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Dr.

Karen Shawn Teaching the Holocaust: Final Project ' ' '

Nosson Schuman August 9, 2012

:() :() And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. :() 7 And when Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. Why was it, that Pinchas was the one who rescued the Bnei Yisrael? Where was our usual hero, Moshe? Why didnt Caleb, Elazar or one of the elders respond to the call? I went to the Musuem of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park this week. Its a wonderful museum thats devoted to recent Jewish history. The first floor is about Jewish life in the 19th century up to the 1930s. The second floor is dedicated to the Holocaust. Its an excellent and thorough exhibit, but one you really dont want to go back to, too soon. The third floor is dedicated to the rebirth and renewal of the Jewish people. This floor is an amazing contrast to the second floor. Whats so striking about this exhibit is how well it depicts Jewish sway upon American and World culture after World War II. Despite the huge setback of the Holocaust, the Jewish people bounced back to be prolific and influential. I was intrigued by this amazing productivity, so I decided to do a little more research on these exceptional people. I turned to a book I had at hand, Great Jewish Men by Elinor and Robert Slater (1996). (Please excuse the sexism, but this book is only about men!) After a little while, I started to notice a shared feature of these successful men. Some of these influential figures were born before the war. Richard Rogers, of Rogers and Hammerstein fame, born in 1902 and Leonard Bernstein, born in 1918 are two such examples. A few were born after the war. Steven Spielberg, born in 1947 and Mark Spitz born in 1950 are also two sterling examples. Most of these high achievers, however, were born away from the war in the 1930s (give or take a couple years): Woody Allen 1935 Dustin Hoffman 1937
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Dr. Karen Shawn Teaching the Holocaust: Final Project ' ' '

Nosson Schuman August 9, 2012

Steven G. Breyer (U.S. Supreme Court Judge) 1937 Allan Dershowitz 1938 Larry King 1933 Calvin Klein 1942 Sandy Koufax 1935 Ralph Lauren 1939 Amos Oz (Renowned Israeli writer) 1939 Philip Roth (Writer) 1933 Edgar Bronfman 1929 Ariel Sharon 1928 Neil Simon 1927 Steven Sondheim 1930 Adin Steinsaltz 1937 What I realized is that most of these great men were not Holocaust survivors themselves, nor children of Holocaust survivors, rather Jewish youth, born away from Europe and spared the suffering. Nonetheless, these youths grew up in the specter of the Holocaust. Since most of the people displayed on the third floor of the museum and represented in the Slaters book were not survivors, nor even children of survivors, one can deduce that the Holocaust survivors, like their name, were placing their efforts on surviving and acclimating to normal living. They were regrouping, being influential, but from within the Jewish people. They were actively building families, schools and Jewish communities. The world though, would have to wait for their influence. In contrast, those spared from the flames of destruction rose up and filled the gaps of those who perished. These Jews, born away from the war, born in the 1930s stood up to fill the vacuum of the six million. The nation was decimated but not finished. When they would reach the productive years of their twenties, they would rise to fill the void. G-d has a mission for all of us. Some of us are spared certain afflictions, or given certain opportunities in order to rise to the occasion. I believe Pinchas was one of these individuals. According to information we have from the Torah, Pinchas must have been less than 20 years old at the time of the exodus. It says, :() ()
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Dr. Karen Shawn Teaching the Holocaust: Final Project ' ' '

Nosson Schuman August 9, 2012

in the census found in our parsha, And none of these were from the counting of Moshe and Aharon except for Caleb and Joshua. We can deduce, that since Pinchas was not excluded with them, he must not have been have counted in the first census, not being twenty years old at the time. Perchance Pinchas was very young when he left Egypt, maybe even in the single digits. If we add to his young age the fact that he was a Levite, we get some important identification. By tradition the Levites were not subject to Pharaohs slavery. In combination with his young age, this means that Pinchas never developed a slave mentality. Moshe, the great leader of the Jews was spared the slave mentality as well, for he was raised in Pharaohs own house. We could speculate that in this time of great need, Pinchas arose to bravery, for he was never bogged down by a sense of inferiority. Haven grown up in the Divine Israelite Camp, he was never a slave to Pharaoh. When Zimri the elder, with excellent prestige and superior pedigree arouse to defy Moshe, it would take someone with tremendous confidence and sense of freedom to stand up to him. Pinchus was the one who was separated from slavery from the start, destined for this very task. The Holocaust left a huge void in the Jewish talent pool. People spared the fire, arose to fill the void. Perhaps they were even propelled to greatness in order to compensate for the destruction of their people. Pinchas was born under the right conditions of freedom to stand up and fill the void when a new leader was demanded. We in America now, are not only spared persecution and prejudice, but, by and large, blessed with great opportunity. Lets arise to take our opportunity and gifts, and make our impact upon society and the world as well.

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