buy those that have
either tagim on all the words that require them, or
none at all. Not parchments that have the lettercrowns only
on some words and not on the others." It turned out to be a
monumental expense. When the clerk at the embassy gave him
the approved sum, he asked, "How shall I record this?"
Osher replied, "Security."
Having gotten permission to keep these expensive
mezuzos, Osher then went from room to room to put
them up. Afterwards, he climbed on the roof and attached a
small metal weight to the lower corner of the Israeli flag
so that it would not wind around the pole but fly
straight.
Opening Day at the Embassy
Long lines of people waited outside. Looking out of a
window, Osher recognized Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and ran to
Abba Eban with the news. There were also many other
dignitaries standing in line together with the ordinary
people, he reported. Osher was told to go down with another
employee and usher in the Mayor and Governor, but first,
Mrs. Roosevelt.
"I felt part of our history," he later told the family,
"when I walked up to Mrs. Roosevelt and said, `Mrs.
Roosevelt, please follow me into the Embassy.' " Later, he
met many other notables and in all of his time there, he
never missed a day's work or an evening of Torah study.
Then he was drafted into the American Army. When the draft
notice arrived, Mutti, always so cool and optimistic, was
weeping. "You see what comes of leaving the yeshiva? Think
of all those casualties in Korea . . . "
Osher was sent to a camp near Tom's River, New Jersey. As
soon as he arrived, he started to round up a minyan
for mincha. The next day he was called into the
office of the Protestant chaplain who told him, "I saw you
praying with your group yesterday. The fact is that we have
no Jewish chaplain here. I can make you Assistant Chaplain
and give you an office here. There are always mothers coming
to the gate to see their sons and if a Jewish mother comes,
you can take her to your office and send for her son so that
they can have some time together in privacy. The Jewish
Welfare Board will provide you with prayer books and a
scroll."
Osher hesitated. "I understand why you feel uncomfortable,"
the Chaplain said. "You can't pray here because there's a
cross. Well, it's on rollers and I can remove it when you
have your afternoon and evening prayers." Osher agreed.
Osher slept in a large room with some thirty recruits. As
soon as it dawned, he got up to daven. He refused to
eat at the mess (soldier's dining room) since even the bread
was brushed with lard. Some Jews from the area brought him
kosher food and a bakery from Newark sent him kosher bread,
rolls and cakes.
Early one morning, there was an unexpected visit from a high
ranking officer. Osher was just winding his tefillin
straps around his arm when the officer took note and asked
his escort, "Sergeant, what in the world is that soldier in
the corner doing?"
"He's saying his prayers, Sir," was the reply.
"Sergeant, if this man commits suicide, I shall hold you
personally responsible!"
*
Since Osher had to spend much time in his office, his basic
training took twice as long as the others', but finally,
orders came to ship out. On the top page it said `Korea' and
on the bottom page `Germany'. The office telegraphed
Washington and after two weeks, the answer came: Germany. He
was to ship out to Karlsruhe, U.S. Military District, Smiley
Barracks, Germany. He would return to the city of his
birth.
Osher's first task was to weed out the stacks of reports the
Nazis had left and to put aside the important ones. He
considered them all important, and for the first three
nights, he could not stop weeping after reading what had
been done to Jewish men, women and children.
The Army was proud that it had a soldier who knew German
fluently. His next assignment was to go to every store on
the main street, Kaiserstrasse, and order all the owners to
appear at Smiley Barracks at four o'clock. He marched into
each one, his Jewish heart aflame, and announced in a loud
angry voice, "You are hereby ordered to appear at 4 o'clock
sharp at Smiley Barracks."
He told us later, "I left them all shaking with fear." When
they got to the barracks, they were given coffee and cake
and asked how the U.S. Army could help them . . .
Osher found out that in Heidelberg there was a Jewish Old
Age Home that was strictly kosher. He went there twice a
week for a meal and they gave him food to take along. On the
Yomim Noroim, he officiated as chazzon and baal
koreh and delivered a sermon in German to all the
residents, as well as one in English for the American
soldiers who came to pray. He told us in his letters how
happy and satisfied this made him feel. He did this on all
of the Festivals as well.
