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| Rav Uri Deutsch |
A question submitted by a woman to them about whether in light of the massive increase in antisemitism in this country, she should make Aliyah to Israel. She feared that this was the 1930s all over again and didn’t want to wait until it was too late. Had her grandparents listened to the Gedolim of that era (Daas Torah) and stayed put in Europe she probably wouldn’t be here right now.
Rabbi Reisman’s answer was excellent. You don’t make Aliyah to escape your circumstances. You make Aliyah because you want to elevate your life spiritually. It should never be because you want to leave here. It should only be because you want to be there., Secondly to say that the increase in antisemitism in this country is anywhere near wat it was in 1930s Germany denigrates the Holocaust. Rabbi Reisman pointed out that as bad as the antisemitism in this country is right now (and he conceded that it’s bad) Jews have never had it so good. in the entire history of the Diaspora. Including thre so-called golden era of Spain, Because even though Jews were thriving back then, they were still officially considered second class citizens. Never equal.
Rabbi Deutsch almost didn’t hear the question. He instead honed in on the implied Kefira - heresy contained in it. That listening to the Daas Torah of that time was a mistake. And then went on to say in so many words that when the Gedolei HaDor speak they are basically ‘channeling’ God. That they therefore never make mistakes. Impossible! Saying they do is Kefira.
Telling the Jews of Europe to stay put was in fact the right call. (Despite the six million Jews that were killed!) Whether we understand it or not. He added that there are many explanations for why that was the right call but that this was not the right forum to discuss them.
Well maybe that wasn’t the forum to discuss them. But he might have mentioned at least one reason their decision not to leave Europe was the right decision. Because it sure would be been nice for me and my entire generation who were children of survivors to have known grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and in some cases (including my own) older brothers and sisters that didn’t make it.
Sorry Rabbi Deutsch, but I cannot understand that kind of thinking. I think their decision was a mistake. But I don’t fault them for it. They hey made a judgment call based on their vast Torah knowledge, what they knew about the deep rooted antisemitism of the time and the circumstances at hand. There was no way anyone could have predicted the gas chambers and crematoria that would follow.
On the other hand the idea of multi millions of Jews leaving Europe en masse all at pretty much the same time was a logistical nightmare. A virtual impossibility. Had they told the Jews of Europe to make Aliya with any kind of urgency, it would have resulted in unimaginable chaos. Not even sure if Mandatory Palestine could have handled it. And what about the old and infirm - the sick and the elderly that would have surely been left behind? Should they have been abandoned? Based on all this, maybe those rabbinic leaders felt that waiting it out was the lesser of 2 evils.
Sure 20/20 hindsight is easy for us to have, now. But they were human and had to make decisions based on the circumstances as they understood them then and the knowledge at hand.
The Gedolim of that era were great people. But they were not Nevi’im. They acted on what they believed was in the best interests of European Jewry. That there were secular Zionists like Jabotinsky that urged the Jews of Europe to leave before it was too late is true. But there was no reason to believe that he had any more insight about the future crematoria and gas chambers than those Gedolim did. No one knew what was going to happen a few years down the road.
So I can’t blame the pre Holocaust Gedolim for making what turned out to be a mistake, But to say it was the right decision and call it Kefira to say that it was a mistake is something I cannot accept. Yes their decision was a mistake. But since they could not see the future - they cannot be faulted for it.
Could all 6 million Jews have escaped slaughter had they been told by these Gedolim to leave? I doubt it. Not everyone would have left. Some would have surely thought they could tough it out. Others may not have been able to leave because of their advanced age or for health reasons. But surely a lot more of them would have been saved had they been urged to flee. Being told to stay was a mistake. But a human mistake for which they should not be blamed.
There is much more to discuss about that Q and A session. (Like how to respond to the war and what to do about to about porn addiction.) But not for now.
