Questions tagged [holocaust-shoah]
Questions relating to the Holocaust, the period of history between 1941-45 which saw the systematic genocide of 6 millions Jews.
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Understanding the Shoah
Good morning,
I am Italian (Catholic) and passionate about religions at a “non-professional amateur” level.
May I ask two questions (hoping they are not stupid):
(a) Can hatred of Jews also stem from ...
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Music for Yom Hashoah [duplicate]
Is it permissable to listen to live music during the Omer for the sake of Yom Hashoah commemoration?
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The Klausenburger Rebbe's speech and Zionism
In the new book on the Klausenburger Rebbe, "The Klausenburger Rebbe
Building Torah and Emunah in the Aftermath of the Holocaust", the famous story is told about when (the then) General ...
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Halacha Sefer Quoting Reason for Holocaust [duplicate]
A while ago I saw in a Shailos u'Teshuvos sefer (I think Divrei Yatziv or Be'er Moshe) saying that the Posek saw a woman crying out that this tragedy was happening to Klal Yisroel because of talking ...
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The nature of the specific Pharoah when we left Egypt, and his relation to Amalek?
Who was the specific Pharoah of Egypt when the Jews left Egypt? And also, given "Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and ...
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Why did the Piasezcner's students give his writings the title Aish Kodesh?
I have a copy of Polen's The holy fire but I don't currently have access to the Hebrew or English versions of Aish Kodesh. Is it known why the Piasezcner's students in Israel gave this title to his ...
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Bobover Rebbe Shlomo and Lubavitch Yechidus [closed]
I read in only one source that the Bobover Rebbe, Reb Shlomo zt”l went to seek guidance from the Freidiker Rebbe, the Rayatz, post Holocaust, because he didn’t want to be Rebbe. He purportedly visited ...
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Why was Yom HaShoah not established as a fast day?
Why was Yom HaShoah, the memorial day for the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, not established as a fast day? That would be consistent as we fast on other days when we commemorate past ...
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Aish Kodesh - Edition Recommendations
Can someone recommend a good edition of Aish Kodesh by R. Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro? I am looking for an English or Hebrew edition.
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Rabbinical reaction to Milgram's experiments
Were/are there rabbis that wrote or spoke about Milgram's experiments, presenting a Torah view on the matter (the question of whether the Nazis were unique or the theory that anyone could potentially ...
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Remove Holocaust tattoos?
Jewish law says that tattoos must be voluntary to be reprehensible:
If [the tattoo] was made [involuntarily] in the flesh of another, the one to whom it was done is blameless. [Shulḥan Arukh, Yoreh ...
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Was Nazi sadism a case of "surrender your life if they're trying to stamp out religion"?
The Gemara Sanhedrin 74b reads:
נכרי דאמר ליה להאי ישראל קטול אספסתא בשבתא ושדי לחיותא ואי לא קטילנא לך ליקטיל ולא לקטליה שדי לנהרא ליקטליה ולא ליקטול מ"ט לעבורי מילתא קא בעי
If a non-Jew tells ...
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Holocaust Remembrance Fast Day
Rabbi Yom Tov Schwarz (See: “EYES TO SEE: Recovering Ethical Torah Principles Lost in the Holocaust”) argues that the Jewish people (led by the Torah observant community) should designate a fast day ...
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Gedolim During the Holocaust
During a lecture addressing the Torah perspective on the Holocaust, a Rosh Yeshiva mentioned a letter which Rav Aharon Kotler z"tl wrote telling someone to remain in Europe because the war would blow ...
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Does the Tokhacha (Leviticus 26:14-41; Deuteronomy 28:15-68) apply to the Holocaust?
Does the curse of the Law (Leviticus 26:14-41 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68) apply in some way to the Shoah/Holocaust? Likewise, the prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9:4-19, in which he does not blame the ...
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Greeting on Yom Hashoah [duplicate]
What is the proper greeting on Yom hashoah?
I am not Jewish but do have some Jewish friends and would like to know how to greet them on this day of remembrance.
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Do Jewish historians consider the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE on par with the Shoah/Holocaust? [closed]
I'm trying to get a sense for how devastating it was to Jews at the time relative to the Shoah of modern times.
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Is the holocaust divine punishment for the wrongs Jews have done? [duplicate]
Just wanted an evaluation of this question from a Jewish standpoint.
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Use of the Word "Shoah" Before the Holocaust [closed]
Are there any Hebrew texts that employ the word "Shoah" to refer to calamities that befell the Jewish people prior to the 20th century? Or is the use of "Shoah" to refer to the assault against Jews as ...
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Can I buy products that are made in Germany?
Is there an accepted practice among Jews to not buy products from Germany because of the behavior of the German people as a whole during World War II? Was this ever legislated in any way by any ...
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R' Desler's Theory Behind the Holocaust
I remember a few years ago reading a compilation about the holocaust, including many articles about Agunas and such Halachic questions that were caused by the holocaust. It included a Hashkafa ...
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Kohanim in Eastern Europe
Another question on this website deals with the issue of kohanim in Auschwitz. To be "strict", a kohen today could simply avoid going to death camps altogether. Elsewhere, however, is not so easy. Are ...
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Who recognizes Yom HaShoah?
It seems that the more religious one is, the less likely one is to commemorate(?) the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah.
To what extent is this true?
Which groups do and do not observe Yom HaShoah as their ...
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Kel Maleh Rachamim for Jewish martyrs
I am looking for variant texts of Kel Maleh Rachamim for the shoah, for Jewish martyrs generally, and for members of the IDF who perished in battle.
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How does Judaism answer the problem of evil? [duplicate]
I would think that after the great amount of suffering the Jews had to suffer in the 20th century a whole lot of them had to review how the deity they believed in could let what was happening to them ...
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Studying Holocaust Responsa on Tish'ah BeAv
One of the restrictions practiced on Tish'ah BeAv is the study of Torah, because Torah study "gladdens the heart".
Several exceptions have been formally codified, which are of a nature germane to the ...
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How do we know what the truth about Israel really is? [closed]
I went to a class about the various different Orthodox Jewish stances on the State of Israel. In the class, the Rabbi gave 5 different such stances.This ranged from #1 being religiously anti-State of ...
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Was God actively involved in bringing out the Holocaust?
Did the Holocaust occur due to G-d's active involvement, or was it due to Him merely removing His protection from them?
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Can you attend Purim dressed like Hitler?
My question concerns an halakic issue about dressing up during Purim.
Would someone allowed to dress up like Hitler during Purim, provided that this infamous man was the modern version of Haman?
I ...
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Agunoth and Mamzerim after the Holocaust
What have Posekim decided regarding families that were torn apart as a result of the Holocaust, particularly with respect to marriages where the husband was taken and never seen again (but not ...
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Jew raised in a secular home wants to connect again, Switzerland
There is a friend living in Switzerland whose mother was born Jewish and converted to Christianity.
The short story. His grandfather got lost during the Holocaust, his grandmother went to ...
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Cohanim in Auschwitz
A lot of people died in Auschwitz, and since cohanim are not allowed to become tamei (ritually impure) by touching a corpse, may cohanim enter Auschwitz?
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Lubavitcher Rebbe on the Shoah
There is a controversial analogy attributed to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in which the Shoah is looked upon as a surgical procedure, with God being likened to a surgeon who removes a limb in the best ...
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Why isn't Hallel recited on VE Day?
There is a good deal of controversy about reciting Hallel on days not ordained by ancient tradition. But there are at least some opinions that Hallel should be recited to commemorate dates of ...
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Does a Rabbi have to sink with his ship?
There is a famous story (mentioned in his wikipedia article) that R' Elchonon Wasserman visited the United States before the war. He had the option to stay, but he refused since (as I heard) "A leader ...
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Holocaust Responsa of Rav Ephraim Oshry
Due to the poor health of Lithuania's last Chief Rabbi, Rav Avraham Shapiro, and due to his death in 1943, many of the residents of Kovno Ghetto addressed their questions to Rav Shapiro's student, Rav ...
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Is it a popular notion that a Jew should "have at least three children..."?
I have heard it said, "Every Jew must have at least three children (though more is preferable). Two to replace the parents when they die, and at least one more to make up for those lost in the Shoah."...
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What is the proper greeting for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Day)?
Here in Israel, there are many customs surrounding Yom HaShoah; the morning siren, ceremonies, storytelling from survivors, etc. However, I'm not sure I've ever heard a way to greet someone that ...
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Holocaust Rembrance Day(s)?
What is with the different Holocaust Remembrance Days?
When I was a kid, my entire community observed Yom HaShoah. This came about approximately one week after Pesaḥ. Although I'm not totally sure, I ...
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what is the source suggesting that blasphemous sentences are exempted in distressing situations?
I read a talmudic source recently suggesting an 'exemption' for 'blasphemous' statements uttered in situations of extreme distress - the source for which was Talmudic, and this was articulated in the ...
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How did they establish in the USA, post-WW II, that a Rav had smicha prior to the Holocaust?
This is probably something that happened many times after World War II, when documentation was lost.
Here's the scenario:
A rabbi, who had led a kehila (congregation) in a small town in ...
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Belittling of the Holocaust? [closed]
Hitler killed six million Jews. Rabbi Meir Kahane, HaShem Yikom Damo, famously said NEVER AGAIN. What is the Torah attitude towards espouse misguided viewpoints such as the one recently portrayed by ...
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What has the Holocaust taught us as a people?
The Holocaust was one of the most horrific and important events in our history. What have rabbis said are lessons we should take from it?
I am looking for lessons that should apply to all Jews, ...
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Did the Sefer Torah written by the Maharam of Rottenberg survive the Holocaust?
There is a famous story of the Maharam copying a Sefer Torah written by Moshe Rabbeinu. Before passing, he threw it in the river by the castle in which he was arrested.
This Sefer Torah reached ...
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Why did G-d not stop the holocaust?
Why did G-d not stop the holocaust? Is there anything written to explain why He would not have stopped it? or why He would have allowed it?
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Jewish Community in China Around WW2 [closed]
I was recently at a lecture given by Professor Xu Xin of Nanjing University in China. The topic of the lecture was "The Jewish Diaspora in Modern China". Professor Xin covered the brief but ...
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Would halacha permit bombing Auschwitz?
I know there's a lot of talk about whether Allied forces during World War II could have / should have taken military action directly against the Holocaust. I'm not opening that can of worms here.
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