Lessons From generations of survivors

4/25/25

This week, Hadassah’s beloved grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Spalter, passed away at the age of 93.

Shmuel grew up in Poland in the 1930s. When the Nazis invaded, he and his father fled east to Russia, where his father died soon afterward. His mother, who stayed behind, was murdered in Auschwitz. Left without any parents, Shmuel was taken in by a Russian orphanage, where he remained until a distant cousin found him after the war.

But it was Hadassah's grandfather who had the last laugh. When he died on Tuesday, he left this world with three hundred descendants. Nine children, 75 grandchildren, and some 230 great-grandchildren.

It struck me this week that just as the last Holocaust survivors begin to leave this world, a new generation of survivors—those of October 7—has emerged.

Almost as though there's a critical message we ought to learn which requires us always to have living embers of hell among us.

The Midrash writes that G-d designed this world in such a way that we will always have leaders and righteous people. There will never be a time that we are left devoid. Always, says the Midrash, as one righteous person dies, another takes their place.

"Before the sun of Sarah set, the sun of Rebecca rose. And before the sun of Moses set, the sun of Joshua rose."

Perhaps survivors are supposed to be a sun in our dark world, illuminating our path as Jews.

I am not, G-d forbid, suggesting that the horrors of the Holocaust or October 7th were to teach us a lesson. We do not understand G-d's ways and we should never attempt to explain such atrocities.

But perhaps the reason G-d left us the survivors was so that we can learn from them.

In much of pre-war Europe, Jews were at their very peak. Assimilated, educated, and leaders in their professions, Jews felt safe and secure, and their Jewishness was becoming an increasingly less prominent part of their identity.

Perhaps having Holocaust survivors in our lives was G-d's way of reminding us that these attempts at assimilation never worked, that we're always seen as Jews first, and that we might as well embrace it?

Perhaps we were supposed to look at Holocaust survivors and be inspired by their stories to live as proud and unapologetic Jews?

Or maybe the presence of survivors in our lives was supposed to remind us that we are in exile, to never be complacent, and to always remain humble, kind, and empathetic?

And if, as some argue, the Holocaust taught us that Jews cannot rely on the hospitality of other nations, then perhaps October 7 teaches us that we must not rely solely on the strength of our own nation either. That ultimately, we are in G-d’s hands, and that even in Israel, we are still in exile.

I have more questions than answers. But in the meantime, one lesson we can learn from Holocaust survivors is one I learn from Hadassah's grandfather.

That the best way to win against our enemies is by becoming stronger, living prouder, and building large and strong Jewish families and communities.

E Unum Pluribus.

If we only try.