KT260 Chanukah During the Holocaust

12/16/20 • 0 min

The Gratitudinal Leader with Anthony Zolezzi

EPISODE 260-KT260-Chanukah-During-the-Holocaust
GRATITUDE IN A MINUTE WITH KAREN TREIGER
I never heard my in-laws, Sam and Esther Goldberg speak of Chanukah during the war years. I imagine that in 1939 and 1940, when they lived under Soviet occupation in eastern Poland, they were able to light Chanukah candles. But after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, I don’t think Chanukah was celebrated again until they were liberated. But there were Jews who, even during the darkest years of the war found ways to light candles. For example, in the Concentration Camp Theresienstadt, in 1942, Arnold Zadikow and Leopold Hecht carved a stunning Menorah with a star of David out of a block of wood. Others imprisoned at Bergen-Belsen used carved-out potatoes and made wicks from loose thread and saved scraps of fat from their food to burn. Others such as the Elchanan family who on Chanukah of 1943, found themselves at Westerbork, a transit camp in the Netherlands, made a Menorah out of wood and aluminum foil, using cotton as wicks and grease to light the fire. I’m grateful that their spirit of freedom burned within them, even when their physical freedom was taken away.
[Source Natasha Frost – Amid the Holocaust Horrors, many Jews found ways to Mark Hanukah. History. Dec. 20, 2019. https://www.history.com/news/holocaust-hanukkah-concentration-camps-jews ]

Previous Episode

KT259 Gratitude For Chanukah At Home

EPISODE 259-KT259-Gratitude-For-Chanukah-At-Home
GRATITUDE IN A MINUTE WITH KAREN TREIGER
Today is the fifth day of Chanukah and I’m traveling back home. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to light candles and celebrate with my New York based family. The twins, Sammy and Evie, who are three months old, were delightful and smiled and coo’ed their way through the first days of Chanukah. I appreciate that I was able to travel to New York and see them, hold them and give them some Bubbi love. I had a wonderful trip and spending time with my two daughters and son-in-law (and his family) was a treat. I am deeply grateful for my mechuten’s hospitality. But I am so happy to be heading home – to Seattle – and to have three more days and nights of Chanukah to light candles and celebrate with my Seattle family, especially my mother, my husband, son, daughter-in-law, and 15-month-old grandson. It’s really nice to travel, but its especially nice to come back home.

Next Episode

KT361 Chanuka Should We Celebrate for Seven or Eight Days

EPISODE 261-KT261Chanuka-Should-We-Celebrate-for-Seven-or-Eight-Days
GRATITUDE IN A MINUTE WITH KAREN TREIGER
Chanuka is about victory, miracles, blessings, thanks and survival.
Usually, we say that we celebrate the miracle that the oil burned for eight days. But why do we celebrate Chanukah for 8 days? The first day and night, there was no miracle – the people knew there would be enough oil for one day. The miracle was the next 7 days. So, we shouldn’t we only celebrate for 7 days?
The miracle of the first day, says Rabbi David Hartman (Z’L), was that the people were willing to go ahead and light the with the small jar of oil – with no “reasonable assurance that their efforts would be sufficient to complete the rededication of the Temple. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle expressed by those who lit the lamp and not only the miracle of the lamp’s continued burning for eight days.”
This is a wonderful reminder that it’s up to us to take the first step, even if we don’t know how it will turn out.