My grandfather in Auschwitz
I was very touched to recently learn this story about my grandfather Dovid Henoch Zaklikofsky – a Holocaust survivor.
While Dovid Henoch was standing in line at the infamous Auschwitz gas chambers. He knew exactly where the line was headed; there were no secrets. It was Friday evening, and as he and his fellow inmates waited, the sun began to set. He stuck his hand in his pocket and gathered the scraps of hard bread that he had been collecting the entire week... so that at the end of the week he could make the traditional kiddush blessing, sanctifying the Sabbath, over a few crusts of bread.
He was determined to fulfill this Mitzvah even as he waited, knowing full well it would probably be his last. To the utter amazement of those nearby, and despite their protests, he proceeded to recite the blessing out loud, as though he was standing at the Sabbath table. "Yom Hashishi… Savri Maranan, Baruch Atah...” He ate a crumb, and shared the rest with those around him. Incredibly, at that exact moment the mechanism that operated the chamber of death malfunctioned. He and all around him were saved from death.
This story inspires me on so many levels. Aside from the obvious, it has also given me insight to a possible explanation for my son Mendel's Kiddush chanting obsession.
Maybe this is where he gets it from?
An inter-generational, eternal Jewish voice of sanctifying the Shabbat. It's powerful stuff!
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky