 |
|
|
Rabbi Avi Shafran
An unabashedly biased
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
AT the very start, in the interest of full disclosure: Mr.
Israel I. Cohen is my father-in-law. He is also the author of a new book,
Destined to Survive, an account of his experiences as a young man in the
Lodz ghetto and in a number of concentration camps during the Holocaust.
The chapters of Mr. Cohen's book that appeared in Jewish newspapers
nationwide drew an unusually strong response from readers, without
exception positive. Dozens of deeply heartfelt letters of appreciation and
gratitude from Jews and non-Jews alike were e-mailed to JWR, which featured Mr. Cohen's
pieces.
What so impressed readers was what permeates the book, and, as I know
from personal information, Mr. Cohen's life: a strong and abiding trust in G-d
and acceptance of His will. Throughout the deprivation of the ghetto and
camps, amid all the death and destruction he witnessed and the violence he
suffered, his powerful faith in his Creator, and his commitment to the Torah - Bible --
and to his fellow Jews, seem never to have faltered. That is what sets this
book so pointedly apart from the more typical existential-musing,
fate-cursing or G-d-denying Holocaust accounts.
Not very long ago, at one of those
all-too-rare-in-these-far-flung-times family
gatherings where my beloved in-laws were
surrounded by their children and grandchildren,
my father-in-law said something I will never
forget. The words were not his own; they were
borrowed from the Prophet Isaiah, and the
sentiments they embody are engraved on the
souls of many a survivor.
He looked around at his daughters and sons and
their spouses, against the lush and lively
background of grandchildren of a wide assortment
of ages, all following in the proud Jewish footsteps he and his wife laid down
over the years and continue to lay down, and with G-d's help, will continue
to lay down for many years to come.
And then he said, quietly but with deep feeling the prophet's words: "Mi
yolad li es eleh? -- Who bore me these?" "V'eileh mi gidel? -- And these, who
raised them?" "Hein ani nish'arti l'vadi, eleh eifoh heim? -- Behold, I
languished alone, where did these come from?"
"I can't believe my fortune", he explained to those of us within earshot, who
may have looked puzzled. "I can't believe that from lying in a pile of corpses
in a burning concentration camp, starved and sick, I have merited to have
all that I have today."
His words well reflect what readers of his book will perceive: A deeply Jewish
humility and honest appreciation of G-d's blessings. As Herman Wouk puts it
in his introduction to Destined to Survive, "Israel Cohen's... unpretentious
account is outstanding for vividness -- and most strangely -- optimism." The
celebrated author of The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War and War and
Remembrance goes on to call Destined to Survive a "declaration of faith
that has been tested in hellfire... an adventurous personal history wholly
Jewish and wholly G-dly."
My father-in-law's deep trust in the Creator imbued his heart and life even
throughout the seven circles of purgatory that engulfed him over a
half-century ago. And I think it will inspire those who read his recollections
of those
book review
08/09/01: Getting biblical
07/11/01: History abuse
07/11/01: Reminded by science
06/18/01: Mastering McVeigh
05/02/01: Bless Peter Singer's soul
03/01/01: Poisoned pens
02/13/01: Survivors
02/02/01: Gifted
11/04/00: The shofar shoes
08/10/00: A Tisha B'Av memory
06/08/00: Question and Answer
04/18/00: The man on the bimah
04/04/00: DEFINING MORALITY DOWN
01/12/00: Friendly words from a surprising place
12/03/99: The original spin on Chanukah
11/09/99: Heart and soul
10/26/99: Recidivist parents
07/17/99: Wake Up Call?
06/14/99: A Remarkable Reform Manifesto
03/26/99: Message In A Bottle
03/09/99: The Times and The Timeless
01/20/99: Black Hats, Bad Guys
12/10/98: Bringing Wall Street
Wisdom To the Quest for 'Jewish-Continuity'
7/06/98: Jaded
7/01/98: Full disclosure