Preparing video...
0:00 / 0:00
#88: Behind the Bima - Sam Ron, Holocaust Survivor
1,819 views
Sam Ron, a Holocaust Survivor. Connect with Rabbi Efrem Goldberg: Website: https://rabbiefremgoldberg.org/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/efrem.goldberg Twitter: http://twitter.com/rabbigoldberg Rabbi Efrem Goldberg: Rabbi, Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS). Rabbi Philip Moskowitz: Associate Rabbi, BRS. Rabbi Josh Broide: Outreach Rabbi, BRS.
Comments
Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
the rabbis ephraim goldberg philip
moskowitz and josh brody are taking you
behind the bema
the brs rabbis schmooze about
contemporary issues and talk to special
guests who give a behind-the-scenes look
at how they got to where they are and
what keeps them going
welcome to behind the bema
good evening it's wednesday night at 9
00 p.m rabbi from gold we're joined by
my colleague and dear friend rabbi
joshua brody we're here to take you
behind the behind the bema the
special yamashoa edition of
behind the bema as tonight is yom
hashoah
which really is a perfect segue to thank
our sponsors this evening i want to
thank my autonom bruce and jill minsky
dear friends and mahatanam who sponsored
tonight's episode in memory of my
in-laws parents that is my wife's
parents parents
so in uh in in memory of the parents of
dr robin judy brookstein iron olivia and
esther goldsmith and you saw nelson
esther brookstein three out of four of
whom
were survivors the brooksteins my wife's
bobby and zaidi were incredible people
uh survivors of auschwitz each of them
lost a spouse
and a child in the war uh their first
cousins who were drawn to one another as
children but they grew up really
hardcore hasidam
in hungary and their family didn't allow
for that and other reasons but when they
both survived and they had lost everyone
they went back to their hometown there
was no one to say that they couldn't be
together and so they got married they
had only my father-in-law which is why
my wife exists which is why my children
exist so it's so they have an
extraordinary story and my wife's oppa
arnold goldsmith from muncie those new
arnold goldsmith and later miami beach
and israel
he was a towering figure in physical
height and also a person of tremendous
amount and faith who had lost everyone
and everything came to this country with
no i'd say the shirt on his back i don't
think he even had that and rebuilt so
i'm uh deeply grateful to my majesty
this evening in in honor of those four
three of whom were survivors and and
that gives tonight a lot of meaning as
it is
so rabbi brody normally tonight
we'd be doing a live hookup with you
we here in boca and despite poland being
several hours ahead in time zone we'd be
doing a live hookup with you
and the students of the march living
what happened with the march of living
this year
yeah this was actually not due to covid
this was actually due to the war um
two years due to covet and now a third
year and when you think about the fact
that it's fifteen thousand eighteen
thousand twelve thousand numbers are so
big in terms of the educational reach
that the and the opportunity these kids
have to go and travel back to auschwitz
back to you know these camps with
survivors you saw that tonight this is
not gonna be happening for many many
more years um
it's it's it's it's the end of another
era when when sam that's what i was
trying to tell you at the beginning he
was actually not that he
that the march was going to go and then
got canceled again sam was actually
scheduled to go as a 98 year old he's
not stopping sam ron is our guest
tonight yeah and our guest was supposed
to include a jack as well
who the friend with whom he had a
reunion after almost 80 years
unfortunately jack's not feeling well so
unable to join us but sam's got an
extraordinary story on his own and we'll
talk about that reunion with jack just a
month ago when they saw each other for
the first time in nearly 80 years so sam
had been on 11 march of the living 11
times he relived and walked back on that
uh it's not a hallowed ground it's a
tragic round of poland and you were
there with how many times with him yeah
probably 10 or 11 times with him i
showed him that picture when we were
walking out went into your office i
showed the picture with robbie
steinhardt and that's right you know and
he was that was actually before he went
so he he couldn't even recognize anyone
in that picture you know it's an
interesting night in that yomashua and
again even if you're listening you're
catching up on behind the beam uh later
this week or at a later date it's no
longer
but it's a fascinating thing because you
know unlike pesach whatever denomination
of jew you are religious non-religious
whatever background you you honor the
same calendar says pesach
pesach is a universal jewish holiday and
we all kept it and yamaha there's
segments of the jewish community who do
not observe and do not keep and there is
some controversy around it people are
sometimes surprised to learn that rabbi
salovey was not in favor of yamashua he
felt that we have a date on our calendar
that contains within it collectively all
of jewish tragedy and calamity through
the years above the ninth of ava is
designated as the inauspicious day on
our calendar it is in perpetuity a day
of jewish grief and mourning
collectively and we include and invoke
within it not only the destruction of
the two temples the tubate miktas but
the crusades and inquisition and the
holocaust is part of tish above and
should be mourned on tish above not at a
different day um and yet the state of
israel obviously and it's a whole
history to this rabbi j.j shafter has an
article about the history of yamashita
when it was introduced and different
days that were considered and the vote
that took place and the controversy
around it
but you know my feeling is that as long
as we have survivors
it's not a matter of what you believe or
what you want or what you think
objectively or how you wish our calendar
was marked if there are survivors and
for them they want to see a program that
is full because that gives meaning to
their suffering they know that their
story will continue to be told
then i think we have a moral obligation
to honor them and support them and and
show them the love that they so deserve
i mean survivors yeah you saw that
tonight when they came up and lit those
candles the fact that you didn't give
them a microphone they didn't need a
microphone as soon as they lit a candle
like for anyone else it was okay let me
just take the match let me light the
candle for them they yelled out names
you know those names are people that
they lost right and that was a special
moment right and we've had you know
since i've been here we've had yomashaw
programs and and as i say whatever your
personal view or whatever the
controversy around it to me it's about
respecting and honoring survivors and
really
i think every survivor i've ever known
they loved their family and it was all
about the continuity of their family but
they were also so concerned and devoted
to their story continuing to be told
yeah one of the big fears of survivors
whether they're articulated or not is
that that we'll move on that'll become
part of history and not not
from obviously some some ego standpoint
like tell my story but meaning it's so
important to the jewish people it's our
story and to learn from it the lessons
of it and to go forward and to make sure
it's not repeated so that's why i think
that we've got to do it and you know it
used to be
20 years ago more than 20 years ago and
you and i were first here and and the
mushroom program at boca raton synagogue
there's a big table in the front and
there are six
large seven-day candles and then a ton
of little tea lights around it and we
always begin by calling up survivors to
light the big candles and it used to be
even a little
a little complicated because he had many
more than six survivors
so who would be so to say honored with
lighting the six big candles and who
would be relegated to the little tea
lights right the fact that second and
third generation light tealights got it
but it used to be which survivors you
know who were the older ones or whose
story was the most remarkable and
tonight
six large seven-day candles
two survivors two survivors yeah she
will think i was full hundreds of people
and two survivors who were there to
light candles and that just tells you it
tells you everything you know so um
it's it's the end of an year in a
generation and it's a really sad time
yeah and it's interesting on the way
back so i was talking to sam and his
wife in the car
and i asked him i said you know
how did you think it went like you okay
he says first of all he was so happy
with the with the reception and he
really felt like he said he said i'm
just being honest i'm speaking tomorrow
night somewhere else
and i don't even know what what the
story is going to be because i just know
the people i'm talking to that happens
to me it's an older group let's just say
in the community
and he's like i don't think that they're
really interested so
he was so happy to feel that reception
there and did you see him just interrupt
you i'm sorry yeah he kept looking at
his watch
looking back at me you know again we're
gonna we're gonna this is the interview
tonight so you'll hear this was our
yamashita program and this is our
interview tonight to share so
appropriate any day of the year to hear
a survivor tell their story but
particularly
he kept looking at his watch as if to
say to me like i'm probably boring
people let me make this quick or let me
wrap this up it was like it was like you
know you're you're almost 98 years old
you have 100 years of stories to tell
take your time no one's going anywhere
we're here to hear your story how much
longer do we have to hear it right like
speak
but so it's interesting to see that he's
concerned about that
yeah and he's funny because he says he
said i just want you to know i'm
completely honest i'm not like the
others i tell you they will tell you
what you want to hear he says i tell you
the way i feel it might not be the the
the politically correct thing to do or
to say and he just wanted you to know
that so everything you're about to hear
is is is what you're called
i think once you hit 97 your filter is
kind of gone yeah you know you just you
just say it is it is he um
but what what a story what a story and
you know
something else i asked i said i asked
him about his kids now you don't get to
hear that because it wasn't that wasn't
part of the the thing but he does have
kids but one of his children his
daughter
he has cerebral palsy oh wow so just
imagine you know you like you said you
recounted every one of the challenges he
has been through and now he finally made
it right and it gets to america one of
the reasons actually stayed in america
as opposed to going back to israel was
better care back in the 50s
for a daughter that had cerebral palsy
but he said he just went to chicago
they're there all the time like they
just want to be with family and
you know
just you know sometimes yeah we're not
you know we're not spoiling the
interview but we'll tell you as you
watch or listen
just watch as he's talking about the
holocaust he's talking about being
hidden in a barn then being in
concentration camps then being on a
death march and then um and and then
being shot at by arabs and then friday
and and now you're saying he has a
charisma and all he does is smile and
laugh
and you know as we finish up the
interview you won't hear this he turns
to me he goes i think now i should get
free membership at the synagogue
and then he couldn't he couldn't stop
laughing he cracked himself up but you
know what i told him he has honorary
membership you have to believe that part
of the ingredients of survival yeah
is that optimism that hope that positive
demeanor that ability to laugh and smile
even on yomashua talking about this
there's no question he's mourning and
grieving what he lost i mean
he said there's not a moment that goes
by where he's not thinking about those
train tracks he hears the train tracks
in his mind all the time you have his
grandparents and shaunie's grandparents
that were there tonight is in memory of
um they used to go to sleep with the
radio on it's a big question
because they were very very um
but they couldn't go to sleep if it were
quiet their mind would go back to those
images those experiences those sounds
and so they slept with the radio on they
couldn't not sleep with the radio on so
we don't know you know you meet a
survivor and you don't realize that
there's
this background noise literally
figuratively metaphorically this
background noise playing in their life
all the time and part of the
extraordinary part of them being a
survivor is that they don't wear that on
their sleeve they're not telling it to
you they're not asking for sympathy
about it they're not feeling entitled
because of it they went out to the
greatest general they rebuilt they
rebuilt
you know think about we were talking
about the builders of elizabeth new
jersey elsewhere but survivors they
rebuilt they didn't say like you know
hey world
you let this happen to us so now set up
a little comfortable place where we
don't have to work and you take care of
us they worked hard and they founded
yeshivas and and schools and schools and
many of them
sacrificed for continuity and even now
i'm saying this guy has every reason in
the world just to sit back relax retire
and he's traveling to poland yeah right
yeah
we did it we did a trip to poland a
couple years ago and uh we had 40
members of the shul it was an amazing
amazing trip a real diversity from the
shul yeah you had every segment and
every background and every level of
observance and the first night i don't
remember if i told this one behind the
beam you'll stop me except that you
won't remember either where's our fact
checker but the first night it doesn't
matter what age you are everyone acts
like kids right so the first night
everybody sits for dinner at their
tables based on their click
right so the more this crowd sat there
and the more that crowd sat there and
this age group said that and the ones
that look like that and you send your
kids that's cool sat there everybody's a
part and i got up at dinner and i said
like
nobody went to the gas chamber based on
where their kid went to school the
yamaka they wore or what they davened
what level observance they were i said
so our goal is very simple by the end of
this trip by the end of this trip
we're all mixed we're all integrated
we're all mingled together and from that
trip incredible friendships formed of
people with such diversity you'd never
believe it or imagine it so the trip was
predominantly second generation it was
mostly people whose parents were
survivors
and and being back in poland and walking
by donek auschwitz birkenau
treblink obviously there's not a lot
left there and even just just being in
warsaw and krakow and the other places
that we went and saw and you've been
there so many so many times um
what they had heard from their parents
or imagined about their parents came to
life and they were overwhelmed in pain
on this trip because
many most likely their parents were no
longer here right and now they had so
many questions and so much they wanted
to know but one person got up i won't
say his name he got up and he was very
emotional he's a pretty stoic person and
he got up he was very emotional and he
just started crying he couldn't control
himself and he said
he said you know i always thought my
father was like a nebucha and i was a
hero it's like my father worked in the
post office he had no education he
worked in the post office i remember
this was the night after he walked
auschwitz and he said i'm a successful
business person and i have certain
esteem and prominence and success in
life so i like looked at my father like
i far surpassed him he got up there and
he said i lived with a malach with an
angel and i never knew it he said my
father lived in this place how she
survived this place and the fact that he
took care of us and gave us a life and a
and a family and and stayed true to
hashem to god and to religion he said i
lived with an angel and i never knew it
i'm a nothing and my father was an angel
and i can't tell him and i can't talk to
him and i can't take care of him in that
way now he was so broken by that broken
by that so if you have a survivor if you
have access to a survivor
go get a bracha yeah go get a bracha
there's a long line tonight right people
right afterwards people take pictures
and it's like funny who you think your
heroes are you take pictures with people
that you admire and yeah these are
people how many years do we neglect them
they're in shul they've got a funny
accent maybe they have numbers in their
arm right maybe once a year we hear
their story a little bit but these are
angels who lived among us you know today
i joke but i'm partially not joking
today somebody's like my wi-fi is slow
there's no god i stubbed my toe there's
no god right or i had a middle seat on
the flight or we would delay there's no
god the survivors like i lost my parents
all my siblings
my whole town was killed i lost
everything i knew i was robbed of going
to school right i was hated
and you know what i put on filling every
day i'd have until shin and song you're
the same thing in the march of living
when the teenagers are with
the survivors they're like i can't
believe we're walking all day in the
freezing cold and you look at them and
the survivors are like
i'm sorry in your nice boots and you
know i'm sorry in your 300 jacket
so it's a little just a little bit
different
yeah we can't live that way that we
don't feel ever sad by our challenges
because hey at least we're not in the
holocaust we're not suggesting that what
we are suggesting is that you we latch
on to their to their faith you know i'm
a big believer in and i admire the
recovery community addiction community
recovery community
and one of the underlying principles of
recovery is submitting to a higher power
right when you stop thinking that you
can control it you stop thinking you're
in charge one of the steps of recovery
the 12 steps is submitting to a higher
power
so there's a young great
guy
connected to our community he's not in
our community and he's in recovery for
many years and such courage and and i'm
always honored when someone shares it
with me and lets me learn from it so he
told me once he was listening to an
immunity and he said i want to tell you
something he said you know what happens
if you're in recovery
and you struggle with believing in god
you struggle with the higher power so
how do you submit to the higher power
when you struggle in believing in a
higher power so he said in recovery
there's an idea that you find somebody
with the higher power and you submit to
his higher power now they're just saying
i don't know i have uncertainty i have
doubt it's complicated i don't know if i
feel it i don't feel connected right now
but you know what i'm going to find
somebody who's on fire who's connected
who is faith who it's unshakable and i'm
gonna latch on i'm gonna ride their
coattails i'm gonna grab on the famous
blizzard story jumping over the canyon i
held on to you and who did you hold on
to so you you submit to that higher
power so you know tonight and this is a
good segue we'll bring sam ron on in a
moment
you submit to his higher power you know
martin judith oliver shalom
was that was a
amazing survivor in our communities our
first yamashita without him
we interviewed him last year two years
ago
yamashita how do you believe in hashem
and he said you know i lost my mother i
lost my father i had one parent left a
vino shabashimayan i should lose him too
i should give up on god also so he holds
on to that higher power sometimes when
we struggle in less significant ways
significant for us
grab on and latch on to their higher
power is a strategy is something that we
can do it's something that we can do so
we had some some technological problems
at the beginning the video may not be
great quality but it's well worth
watching listening
sam's an amazing person really amazing
real uh positive and hopeful and
when you hear his story contains
everything from losing everybody to
fighting on behalf of the founding of
the state of israel yeah it's got it's
got everything to it it's really well
worth uh listening to
and uh we're grateful that he came we're
sorry jack was unable to be here but sam
will talk about what that was like
reuniting with him and uh we'll see on
the other side we'll talk a little bit
about about pesach and some other things
that are going on so without any further
ado sam ron great honor to be able to
welcome sam
to be with us this evening
giving tremendous meaning to our
yamaha
[Music]
and
another guest sam's long time friend
[Music]
sorry excuse me
um jack unfortunately was not feeling
well
[Music]
jack is not feeling what was unable to
be here this evening
before we begin
jack unfortunately is not feeling well i
was unable to be here this evening he's
in our thoughts on filos because god he
should gain his strength
and continue to speak together with you
jack sends his regrets and we'll have
the opportunity to hear from him please
god in the future but before we even
begin our conversation
we're so deeply indebted and grateful to
sam for being with us this evening it's
his wife billo who's here tonight sam
would like to say some words before we
begin
all i just want to say it is a great
honor for me
to be here
this great congregation what we have
there and all the distinguished rabbis
so it's really a privilege and honorable
me too the other thing i just want to
add to the story that
tonight and tomorrow is young
it's the day is designated because on 27
of nissan was the end
[Music]
so thank you
okay we're getting the other microphone
up and running
in the meantime again it's a great honor
um we've all read about and saw the
story
saying just a month ago
this incredible reunion
and the circumstances behind it sam is a
long-time resident here in boca raton
and a friend of our community
a dear friend of march of the living of
which you've been on how many times
11 times on march
[Applause]
it was one of the great programs
and this year we couldn't go
because
uh what happened right
corona
you know this year
the only thing i will tell you is
to see
i am a holocaust survivor
from
poland
the
the tragedies that we only survive very
few very few of us survive polish jews
and they debate in the camps
now a lot of survived people survived in
soviet union that world or william some
secrets arrive
fighting in the dead in the forest
some children survive in the monasteries
but on the campus was only seventy
thousand of us probably should survive
and a few of us are still arrived there
not only this you can see jack
same age of mine and he could come today
so a lot of my people would have gone
there so it's a privilege for me to be
here today and now
i represent 100 years of jewish
experience almost 100 years of jewish
experience
i'll be happy
to answer any questions
about it
because the main thing i want to tell
you something
the reason that i could make this house
i had a great
start as a young man i was born in a
proud french family
traditional jewish family i went to a
dance i went to a hater and i went to
study hebrew and in the last last year
of the war before the war i went to
hebrew high school
in
the city of krakow because i was born in
the little town to be mice away there so
i had i had a good a good education i
was good looking girls are good students
but uh but
i got from my parents to my parents or
my grandparents
that i could
i could fight the germans i never fight
them with the arms but i fight them and
i'm still here
absolutely incredible sir we're so
grateful that you're still here we're
grateful for you being with us here this
evening i want to take a step back
really and thanking all those who are
here in attendance in person
it's not a simple thing in our time but
the importance of showing up on yom and
honoring the kadosha and the martyrs and
honoring our survivors and showing them
the respect
they you are our heroes
we can't begin to fathom what you went
through
and your dedication and commitment to
rebuild and we are only here as a jewish
people because of you
your resilience and your faith and your
fortitude and your optimism and your
hope
and so we
the jewish people of today are so deeply
indebted to the survivors we wouldn't be
here without you and i want to thank
those who came tonight those who are
here in person those who are watching
virtually who are part of honoring you
and sam has a cousin ralla feldman one
of my mother's closest friends i grew up
with so we're practically responding
through our mutual his cousin our mutual
our mutual dear friend and we want to
get into your life story and we want to
learn from you and we're grateful for
people who've never been on march of a
living or went back
you can't imagine what it's like
not physically grueling but emotionally
and for a survivor
for a survivor to go back to poland for
a survivor to go back to walk the camps
in which they suffered is to live a
nightmare over and over and over again
so same that you did it 11 times and you
only did it so that our students would
learn and were here and the young people
would get testimony from someone who
experienced it thank you thank you for
your commitment and thank you for going
back so many times
so sam before before we begin with your
life story
walk us through one month ago
you were an honorary chair
of a dinner for the holocaust museum
and you were speaking at the podium you
mentioned your original name
your name was not sam ron growing up in
poland
and what happened you you mentioned your
name and jack was sitting in the crowd
what happened not the name i was
mentioning that kenpo was in there as
soon as i said
the man jumped up on the seat tail and
came over running to me said you're my
brother i haven't seen him for 79 years
we were working in the same place for
eight months nothing in the same camp
but at the same place we were working in
a powerhouse for eight months and he was
lucky
it's the first time he came to the
little event i've been there every year
so that's a miracle i guess another
miracle so we became very friendly and i
talked to him we just yesterday went two
hours interview with a yummy hero
that's in the paper now and he called me
he went to the doctor and doesn't feel
good that's that's what's going on you
know i
i lose a lot of friends there so as long
i can talk
and i i remember i'll be talking and
doing this for 60 years
trying to educate trying to educate
particularly three kids particularly
when we're going to march of the living
we get
kids
boys and girls who was ready to go
to college next year i try to
give him a lot of hope and i like that
they should advocate our issues there
that's very important there
then we talk to schools and non-reach
kids maybe maybe we'll help maybe maybe
one day whatever better worker we have
now
can you tell us can you describe for us
what did it feel like when you saw and
when you were reunited with jack did you
remember him from the camp and what was
it like you never knew what happened
that he survived he didn't know you
survived what did that feel like in the
first minute i wasn't sure yet you know
then it came over and started talking
like a reference it was an amazing story
because i met i met survivors all the
time but this is something unusual there
you know 400 people around
all the newspapers
for the last month i didn't stop one day
every televisions in the country every
newspaper everybody would bother me now
so it was a
it was a great thing because very few of
us still live with life you know
so i was reading in the
news today
last year 15 500 survivors died in
israel
so we we are very few of us are still
alive i'm i'm 97 i'll be 98 in a couple
months
i i live in a wonderful place here on
the federation round in
are you dedicating a torah at sinai yes
i did
you just
nozzle tell us
amazing
if you want me to talk about
i'm not going to talk to you about
history and what happened in articles i
i just want to
go through to you
what how to feast to be in this in a
certain situation
should i do that sure okay now let me
think
and i
at age 15 age 15 when i was 15 years old
the gentleman
attacked poland they came to my town
after four days
after a couple days let me carry
life turned upside down we lost our
dignity we lost our freedom
everything we lost the first thing
we couldn't go to school anymore jesus
christ they took most of the business
away
they uh
uh
in the city we're not allowed to leave
their house there you know
and then
our
first winter came they took our force
away in my town they killed a couple
people that gave up
that first day and then what happened is
slave labor
everybody stayed labor
let me tell you
how how they're feeling this
we were
my parents were well to do we're not
very rich but we will to do my father
was
our desires and was a progressive person
there so we were it was a super factory
in the county so we were doing a lot of
business with them so i used to have it
i could have gone in there
every time we did there
and then one day
i became a strange label in that place
before i was somebody
right now i was nobody i was a state
neighbor
so
to continue like this
in the big cities individually they
create ghettos and warsaw they have
immigrant jews boat crowd of the big
cities in my little town was a little
down the population of three thousand
there were 62 families you know
you know so we
were there
what was the name of your town
the town was not as big as the natives
in english they called the kashmir
yes
you know it was stupid
so but my family i was born there my
parents were born in the city my two
grandmothers were born in that same city
we lived there for many many generations
most of us
did well there
with such a scenario
yeah i started out probably
four or five what we learned is
how we were teaching you know in your
small town as a fader in a small town or
you like to go to crack i don't know how
he doesn't play this after school
but then i had a
teacher a cuter i was teaching hebrew i
was very good in hebrew i was a i was an
attendant in a
a zionist scout organization or a theory
so i was very good in hebrew it was very
good and
as a matter of fact you know
when i went to high school in capital
leicester
in the city of krakow this was it's a
wonder what it was the greatest city in
poland
there was four high schools
it was
synagogues in that through there i don't
know how many yeshivas how many stables
are there
in
the jewish cemetery but you know what
happens
when i i started september and in
october october
the germans have stayed with 26 000 jews
holy citizens from germany and
so what they did they came to my town
they took away our
student home for a
this was the first experience and you
know what happened is that
one
there's a jewish kid clinched by in
paris his parents was among the
survivors the associated gentleman the
next day we had the christmas that was
my first experience
you know
this is
a little break about myself so next
thing
in hanukkah it was a big event in a
and then what came in the screen
the white the white people came
british so
i think that's here that could
make my character my jewish character
today
so now
you know what i'm telling you later
and then what happens
in
in earth
january 22nd 1942
in a conference advancing in berlin and
they decided on this on a
jewish solution of jewish people
so what they did created created their
chambers
contract
elsa solidworks
where millions of people were gas
straight yesterday
so when
it's 42
when
time came for my city for deportation
we went in and hiding
with polish friends and hiding
now let me explain this
how how to fix this midnight saturday
night
we walked out from our house we walked
out no one was chasing us we walked out
from the house but we had a grandmother
over 90 years old we couldn't take her
with her
so you know the emotions we didn't say
nothing but we know that next day she'll
be killed i'm just telling you emotions
what happens and then
we walked in in a barn
in the bottom eight people in the bottom
was it difficult to find a neighbor who
was willing to tell
they were willing to risk their own
lives yes
so
we lived in that bomb
after two or three months
but there was things
it was dangerous outside there was a lot
of people executed
so my parents decided we smuggled
ourselves into the ghetto cracker
start with ourselves and
you know i thought we were smart the
gentleman didn't care that you get in
they wouldn't let you get out
so i mean also i spent some time in the
catholic
on march 15 1943 they liquidated the
ghetto so
we
would work in
different spaces
we were marched in with the ghetto
parchment
so this was as a savage
and
there was two ghettos from the crocodile
a and b and then they were over two
thousand people they were killed that
muslim was was shot
there
you don't see that or probably should
dislike and then i get the parcel
now let me tell you this the first three
days the first three days when i was in
the camp
i was buried
they were bringing in the people from
the ghetto to very
in the capital
you know when you were doing it for
three days
you wouldn't believe this i found
a friend of mine you know you know how
that feels this
a friend of mine was dead and i buried
him you know
it's
unbelievable how old were you i was uh
17.
the camp of fashion is probably one of
the worst things that was in there
because
there was a crazy guy wasn't
in charge i'm not getting his name
he got shoot any anytime one should and
then there were other things like this
there were selections on the playstation
you know selection everyone said there
anybody they don't like to send them to
auschwitz i was seeing like a woman
standing behind me and pinching the
kicks you know she wanted to
look so fresh
then there was execution there angry you
know
it was
a terrible place we're not very hungry
over there finally
by september
i was coming home to work and putting in
this decade and the next day
they take us in the haircut
the first time i walked in that cattle
car
you know how it seems to be in a kettle
car
first of all you don't know where you're
going whatever they tell you we don't
believe what they're saying but they
showed that door 100 people in the
kettle car
they put a bucket of water a bucket for
sanitation
let me tell you you become an animal
there
ever this
i've been four times in
general
you know there was a movie there was a
movie the show
so finally we get to a place
yes
this guy was working there so they
unload the sale that puts you in the
shower
were any members of your family with you
at this time my family i had all my
family in class when i left i left my
family
my mother
i didn't know at that time my mother was
on the same plane to another place there
and i told her my brother
did anyone else survive
uh my father survived my counsel he
spent the whole year in an american
hospital in austria
and my mother survived in gross roles in
the german the russians the liberator
and my brother died
for
a week two weeks before the end of the
war he died in my house
so i get to go
get him in the shower
you don't know what's coming out from
there and there you look
gas or water
you don't know this
when guests and water came you know we
started singing there's a hebrew song by
so finally i get in the new camera
uh
i spent a year in that character that
guilty
was
we
we were hungry we were dearly there was
not very very bad hard work hard work
this is why i worked with jack for eight
months in one place there
and then
so there was all of our attentions
jack jack
in
1944 and somewhat
when
the rationality was clear get closer
they stopped
they had a half of poland they stopped
at the distillate our camp was six miles
away from there
so
as they were planning to take everybody
through our sheets jack ran away
i was
we were planning
or digging a town together
but you know when the time came four
guys left two of us to the states
one of them survived from the fourth
so what happened what happened there is
that they stopped working there was a
big ammunition that they won the largest
ammunition victory
and uh
the
manager the owner of the company
he didn't want to go to the world for
this he got permission to move the
machine away to germany to rebuild
effectively so he got permission to take
300 jews to germany
so i
[Music]
one day
airway to shore the one day i went to
work on saturday i came back
all the 3 000 people went to auschwitz
and we remained to 300 people and
finally they told us that we're gonna go
to germany
eventually we got to germany i got the
jackson house in orlando and
almost 1944
but you know when we got to jackson
house and
we were sitting on the and the cowboys
cobblestones
they didn't want us they didn't order
they build the jews they didn't have
jews in the running boat at that time
the only jews they had in the running
boat was people were printing
horse money i don't know
in the movie they were about 200
printers they printed british money
there but there were no jews they didn't
want us but they never knew choice
after six hours we marched through the
camp
and we get again in the shower
wow
the shower that they they cut them and
then they did it and i don't know what
it is
and then they gave us paper clothes no
shoes
and they put us in isolation for three
weeks if we get well and we can go back
then it took us
places where the machine learned it was
another candidate sometimes
the problem was in germany in the world
there
we were hungry hungry
eight months
hungry
you have an idea what eight months
hunger is you know what the
menu was there in the morning after rojo
you get coffee look like coffee then you
go out to work you'll come back and get
soup with clothes about to the end of
the world you're going to find a piece
of wood in that
and then on sunday they're two slices
where
you know there was nothing unusual you
wake up in the morning and next
something next to you is it's called
then
so hungover
i had no idea you know i take it
straight to you what means hunger it was
terrible i mean it doesn't matter how
hard work hunger was the worst thing
there i had some
i had some good jobs one time in germany
you know
we were digging out unexploded bombs 250
pounds the americans of the british
redundant and then they have the german
firemen who took care of the detonation
here
but what happened but the good thing
about it is there were irates so they
showed us in it with the germans and
then showed it and we would get in there
and find a special cigarette a scrap of
apple
so that was a good job
you know
this was the end of the war for the
eight months
the worst
we had
a red triangle
and then the jews that put that yellow
triangle in the other way to look like a
mug adobe
so
one day there were rumors that this at
the end we're gonna
no i never liked rumors but they always
like next day they're gonna separate the
jews from the vessel that means the jews
is a bad idea so what we did two of us
we pulled off the hero
and then we became polish polish
prisoners the next morning the
nationalities
so we decided we're going with the polls
you know so as we go into the post
they kicked us out they said your dirty
jewels go to your
but they said
the guard didn't know what's going on he
pushed us in with them so anyhow
but
this was
beginning of that march
april 11 and 12. you know it's very
interesting
then on the 12th of april the god came
over and he said to me like this to us
your uncle just died
mike that was my uncle so this is the
end of you guys you know who just died
that's another story
so
we were
we walked out from the gym there they
gave us you know a fresh bag for six
people i caught my part
for two and a half weeks no food was
given
for two and a half weeks no food was
written
so the first week we marched
anybody stepped out that shot no
christine no julian or jackson
the second week anybody stepped out they
didn't carry lay on the now we
know this what happened is him there you
know himmler was the head of the ss
he started making some beasts with the
swedish people who want to save himself
so they stopped shooting and swedish
ambulances came and picked up these
people
i would never walk in an ambulance
because the germans always come across
today
so finally
until the week they walked us in the
forest like two thousand people in the
forest
you know who those people were eating
the barks on the trees you know
i went with my wife we visited poland in
89 in germany and we went to that place
the park on the north side of the trees
never grew up
on the north side of the trees he bought
them everywhere
so
hundreds of people died there i wasn't
one i had one friend so we were watching
each other one was sleeping one was
watching because he got the guys
shipping their
blanket and the shoes so
finally on may 2 1945 at midnight the
cars disappeared we were left in the
woods and i was free my nightmare of
five years nine months was over that
minute i became a free person a survivor
when i became a survivor
where did you go from there
so first of all
uh we had settled down in the city
for a while
two or three weeks
there was a lot of stories about it we
walked out of the city and i seen some
uh american soldiers
doing the traffic you know deciding the
two guys standing there
we i don't know what's my idea or the
other way that guy looks like mushy from
brooklyn
so we went over there and they asked him
why she won't work he said i'm not from
brooklyn but i know i live in the nation
so he took us in the apartment store
he told us to take anything you want
i resist them
well we spend a few weeks there and
finally i went back to home
i went back to poland
now in poland
we were not very welcoming
not welcome there you know
1500 survivors was killed by polish
nationalists
after the war
and there was a big program in culture
with 42
so i came and went back to the city of
krakow because this is why i knew the
city and there was a jewish jewish
community and there was a book from the
table and nobody counseling so before i
send your name i was sleeping around you
said i found my mother's name
my mother's name in the netherlands so i
just took off like a storm
and see my mother
so i knew the city i knew the place
that's when you learned that your mother
had survived yes i was seeing her name
in that book yeah because she came back
from from gross frozen to krakow you
know
so
i
knocked on the door nobody answered the
door the janitor comes out and said i
knew that janitor she worked for my
uncle
she said your mother's in hospital i
said what do you mean she's not
sick but the sister is in husband
so i sit on the steps waiting
waiting i don't know how long eight
hours
finally my mother came
now do i have to describe you the
emotion
after two three years i didn't see my
mother
my wife said make up a story don't
make it flips don't make me watch it she
said
but you know so i said
why is
his sister in the hospital
she said you know we went back to the
living town because
we stayed with the
jewish men who survived there
and one night they came some bandits or
nationalists
and
whatever so i then jumped out on the
window over lake my mother
too so they went to the hospital to
crack up so my mother says don't go back
to your house
i own the house here in the city
wow
so many questions and so much to talk
about
tell us the name sam ron how did you get
you weren't born with the name
now
blame my wife for it she's an israeli
born after we married she changed my
name my name was lacoste
she changed my name
but then okay
this is very interesting
because
i
i don't know i was i had a cousin
they told me that one of my cousins
who survived in the soviet union was an
officer in the polish russian army so
he was in the city players today
my mother said don't see other you know
so i went so i stopped in the city of
catalina
and when they are walking in the street
the guy is happy oh yeah
think about it
you'll say what's that
say my age
he said sam what are you doing i said
i'm not doing nothing i don't know
so why don't you join me i was working
with
from eastern europe
all the jews out to italy and then they
went on the illegal ships of palestine
israel
and eventually eventually i went in 46.
to arabs israel
i i went down in lego ships because we
had permission to take 1100 young people
legally so i i was a madrid 130 kids
so i
went to palestine for years
israel
and it came in
april the 24th of 25th
so what's happening we got to regard
1100 we have 1500 so the british
speakers are not making a good
contention but after a few days
how long did you stay in palestine
palestine i don't call it palestine
whatever
i joined a group of
survivors who were waiting
for a place to get the settlement now
they
came wasn't the naked the most
was the post there so we were 30 people
there i was
again i was the executive director
i was killed
so we we were there on the negative you
know
and uh
just like
shot there
uh on november the 27th 29th they
decided in the united nations
soon as they decide the nation the arabs
start shooting
so 10 days later
hundreds of heroes protect us
i was wounded in another problem
but this it was a very amazing story
because the negative was cut off
from the easter
so
we had a pilot on a little plane playing
a piper
and he used to come when he debated
so one day you come with domain you see
that
out of shooting
so he went back to another
place that they say you know
and they opened the door and they came
back they threw a few hand grenades in
the tube
it was a movie showing the sons of water
what they did so the arabs disappeared
but meanwhile i was wondering
so he was one of the worst the guy so he
took him first he couldn't take two
people
so he
meanwhile british british
military came over to help us
so
the guy
my mother could not stop my blood they
helped me the british
and then they took me to meditation and
uh and then the piper came back and take
me to the hospital
and the
attenborough
came
so sam your story is extraordinary
and and listening all of us listening
you you were hit by a polish family
you went to concentration camp slave
labor camp death march and even after
being liberated and having a second new
lease on life you're shot at by arabs
and injured
israeli army serving the israeli army
[Music]
and now
when i had a bad job there
we lived for 10 years with two children
in israel my life was teaching israel i
had a very good job with the company
what happened my parents lived in ohio
and they got sick ill
so they asked me to come back to them so
in 56
we went to the united states on a visit
and we stayed and they had to take care
of my parents it's not too late you
could still make aliyah it's not too
late
[Applause]
so it's a it's a remarkable story it's
an incredible story and here's my
question and
i'm sure it's on the minds of many
listening to you said you're describing
the worst atrocities in the history of
mankind
and yet you still have the ability to
smile
and to laugh
and to be joyful and to be positive how
how is that possible how after
everything that you went through did you
not give up hope in humanity i told you
at the beginning i had a good start
a good start my parents were like
infamous
my mother told me that i'll make it i
hate it i had a story i tell you
school
there was three jewish kids there
there's one boy and two girls
and in the fifth game jesus was on the
wall they were praying there
one day the guy in vegas called me to
the jew
you know what sunday i picked up my ink
and i spilled on them there i get that
myself
who's moving now
[Applause]
i came home my mother said you will make
it
amazing
[Applause]
i want to say i want to ask you as a
follow-up
a serious question there are many people
who go through a lot less than what you
did
who don't believe in god they don't
believe in hashem anymore they give up
on judaism they give up on the religion
and we don't judge people who went
through what you went through of course
we don't sit in judgment of others but i
want to learn we want to learn and be
inspired from you how do you maintain
amuna how do you maintain your faith in
hashem how do you maintain a commitment
to judaism in the jewish continuity
after everything that you went through
you know this is a very
a very
complicated question
about hashem i'm not going in in this
about hashem
what happened
yeah you know i i the only thing i was i
was i am a
jew with over a mafia
i very
i happened not to be a member of this
congregation remember with a foreign
temple but i am still a very
jew i i i swear to israel and i get
blood in his ear and i suffered for five
months and never they never cut me down
they never cut me down i
never
never gave up
[Applause]
and i'm teaching the kids not to give up
yeah
and teaching them two things
hate
not to use hate is not a good thing for
you what they hate doing doesn't do good
for you if you hate somebody
that's why i'm teaching the kids okay
and
in hope and
believe in yourself
you get someplace
amazing
when you were when you were in the camp
or on the death march
did you see kindness did you see
kindness between people when
people were trying to know there was no
kindness i i i don't want to say this
even in the catholic
there was no kindness
no kindness i don't think i ever seen it
well we were friends you know but uh
everybody was horizontal
everyone was trying that's my opinion
there's a lot of you know a lot of
stories
lao has a story about that came to the
college
i i have never seen miss anything there
i
i've been
five years nine months
i tried to stay alive that's all yeah
now this this week the torah portion
that we'll read it's called
which is after after aram lost his two
sons
after tragedy that is
and there's rebirth and that's your
story certainly coming into the state of
israel the rebirth what was it like
to go from thinking this is the end of
the jewish people this is the end of our
story
after 2000 years seeing the miracle of
the birth of the state of israel to live
both sides of that and to be present for
both parts of it what was that like i
did my part i was in the army my wife
wasn't young you know
but during when you were living through
the atrocity did you think it was the
end of the jewish people no way i
well
you know something in the camps i was
looking to survive another day i didn't
know we didn't know what's happening the
rest of the world you know we know that
uh millions of people were dead but we
didn't know this
there was no
i you know some people have
some rabbis have miracles i have not
seen anything i don't i don't say that
it wasn't it was a miracle that was
survived anyhow
you sitting here you're the biggest
miracle that's why i'm sitting here
right now
the last one jack you know
you know
the state of israel is a miracle say
there isn't a military right it's a
great leader no my wife my wife was in
the army too and she wrote me a letter
she said i'm writing you a letter
in there to say but
when you finish the letter we uh
[Music]
and each number has a
capitalistic theme to it
and the the number that we're going to
count tonight is ho chi minh the
splendor the glory of strength and you
are a model
and an inspiration of strength of a
physical strength to endure and survive
but a spiritual strength and a
positivity and a hope and i want to ask
the last question
is that
please god will have you and jack and
survivors please god still for many more
years but there'll come a time that the
young people will live in a world
without survivors what's your message to
them what's your message to us
what do you want us to know what do you
want us to believe what do you want us
to fight for you mentioned what you tell
the young people well what's your
message you want to leave us with
tonight
there's one thing there's one thing that
after week one there's a new zone in
washington
zone in dayton that's missile all the
places and there's a lot of
it's a big show of business you know a
lot of people writing stories
well i hope i hope that
we will all will come
overcome all the troubles we have in
israel either i am not very much worried
about that
in america
it doesn't bother me sometimes
why is that
why why is that
why why is that well then this way they
remain they're the jews they have to be
jewish somebody tells them even if
you're not doing the neighborhoods of
these jewish
so
you know
you can never never
never
assess attentively jews another pink
league
our our strength
is
whether we believe or don't believe or
become if we jewish we've suffered for
2000 years we lived in poland you know
we lived a good life mostly a lot of us
with good life
for generations my family for my
father's cycle the biggest state in
poland you know
uh there was a lot of poor people that
they love anti-semitism but we live
there every day
so
israel
is not foreign
[Applause]
enjoy
you know you come from new jersey you
know my family my friends
all these rich guys in the business
you know the builders the builders
there's a lot of pool tourists too we
here in i am on a
advisory board for helping survivors in
this
half country we have 260 survivors
a lot of them
sam thank you so much for being with us
tonight and sharing your story we'll ask
everyone to remain standing
[Applause]
sam ron the great sam ron what a story
what a demeanor what a display christian
what a person
wow
wow and even at the end there when he
was saying how he is helping
260 he serves on a committee or on a
board which they're helping those
survivors
that aren't are the ones that are in
poverty the ones that need our help the
question where are we you know
he's 98 again and he's the one that's
doing what he can to help them
do you see his strength you see his
strength his character his positivity
it's hard not to smile during the entire
in the entire interview
smiling
but then
he's the survivor telling his story
and he's smiling what'd you think of
that comment he made he covered his
mouth he leaned over and he said i'm not
worried about anti-semitism in america a
little anti-semitism is not a bad thing
again if you and i said that
it'd be in hot water we'd be getting a
lot of emails
here you have somebody right
survivor definitely listen we we we're
not saying i guess you know no one wants
to get in trouble but you
you know
the the reality is that when the jews
have faced a lot of anti-semitism
they've they've it's not about fighting
back it's about you know galvanizing as
a community and standing up for what
they believe in and we've seen
throughout jewish history whenever we've
had it good whenever we've had to you
know have that opportunity to coast a
little bit yeah things don't work out
well for us so yeah you know
it's been said that in europe they tried
to kill us with hate in america they're
killing us with love you look at these
demolition the intermarriage rates
and it's it's not always great jews
forget their jews they forget why be
jewish they forget the importance of the
jewish story and of jewish continuity
you recall on a march of living i got in
big trouble uh you and i were at the
warsaw cemetery
standing around the warsaw cemetery
we're in a mass grave and i was at
warsaw
and i spoke about the fact that you know
talking to a group of of
public school kids we're going to go
back and they were going to secular
colleges universities and i said you
know to the degree that you assimilate
and you lose or forget your judaism if
you were to intermarriage and end your
family's jewish story you become an
accomplice to hitler's agenda and there
was an adult on the trip who was very
unhappy with me
because we we see you know if
intermarriage is in your family either
you oppose it you fight it and you do
everything you can to to try to thwart
it
or or you just move the goal posts and
you embrace it and you come up with new
definitions of it and and you know we of
course with love and with warmth and
welcoming and and respect but we have
very clear definitions of who's a jew
and what defines a jew and the jewish
story in the jewish continuity and
you're seeing you're seeing parts of the
jewish people hemorrhage and disappear
and that was hitler's goal hitler's goal
of the world free of jews and you could
get free of jews through gas chambers
and crematoria and you get free of jews
through assimilation and intermarriage
and
that person was very very upset at me
for saying it to personal offense for
saying it but i stand by it it's many
years later and i stand by it and i'd
say it again is it the most effective
thing to say i don't know
kid going to college campus today
um maybe we have to make a more
compelling or persuasive or sensitive
argument maybe that's not the way to say
it uh but but the idea of it and the
principle of it i still stand by
the challenge is that you said that 20
years ago now if you would say that in
front of those kids remember there's a
good chance that i'm not saying on our
buses from our community it might be a
little different in terms of statistics
but you know in the greater jewish world
you know 70 80 percent of their parents
are intermarried right now right and
when we have adults coming on our trips
the assumption is that a significant
number of them are also so it's
it's it's a it's a complicated
statement
it's one thing you're talking to you
know the audience and the school or
behind the bema it's another thing when
you're when you're out there it's it's
no i agree so what's the argument
you're talking to a kid who went to
public schools parents on the peripheral
jewish life who maybe had a bar mitzvah
confirmation whatever they had but they
really are not living
i'll tell you i'm not going to make this
comparison because i'm just going to try
and just maybe flex a little bit i mean
if you uh this past week in uh ifamas
when we're talking about the definition
of you know the the moms are it this is
not the same thing let's just be clear
we're not talking about the same thing
but the question there became at least
in this year was you know ellie was
talking about was the um
why would you blame the kid for the
fault of the parents so to speak
whatever that means and right getting
into that philosophical discussion
there's a big that is a big
philosophical discussion
if you had to bet which host of behind
the beam
would be quoting your vamos
i'm not saying that it wouldn't be you
i'm just saying i wouldn't bet it'd be
you but rabbi brother we'll come we'll
come back to our rabbi brody torah
learning update now he's wearing a
jacket look at him he's that's that's
that's on my show i just couldn't take
it off we'll come back we'll come back
to the rava verde total learning update
in a moment but what would you say what
would you say a kid comes from a home
where they did not observe he doesn't
have a jewish education he's going off
to a college campus and you say hey
buddy hey young lady remember you're
jewish
don't forget your judaism and when be
friends with everyone in the world but
when you're looking for a spouse do not
marry outside our people they say well
why not really i'm just a human and i'm
looking for another human it's all about
being a human and they're a good person
what are you saying to them
for the record the last speech that i
give and i guess i took it out of your
playbook was you know it's always
at the uh
treblinka around the roast what they
call the roast again without getting
into to what it was you could obviously
imagine when you talk about roasting and
the holocaust
but the message that i give there is you
know i've been complaining she started
yellow
and and be that next link in the chain
and and intermarriage is a big part of
it and
most of the time the adults that are
there because the adults are at that
point as we begin to transition you know
as we go to israel um there are many
that come over yeah pat on the back you
know
but but you know what's interesting you
know what i learned also the pat on the
back is not that
i i'm not going through the challenges
that you're speaking about it's usually
that i am and and i'll say it also my
family my both my uncles right they
intermarried both all my first cousins
are brody first cousin they're not
jewish yeah there's nothing challenging
so there's no there's no family here i
think everyone just recognized i think
that i think that the answer to your
question is that people do recognize the
challenges that are there and it needs
to be said let's just put it on the
table and and
well maybe maybe we'll talk about it
next week because we're not suggesting
that if someone's into married we should
shun them we're living in a different
world we don't today sit shiva for them
right we want to have any hope or
possibility of
of of a proper conversion or they're
coming back in the future you need to
leave the door open so we're not
suggesting that i'm not even at the
point of they are intermarrying i'm
talking about how do you make the
argument how do you make the case and by
the way is anyone doing it there was no
one better to have done it than rabbi
lord saks
you know and and he did in some ways i'm
not sure he did explicitly did he ever
write a book now how do you address you
have a room full of of uh non-observant
with no jewish education young jews and
you're trying to make the case for them
why be jewish right how do you make the
case why it's very hard and from from
their perspective again you're you're
you're you're excluding like we're we're
all part of the the modern world and why
don't we all uh
i'm not going to say this correctly but
you're like it's like you're racist by
saying right you have to only be with
the jews and united premises
discriminating right discriminating
yeah i once had a father who was not a
member of our school but asked me this
goes years ago because i was assistant
rabbi my office was all the way on the
other side and um that wasn't a flux
like i remember officers our officers
are on two sides of the building that's
all um
and my father meet with me called me
someone recommended he meet with me and
with his son his son was dating a
non-jewish girl and this was let's just
say maybe a severity father who wasn't
observing himself but the thought of his
son into marrying i think he might have
killed his son he would have been a
murderer on our hands right so we're
sitting there and the father is geared
up says rabbit this is my son he's
dating an unju and this can't be and he
thinks i'm going to tag team with him
and partner with him and come out and
rail against the sun and i turned to the
father and i said no i understand it i
really you know it's your fault like i
took my own life in my own hands yeah he
turns me to father's day what are you
talking about it's my fault i said let
me ask you a question
do you keep kosher he said no does he
keep showers no
so you're not willing to sacrifice a
cheeseburger for the religion but he's
fallen in love with a girl who thinks
will make an amazing wife an amazing
mother she's got all the attributes he's
ever looked for kind-hearted good and he
should sacrifice that
you're not willing to sacrifice your
saturdays but he should sacrifice what
he believes should be the mother of his
children
what does he see you willing to
sacrifice what are you willing to give
up what are you doing and observing in
your life and then i tried to pivot and
say so buddy you're not off the hook i'm
not telling you what you're doing is
okay what i'm saying is
get educated learn and practice and and
try out this religion and see what
you're walking away from and giving up
be an educated customer an educated
consumer for those who used to shop at
sims
but be a be an educated consumer and if
you're making a choice to walk away from
judaism
then do it as a choice right now you're
not doing it as a choice right you have
you have no education about judaism this
huge temptation to walk away
level the playing field learn and
practice and experience and now as an
educated person you want to walk away
you're walking away but at least give
yourself a shot don't do something
you'll regret before you can give it a
shot i said basically to the dad
show him model it's not too late all
right take it out now what are you
willing to work on now you want him to
give up what are you willing to give up
you want him to try it out what are you
willing to try out and show him i don't
know whatever happened so don't ask me
because that was that one meeting but
that was the posture so it's a
complicated question it's complicated
and and we
we can never forget right
you know
is that the further we we we move away
you know the generations and
those children that guy's children his
grandchildren they don't even know and
it's not the the blame is it's like it's
not it wasn't a choice at that point
right like they're immersed in a
different world right now where no one's
choosing to yeah
leave numbers the numbers are startling
the hemorrhaging is starting and the
impact in the future
is is startling and troublesome and
yeah you
one of the things we face is not just
the anti-semitism external to us which
is trying to eliminate our people but we
have to do i think i know masha what's
appropriate to do a introspection and
gut check internally what are we doing
yeah um to make sure that we're
continuing which is a perfect a perfect
way to end rabbi brody give us uh first
of all thank you again to bruce and
jominski my machetem my beloved beloved
family the minskys just been pesach with
them they were down here for pesach and
it was great to be together it's the
best thing because then you don't have
to split your children their time and
who cares about the children but their
their child you know the granddaughter
you get to just have so it was great to
have the minskys here and thank you for
the sponsorship this evening rabbi
brodie close us out with your update we
had rabbi ellie stefanski he challenged
you during the show sign up for his daff
and what's been happening since then i
got to tell you that that you know like
you always talk about those moments in
your life that that was like a game
changer
i don't know how much longer i'm able to
do this because it's the pace is like a
really fast pace right now
but um he really changed everything and
and i'm still trying to figure out
exactly what it was you know what what
what kind of turned on what what what
the switch was i can't figure out if
it's the cover of guys that you just
keep feeling there's a constant
encouragement every day whether it's the
photos or the emails constantly pushing
each other
you know even if you if you missed a day
or you missed something just just start
again it's like you never feel like
right like without without the chevra
right um and and it's great but then i
think what happened over uh over over
hula muy this was the most exciting part
i got up and i gave some speech you know
at the at the at the boca point minion
and i'm speaking about how you know
this i probably heard this from you you
know column is a vacation but don't take
a vacation from torah so let's all get
into it now i think i was just talking
myself because i mean you know it's not
a big minion there's 15 guys there
and
at least at that minion and i said let's
just all do it and and you know i said
we have more time it is halamoid you
aren't you don't have the same
responsibilities and yet we we find it
that it's usually the time to take
vacation
and then i was like you know what
i love that mr brew it's been so long
you know you know i love learning mr
brewer and right and and then i was like
you know what i i was looking at my
bookshelf
consolidated a lot just to the things
that i really wanted to get to and i've
just never gotten to and i was like you
know what i'm doing mr brewer already
and it was the same day as the omer so
i'm like you know what day one of the
omers siminal of mr brewer simon
alefchito
so what's now what's the rabbi brodie
routine we're not going to say what it
used to be because we're not going to
say all right but what's the rabbi
brodie routine now it's it's the daf
mishna barua
kitchen
nephew
you're like you're back in yeshiva i'm
back in the chief i'm unbelievable i'm
back in your seat and i'm and you know
what it feels great
it's just hard it's just i woke up this
morning i was live at 5 30 i would
normally go to the gym and i was like
still have to like catch up so i'm doing
this these are the monuments you you
would skip over because it's so
technical right this length of the
strings and how do you tie it and what's
it made out of let's really close that
with a mrs brodie reference because you
haven't brought up your mom in a long
time i met today with mrs brody okay and
her co-chair for the empty nester group
it was just simply a check-in at the
national house going what could we work
on but they sit down and your mom says
what do we do wrong
i said what'd you do wrong i said
nothing it was great she's like why'd
you call us in i asked josh and josh had
no idea why'd you call us in she didn't
believe me i said so and then her
co-chair says
if you if we're here because you want us
to be on behind the bema we're not doing
it
so that was the truth is that was the
reason i met with them i wanted to be on
behind the bema
um mother's day coming up
but uh instead we just talked about the
empty nesters and what we can do and
ideas of programs and how we can expand
and they're great powerhouses they're
they're great they've done great
programs and for years they've been
serving and
fantastic energy so what's like before
before you close out like i'm saying
pesach for you
what did it do where
what are you feeling right now like
what's what are we going into
uh i feel great invigorated and um it
was a great pesach
great pesach
packed house standing room only every
um
best layout for pesach ever the whole
holomoid the two shabboses it's good for
people taking off work it's good for
rabbis and people who cook to not have
to constantly produce the whole layout
of the calendars here was just optimized
had great sadaram it's great it's great
it's the best i feel so blessed great
weather unbelievable
boca in almost may and we had beautiful
weather beautiful weather davin that
broke a point all right satellite one
day right with you it was it was great
we'll we'll do more we'll do more next
week oh you know what i forgot i'm doing
the hyena also don't forget to kill him
you're doing it all got every minion in
the shore covered
it's a beautiful thing i'm loving every
second beautiful three weeks of awkward
it doesn't get any better unbelievable
unbelievable all right thank you again
to sam for sharing your story with us
big thank you liminski's for sponsorship
and uh in memory of of
dear grandparents and rabbi brody until
next time stay happy stay healthy
stay