The Story Of Irene Gut Opdyke, The Polish Nurse Who Saved Countless Jewish Lives During The Holocaust

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The Story Of Irene Gut Opdyke, The Polish Nurse Who Saved Countless Jewish Lives During The Holocaust

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kneged culam

 בבא בתרא ט׳ א:י״ב

וְאָמַר רַב אַסִּי שְׁקוּלָה צְדָקָה כְּנֶגֶד כׇּל הַמִּצְוֹת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְהֶעֱמַדְנוּ עָלֵינוּ מִצְוֹת וְגוֹ׳ מִצְוָה אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן אֶלָּא מִצְוֹת

And Rav Asi says: Charity is equivalent to all the other mitzvot combined, as it is stated in that verse: “We also established mitzvot upon ourselves.” A mitzva is not written here, but rather mitzvot, in the plural, thereby teaching that this mitzva is equivalent to all the other mitzvot.

Jewish national survival - Rav Schwab

 וַיְהִ֤י בַבֹּ֨קֶר֙ וַתִּפָּ֣עֶם רוּח֔וֹ וַיִּשְׁלַ֗ח וַיִּקְרָ֛א אֶת־כָּל־חַרְטֻמֵּ֥י מִצְרַ֖יִם וְאֶת־כָּל־חֲכָמֶ֑יהָ וַיְסַפֵּ֨ר פַּרְעֹ֤ה לָהֶם֙ אֶת־חֲלֹמ֔וֹ וְאֵֽין־פּוֹתֵ֥ר אוֹתָ֖ם לְפַרְעֹֽה

"Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called all the necromancers of Egypt and all its sages, and Pharaoh related to them his dream, but no one interpreted them for Pharaoh." (Bereishis 41:8)

In commenting on these posukim from parshas Miketz, Rav Shimon Schwab z’tl asks why Pharaoh should be so troubled by a dream. He knew most dreams are just the result of daytime musings and not to be taken seriously. 

He explains that Pharaoh relied on his military might for confidence. In his mind, victory went to the powerful, so he had no need to fear his people since the army was in his command. However, his dream contradicted his way of thinking. In his first dream, emaciated cows consumed fat ones, and in his second dream withered stalks consumed healthy ones. 

This caused him to panic as he took it as a message from his gods. The dream couldn’t have emerged from his mind. On his own, he would never entertain the thought of the weak conquering the strong. He feared a rebellion and summoned his advisors to strategize. 

Rav Schwab notes that it is fitting that we read parshas Miketz during Chanukah where we thank Hashem for delivering “the mighty into the hands of the weak.” During Chanukah, the mystery of Jewish national survival is demonstrated once again. Hashem protects the nation despite the odds and against the postulations of military analysis on who appears weak and who appears strong.

TIDE from the Lubavitcher Rebbe

The Rebbe's advice for a young woman on how to regain meaning in her life

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Chanukah

Most of us generally associate Chanukah with the nisim of the military victory and the oil as well as various mitzvos and minhagim surrounding them. However, looking deeper, we see other inyanim at play, in particular tefillah, the unity of Hashem, and the identity of Klal Yisroel. It starts with tefillah. Not only do we today add special tefillos for Chanukah that commemorate the events of the past, but the Avos themselves davened for the welfare of the yidden for the events that would take place in the future. Rav Elimelech Biderman, shlita, brings Rav Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl (18th century) to explain. At the akeidah, Avraham said, וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶל־נְעָרָ֗יו שְׁבוּ־לָכֶ֥ם פֹּה֙ עִֽם־הַחֲמ֔וֹר וַאֲנִ֣י וְהַנַּ֔עַר נֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־כֹּ֑ה וְנִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖ה וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה אֲלֵיכֶֽם (Bereishis 22:5). “Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you.” The word כה has the numerical value of 25, hinting at the 25th of Kislev, when Chanukah begins. 

Yosef HaTzadick offered similar tefillos. We see this in the posuk וַיִּשָּׂ֣א עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּ֞רְא אֶת־בִּנְיָמִ֣ין אָחִיו֮ בֶּן־אִמּוֹ֒ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הֲזֶה֙ אֲחִיכֶ֣ם הַקָּטֹ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֵלָ֑י וַיֹּאמַ֕ר אֱלֹהִ֥ים יׇחְנְךָ֖ בְּנִֽי (Bereishis 43:29). “Looking about, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and asked, “Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “May God be gracious to you, my boy.’” יחנך, be gracious, alludes to חנוכה. 

So not only do our tefillos to Hashem connect us to our ancestors who battled the Syrian Greeks, but they connect us to the Avos who davened on behalf of their descendants in their struggle against the Syrian Greeks. Our tefillos on Chanukah take us all the way back to the Avos. We all meet, with the Avos going 1,600 years into the future, and we going 2,161 years in the past. We are one nation, not only in any one era, but across eras. Hashem Echad, the unity of Hashem, is reflected in the unity of His people across time and space.