A Moral Dilemma to Ask Your Family at the Pesach Table: “Matzah in the Concentration Camps”
By Rabbi Yitzi Weiner
We know there is a mitzva to eat Matzah on the first night of Pesach. How much Matzah should one eat? Does one fulfill the mitzva by eating a small crumb? The Shiur (minimum amount) of the mitzva of Matzah is a “Kezayis”. The opinions vary, but a Kezayis is approximately an ounce of Matzah.
The period of the Holocaust provided countless opportunities for Jews to display extraordinary acts of moral and spiritual Heroism. (Click HERE for examples of firsthand stories of moral heroism during the Holocaust told by my grandmother, Mrs. Miram Berger A”h)
The following is a true story that took place in a concentration camp.
Ephraim and Shlomo were two friends who resolved to look out for each other for the duration of the war. They knew that by sticking together and looking out for each other they would greatly increase their chances of survival. Despite the horror and surreal quality of the camps, the inmates were very aware of the Jewish calendar. Efraim and Shlomo knew that Pesach would arrive in around two weeks and they wanted to do whatever they could to fulfill the mitzvos of Pesach. They wanted to find a way to secretly make Matzah and decided that they would pool their wits and resources to do whatever they could to make it. Together they saved some of their meager rations and were able to barter them for a small amount of wheat. Surreptitiously, they were able to grind the wheat into flour. At great personal risk they were able to build a tiny oven, and on Erev Pesach using a cigarette, they were able to light the oven for a few moments, without being noticed. Together, they proudly produced one small Matzah weighing little more than an ounce.
After surveying their work, they had the following dilemma. Ephraim told Shlomo, “There is only one Kezayis here. I guess we should split the Matzah. Even though each of us will get less than the required Shiur, at least we tried our best to do the mtzva, and we will get a small taste of Matzah”. Shlomo countered with the following suggestion. “Ephraim, the mitzva is not to eat a small amount. The mitzva is to eat a Kezayis. Why don’t we draw lots to determine who gets to eat the whole Matzah. If you win, you should eat the whole Matzah and the whole Kezayis. In that case I will get my mitzvah of Matzah by giving my Matzah to you”. Ephraim said, “Let’s not do that, you should have a little bit of the Matzah, you worked so hard to make it”. Shlomo responded, “If we have already come this far and risked so much, we might as well do the mitzva right. The mitzva is to eat a Kezayis. If you draw the lot, you can do the Mitzvah properly and I can do the mitzvah by supporting you”.
What do you think would be the best way to perform the mitzva? For each to eat less than the amount required by the mitzva, or for them to draw lots, and one fulfill the mitzva properly, and the other can get the mitzva by supporting his friend?
Answer for last week’s moral dilemma
Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein discusses this story in Chashukei Chemed Pesachim page 218.
He writes that the sale of the chometz was already finalized and Peter is already the owner of the factory. Yoni can’t take it back without Peter’s permission.
At the same time, Rav Zilberstien quotes Rav Yackov Yisrael Kanievsky (The Steipler) who recalled a similar incident that happened in Europe. The local Rabbi in that case declared that what the Gentile was doing was unethical since it was clear that the Jew intended to buy it back. The Rabbi therefore declared a total boycott on the gentile’s products and the Gentile eventually sold it back.
(We should note, that the way the sale of most chometz is structured, would not usually include the machinery and equipment of a factory. It is primarily the food that is sold. This must have been an unusual case. Thank you to R’ Mickey Lowenthal for pointing this out.)
Have a wonderful Pesach!
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