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Who is a Hero: A Hanukkah Story

Hanukkah 5785: 
In honor of the 50th Yahrzeit of Rabbi Mordechai Ya’akov Golinkin z”l

On Hanukkah, we celebrate the heroism of the Maccabees, the few who overcome the many. For example, according to the First Book of Maccabees, at the battle of Emaus, 3,000 Jews defeated 5,000 infantry & 1,000 cavalry.

At the battle of Beth Tzur, 10,000 Jews defeated 60,000 infantry & 5000 cavalry.

Since October 7th, we have been awed by the heroism of tens of thousands of Israelis who performed incredible acts of bravery:

  • Yannai Kamina z”l who with his fellow officers saved over 100 soldiers & civilians at Zikim.
  • Aner Shapira z”l who defended 30 people inside a mobile shelter near Re’im by throwing seven grenades back outside.
  • Rachel and the Cookies: aged 65, in Ofakim, who fed the terrorists in her house coffee and cookies for 17 hours, until she and her husband were rescued by the police.

But there are other types of heroism which take place elsewhere, not on the battlefield.

Last Friday, the 19th of Kislev, was the 50th yahrzeit of my grandfather, Rabbi Mordechai Yaakov Golinkin z”l, whom we called “Zeyde.” He was small in stature, yet he devoted his life to God, Judaism and the Jewish people.

I would like to briefly recount three of his acts of quiet heroism:

  • In 1913, he was Chief Rabbi of Zhitomir in Ukraine, which is 90 miles west of Kyiv. He made a point of becoming friendly with the Governor of Volhynia. And then the Beiliss blood libel trial began in Kyiv. The Governor asked Zeyde: “is it true that Jews use blood to bake matzot?” Zeyde opened up a Bible in Russian and showed him the verses which forbid Jews from eating blood. Furthermore, even if they find a single בלוטסטראפ drop of blood in an egg, they must discard the egg! The Governor believed him – and promised that there would be no blood libels and no pogroms in Zhitomir before, during or after the Beiliss case. He kept his word.
  • In February 1938, Zeyde was the Av Bet Din of Danzig, the Free State between Germany and Poland. This was before Kristallnacht and the Holocaust. He wrote a letter in Hebrew, which I published in 2021, to the Av Bet Din of Melbourne, Australia, looking for a place where the Jews of Danzig could flee. He wrote toward the end of his letter:

“May his excellency not think that my words written here are in black ink, as they appear to the naked eye. The truth is… he would see the blood of the souls of our fellow Jews hovering between life and death under the letters and in between the lines.” 

After Kristallnacht, in December 1938, the Jewish Community of Danzig agreed with the Senate that they would all leave by May 1939. They sent their precious Judaica to New York and in 1980 there was an exhibit at the Jewish Museum of these precious artifacts. Most of the Jews left by the deadline. My grandparents were among the last to leave, arriving in the US in May 1939.

  • During all of World War II there was only one demonstration in Washington D.C. to protest the slaughter of European Jewry. It was a demonstration of 400 Orthodox rabbis in Washington, D.C. on October 6, 1943, three days before Yom Kippur. They met with Vice President Wallace on the steps of the Capitol. Roosevelt refused to meet them at the White House. My grandfather was one of these 400 rabbis.

We too are surrounded by quiet heroes:

  • A Rabbinical student at Schechter, Liran, who has been doing miluim (reserve duty) for 14 months.
  • Anat Alkabetz, an M.A. student at Schechter, whose daughter Sivan and her fiancé were murdered at Kfar Azza on October 7th. Anat and her husband Shimon have turned their daughter’s house into a museum and have given tours to many thousands of people.
  • Yahaloma Zakut, our M.A. graduate from Ofakim, has helped us set up a program to teach Spiritual Care in Ofakim.

So this Hanukkah, let us remember the military heroism of the Maccabees and of our incredible IDF soldiers; but also the quiet heroism of Rabbi Mordechai Ya’akov Golinkin and of Liran, Anat, Yahaloma  and hundreds of thousands of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora who have performed acts of heroism since October 7th.

Am Yisrael Hai!

Hanukkah Sameah from Schechter!  

David Golinkin is President of The Schechter Institutes, Inc. and President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. For twenty years he served as Chair of the Va’ad Halakhah (Law Committee) of the Rabbinical Assembly which gives halakhic guidance to the Masorti Movement in Israel. He is the founder and director of the Institute of Applied Halakhah at Schechter and also directs the Center for Women in Jewish Law. Rabbi Professor Golinkin made aliyah in 1972, earning a BA in Jewish History and two teaching certificates from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He received an MA in Rabbinics and a PhD in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America where he was also ordained as Rabbi. For a complete bio click here.

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