Responsa from the Holocaust [Hardcover]

Efroim Oshry (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1880582716 | ISBN-13: 978-1880582718 | Publication Date: March 15, 2001 | Edition: Revised

In this breathtakingly moving book, Rabbi Ephraim Oshry documents the remarkable continuity of religious life under the horrendous conditions of Nazi-occupied Lithuania. The Jews of the Kovno Ghetto went to Rabbi Oshry, one of the remaining religious authorities in the Kovno ghetto, and posed their questions to him. He answered their questions and recorded each and every query by copying it onto paper that he tore from cement sacks. He then buried these scraps of papers in cans in the soil around the ghetto. This book bears witness to the power of faith to survive in the direst of circumstances.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hebrew

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Judaica Press; Revised edition (March 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880582716
• ISBN-13: 978-1880582718
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,620,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When good people want to do the right thing all the time., June 4, 2001

By 

Martin A. Blumenthal (Highland Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Responsa from the Holocaust (Hardcover)

"Rabbi, does Jewish law obligate me to eradicate the tatoo identification numbers the Nazis gave me?"

A book full of questions from people we would today call "dead men walking". Questions prompted by the occupation of their home town by murderous, soulless ghouls. Questions from a people persecuted since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. Questions from a people who lived, and died, by the word of God in the Torah and Talmud no matter what the circumstances.

Rabbi Oshry, who lived through the Nazi occupation of the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania, kept notes on the heart-wrenching legal questions his flock asked him on discarded cement bags. He hid the bags during the occupation and recovered them after the liberation. This book is based on those notes.

Rabbi Oshry thouroughly researched each question under trying circumstances; the Nazis burned most of the books and were killing anyone whom they caught practicing Judaism.

To begin to understand the times and the horrors of the Kovno ghetto, read this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I concur completely with the review by Martin Blumenthal, March 19, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Responsa from the Holocaust (Hardcover)

I concur completely with the review written by Martin Blumenthal.
I will only add that this work is a tremendously moving document.
The situations out of which these questions came were often incredibly painful and difficult.
The courage in faith of those who asked , who kept faith in such difficult circumstances is an example to us all.
The holy work of Rabbi Oshry Z"ts"l is done in true Yirat Shemayim fear of the Lord and out of love and consideration for the suffering people of Israel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Moving read, but much simplified from the original, December 24, 2007

By 

TamarDC "tamardc" (Newton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Responsa from the Holocaust (Hardcover)

I also concur with the comments of the previous reviewers, but would add one note of caution. This is Oshry's translation from Hebrew to English of his original five-volume compilation of the responsa he gave in the Kovno Ghetto. In the English version, nearly all the halakhic argumentation is removed and the questions and answers are much simplified. It's still a wonderful, moving read, but if you want to follow Oshry's legal reasoning, you'll need to read the original in Hebrew.