Before . . .

After!

My friend Jennifer knows that I love nothing more than cleaning and organizing closets!  She offered to help my meet my mitzvah goal by letting me into her closet – which I understand is very personal, and I feel honored to be trusted with this task.  We took every item out of Jen’s side and put the clothes into piles.  Only the items that she loves and looks great in went back inside.  She was able to get rid of three large garbage bags of clothes!  Now when she gets dressed each day, she knows that she has lots of great choices.  A win-win!

Rabbi Aryeh Leibowitz says, “The Gemara (Yevamos 79a) lists the three “signs”, or distinguishing characteristics, of the Jewish people: We are a merciful, bashful and kind people. Jews have distinguished themselves in America with great philanthropy and genuine concern for the welfare of the less fortunate. Our generosity is not limited to our willingness to give charity, but extends to giving of ourselves physically as well.” He concludes that, “giving blood, while not always obligatory is at a minimum, permissible, and more likely a very great mitzvah.” (http://www.torahmusings.com/2010/11/blood-donations-according-to-halacha/)

On Sunday, in Orlando, a crazed gunman entered Pulse, a gay nightclub, and gunned down the patrons, killing 49 people and injuring more than 50 others.  It was a the worst mass shooting in American history, in terms of numbers dead and injured.  The next day, there were lines of hundreds of people lining up to donate blood to the injured victims.  I was inspired.  I felt helpless, yet wanted to help.  I was too far away to do anything for the Orlando victims, but I could donate blood here in solidarity and memory of those who were killed.  I never gave blood before.  I was really nervous.  But I found a blood drive, drove there before I could change my mind, took deep breaths, and donated a pint of blood.  It felt great.  I think I’ll do it every 8 weeks, as recommended.  An easy mitzvah to add to my regular repertoire!

In the Torah, God has commanded us, “And you shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your home, and on your gates” (ibid., verse 9). Hence the mezuzah: a parchment scroll inscribed with the verses of the Shema prayer is affixed to the right doorpost of every room in a Jewish home.  The mezuzah is also a symbol of God’s watchful care. The name of God, Sha-dai, which appears on the reverse side of the parchment, is an acronym for the Hebrew words which mean “Guardian of the doorways of Israel.” Placing a mezuzah on the doors of a home or office protects the inhabitants—whether they are inside or out.

The mezuzah pictured above is a product of the project “Mezuzah From This Home” by the Judaica design brand Mi Polin (“From Poland”). The company was founded by a young Polish couple: Helena Czernek, 29, a designer, and Alexander Prugar, 30, a photojournalist.  Helena was a member of the Warsaw Moishe House, which our Jewish Federation Funds in part.  Mi Polin marks the first time Judaica objects are designed and produced in Poland after the Second World War.

According to the literature that came with my mezuzah, Poland had 3.5 million Jewish inhabitants before WWII.  In almost all of the Jewish homes, there was at least one mezuzah.  During the war, almost all of the Jews perished and the mezuzot are gone forever.  Only empty holes are left.  Helena and Alexander make molds of the holes and nails, the traces, where these mezuzot once lay.  These traces are witnesses for the Jewish inhabitants in Poland, an emptiness and symbol of those who passed away.

This particular mezuzah is from a tenement house at 8 Mostowa that was built sometime between 1868 and 1873 in Krakow.  The owner of the building was Abraham Lednitzer. He also had a prayer house built in 1907 in the backyard, which is now used as a workshop.  This bronze cast is from the mezuzah on the doorframe in apartments 18 and 19.  The Steiner family lived in apt. 19: Chasel Jakub (1894) and his wife Sheindel Matel (1898), and their children Fela (1918), Bronistawa (1921), Szaja (1923) and Pinkus (1930).  Records show that Fela and Szaja were transferred to a different apartment in 1941 and then sent to Lubicz camp.  Probably none of them survived.

Now I have the trace of their mezuzah on my front door.  I will remember them each time I enter my house.  Never forget.

Maddie and I ate dinner in the food court of the King of Prussia Mall tonight.  Maddie ordered a pasta dish in a pink sauce that was very creamy – it would have done a number on her lactose intolerant stomach.  Instead of eating it, she ordered a sandwich.  We decided to save it in and look for a homeless person to give it to.  We drove to Philly to see a show at the theater at St. Joes.  On the way there, there was a homeless woman in her 20s with her dog, asking for money near the highway exit.  I asked her if she was hungry, and she said that she was.  We gave her the pasta, and she was very appreciative.  I wished her luck, and I hope that she’s able to get herself off of the streets and somewhere safe.  I hope the kindness of two strangers resonated with her . . .

Yes, I already did a post on Hachnassat Orchim, when I welcomed my Tribe guests to my home for dinner.  This is a different focus of the same mitzvah – welcoming strangers.  Providing hospitality to strangers has its roots in biblical times, when Abraham opened his tent to three strangers.  In Pirke Avot 1:15 we are taught, “Let your house be opened wide and let the poor be members your household.”

From May 6 to May 15, we welcoming two teenagers from Petach Tikvah, Israel into our home.  May and Noy were our guests for the week, and though they arrived as strangers, they left as family.  Madelyn had the brunt of entertaining our guests, but we all banded together to cook meals, drive them to the mall, provide a comfortable space in our home and make them feel welcome.  I hope that we did our job!

(and it’s almost my  half birthday and I’m halfway done with my mitzvot!!)

Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.  It is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish Resistance in that period.  I commemorated this important day by participating in the March of the Living.

Fifteen thousand Jews from forty different countries made the trek from Auschwitz to Birkenau. As far as the eye could see, there were young people joined by survivors, draped in and defiantly waving Israeli flags, walking along the same railroad tracks that brought millions to their deaths. In the celebrated words of Polish-born Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, we were “praying with our feet.”

Our march, haunting and inspiring, culminated in the singing of Hatikvah on the site of the Birkenau concentration camp.  There were joyous moments – so many young people remembering the dead, thousands of Jews singing and holding hands, and a man from Korea repeating in Hebrew over and over, “I have no words.”  There were many heartbreaking moments – revisiting the selection platform where our accompanying survivor, Anneleise Nossbaum, said her last goodbyes to her favorite aunt, finding my relatives’ names in the huge Book of Remembrance, seeing the remnants of the Jews that the Nazi’s collected, and the raw personal testimony of Edward Mosberg, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor wearing his striped uniform who, burning with rage, recounted the murder family.  The day alternated between sunny and beautiful, and then pouring rain – a perfect reflection of our emotions that day.

Going forward, as there are fewer survivors and fewer hear the stories of loss and pain from those who experienced it firsthand, it is imperative we think of ways to transmit the memory and lessons of the Holocaust in ways that will resonate for the next generations.  It’s our sacred duty and an absolute mitzvah to carry these stories forward — and bear witness for those who can’t.

The Korean supporter

Anneliese, her daughter and granddaughter entering Birkenau

My memory plaque on the train tracks

The other side of my memory plaque

Edward Moser and is granddaughter

Beginning the march

Birkenau

The path they walked to the gas chamber, entitled “Heaven Walk”

My yartzeit candle and stone

The mass grave

The train station

It says in the Torah that you shall not “place a stumbling block before the blind (Leviticus 19:14)  In Jewish tradition, the Kohanim are not allowed to have contact with the dead as to not become impure.  Historically, the purpose of marking graves is so that Kohanim should not become imbued with corpse impurity by inadvertently stepping or bending over a grave. This is everyone’s responsibility. The mitzvah is to raise a pile of rocks over the grave. Every person who walks by helps maintain the marker by replacing or adding rocks, so the marker is stable across time. Eventually someone thought of adding a big rock with the personal information of the deceased. A further idea proposed cementing the rocks together which made the whole marker much more solid. Today you have the common monument and headstone you see in cemeteries. Maintaining grave markers is considered a mitzvah and adding a rock is the way that mitzvah is done.

On June 10th 1942, my great aunts Elisabeth Betty Leopold (age 49 – my age!), Jetchen Leopold (age 57) and my great grandparents Freida Trief (age 59) and Karl Trief (age 54) were deported from Wiesbaden, Germany. The transport reached Lublin on June 13th, and from there headed to a death camp in the eastern part of Poland called Sobibor. It is widely assumed that the prisoners were gassed by carbon monoxide hours after their arrival and thrown into mass graves.

Today I visited those graves.  My ancestors had no funeral, no proper burial, no one to say Kaddish for them, no one to light a Yartzeit candle, no one to mourn their departure.  My visit to Sobibor allowed me to belatedly honor my relatives.  I had a guide and learned what I could about their final hours.  I said Kaddish, lit a candle and lay a stone on the monument marking their passing.  I cried on their mass grave.  I hope that I had some part in elevating and bringing peace to their souls.

Our 2016 tennis season has begun!  Once again, I am the captain of the Matchmakers.  We play out of Radnor Valley Country Club on the USTA 3.0, ages 40+ team.  No one wants to be the captain, so I stepped up and took over so that we could have a team.  Being captain involves recruiting players, communicating with the other captains, setting up a practice time, communicating with the players (before and after a match), making sure we have enough players each week, working closely with Coach Ken, puzzling out the schedule in case of rain, reworking the lineup when players are injured/sick, overseeing the lunches that our club provides on home matches, etc.  It’s a pain in the butt, but I do it because I love the team and enjoy our season. No, I don’t get paid.  It’s another Mitzvah from the Heart.

Anonymous friend (hiding behind her crutches) broke her leg is numerous places and has had surgery, other medical issues that arose from this break, a few different “casts” and has been unable to leave her house for weeks.  I have been trying to bring some joy to her life by visiting her as often as I could.  On this day, she was ready for her first excursion.  We carefully ventured out of the house for sushi.  We found a restaurant where parking was close to the front door and we could eat outside and enjoy the fresh air.  We always love connecting and never run out of things to talk about, and this was an especially nice outing!  It makes me so happy to see my friend happy!

One of our neighbors has a huge milestone this weekend – their oldest daughter is getting married.  Though we aren’t close enough with them to be included in the celebration, we really like them and wanted to share in their joy.  The dad told me that they were having a big family meal tomorrow night at 333 Belrose, where we spend a lot of time.  We decided to send a bottle of Prosecco to their table, with a congratulatory card attached.  I hope they like it!!