Friday, December 20th

Every year as Christmas approaches, I think about my grandmother, Savta Rivka. Savta Rivka grew up in Shinyeveh, Poland before emigrating to America in time to avoid WWII and the Holocaust.  (Not everyone in her family was so lucky, but that’s a story for another day.) Savta Rivka came from a prominent Chassidic family and was extremely proud of her lineage, 29 generations of great rabbis. Her father was Gabbai to the Shinyeveh Rav, which apparently was a very big deal. 

Why do I think of her at Christmas?  Because Savta Rivka told me stories of Christmas in Shinyeveh, when the local Polish priest would tell the church-goers on Christmas Day to go out and hurt the Jews because the Jews killed Jesus.  Savta Rivka was the youngest of ten children, and she remembers her parents locking the door while she hid, terrified, under the table as she heard the locals outside doing whatever damage they did. She was so traumatized by these memories that, until the day she died, she could never even bring herself to say the word “Christmas”.  She called it “Kratz Mach” which means “Scratch It” in Yiddish.   

As a child, I tried unsuccessfully to imagine what she went through. From the safety of my happy, picture-postcard New England town, the Polish Christmas pogroms seemed about as real as an invasion from Mars. I simply could not conjure up the fear she must have felt. It was an entirely unreal, and unbelievable, scenario.

Not any more.  October 7th was shock enough, with inconceivable murders, unthinkable tortures and kidnappings. But the year since has, unfortunately, made it possible for me (and probably for most of us) to envision Savta Rivka cowering under her table, trembling, hiding from the rabid antisemites whose behavior was not only permitted, but encouraged by local leaders.  

We are living in a time when our enemy is empowered.  I’m not talking about our enemy Hamas.  I’m referring to respected individuals who teach in our schools and universities, who enact our laws, who are elected to make our lives here better with proper order. I’m referring to leaders who are followed by masses that don’t know any better. Today, synagogues and Jewish schools are vandalized. Jewish people are openly discriminated against. The danger for us mounts. Thankfully, as a community, we are united, and moreover, we do have a few people in positions to help us. Let’s hope they can.

I want to apologize to readers who find me to be a real downer with yet another post like this. In truth, I actually love this time of year. Everyone everywhere seems to be in a good mood, snow makes the world look pretty, and Starbucks even has some really fun winter drinks. But as long as there are hostages in Gaza, we simply can not afford to be sidetracked by the sleigh bells in our ears and twinkling lights in every corner.  It is upon us to ensure that no one’s child ever has to hide under the table, terrified of the hooligans on the other side of the door.

Am Yisrael Chai!