Jewish Thought After the Shoah Practice Exam Review

Comprehensive practice flashcards based on the lecture transcript 'Jewish Thought After the Shoah,' covering key rabbinic, philosophical, and survivor perspectives.

Who was R. Kalonymus Kalman Shapira and what was his role during the Holocaust?

The rebbe in Piaseczno from age 24, who founded the Da'at Moshe yeshiva; in the Warsaw Ghetto, he ran a public kitchen and lead secret Hasidic gatherings, writing sermons in real time that were later found in the Oneg Shabbat archive as Aish Kodesh.

According to R. Kalonymus, why does God Himself need to do teshuva (repent/relent)?

Based on Exodus 32:14, he claims divine teshuva mirrors human teshuva: if humans correct their underlying mindset (machshava), it activates a measure-for-measure process where God relents concerning the evil decree.

In the Aish Kodesh sermons, how is God's own teshuva manifested?

It is manifested in the softening of harsh decrees against Israel, where divine anger (charon af) is rectified and strict judgments (dinim) dissolve, likened to a father's anger toward his son subsiding.

How did R. Kalonymus interpret the verse 'Mima'amakim keratikha Hashem' for the ghetto community?

He taught that even those in 'a depth within a depth' (omek betoch omek) must strengthen themselves, reassuring the congregation that bodily weakness (chulshat ha-guf) from starvation did not disqualify their prayer.

What was the purpose of Rabbi Ephraim Oshry's halachic responsa (She'eilot u-Teshuvot Mima'amakim) in the Kovno Ghetto?

To provide concrete halachic guidance on life-and-death questions (e.g., eating non-kosher soup, reusing clothes of the murdered) and to serve as psychological support and testimony to Jewish endurance.

What was Rabbi Oshry’s ruling regarding the purchase of a false baptismal certificate to escape the Nazis?

He forbade it (yehareg ve-al ya'avor), ruling that it constitutes a form of public denial of Jewish identity, which is forbidden even at the cost of one's life.

Why did Rabbi Oshry instruct women forced into prostitution to keep their 'Whore for Hitler' tattoos?

He ruled they should be kept as a 'symbol of honor and heroism' (semel shel kavod u-gevurah) rather than shame, as the marks testified to suffering endured specifically in connection with the sanctification of God's name.

What does Viktor Frankl identify as the primary motivating force for human survival in death camps?

The search for meaning (logotherapy), citing Nietzsche's line: 'He who has a why to live can bear almost any how' ('Wer ein Warum zum Leben hat, erträgt fast jedes Wie').

What are the three stages of a prisoner's psychological life according to Viktor Frankl?

(1) Admission to the camp characterized by shock and the 'delusion of reprieve'; (2) Adjustment to routine characterized by apathy; (3) The period following liberation.

How did Frankl use his background as a psychologist to survive the camp?

He turned his suffering into a subject of scientific psychological study, citing Spinoza's Ethics that an emotion which is suffering ceases to be suffering once we form a clear and precise picture of it.

According to David Weiss Halivni, what are the two central theological events in Jewish history?

The revelation at Sinai and the 'revelation' at Auschwitz; Sinai symbolizes God's presence and closeness, while Auschwitz symbolizes His absence and distance.

How does David Weiss Halivni explain Hester Panim (the hiding of God's face) through tzimtzum?

God must 'stand back' to allow human free will; occasionally, an excess of human evil requires a renewal of tzimtzum (divine self-contraction) to re-balance the situation, and the Holocaust occurred during one of these rare periods.

What are Halivni's three stages of divine remoteness in the transmission of Halacha?

(1) Ezra/early zugot: peak divine closeness and human authority; (2) Tannaim: readings must fit the plain sense; (3) Amoraim onward: only rational argument remains, culminating in the total divine withdrawal of the Holocaust.

What is Emil Fackenheim's 614th Commandment?

Jews are forbidden to hand Hitler 'posthumous victories' by allowing Judaism to perish; survival as Jews has replaced martyrdom (Kiddush Hashem) as the sacred duty.

What are the four conclusions Fackenheim's 'Commanding Voice of Auschwitz' demands of Jews?

(1) Survive as Jews; (2) Remember the victims; (3) Do not despair of humanity; (4) Do not despair of God.

In Em HaBanim Semeicha, how does R. Yissachar Shlomo Teichthal explain the destruction of European Jewry?

He views it as a corrective for the collective failure of Jews to return to the Land of Israel; God allowed neighbors to turn hostile as 'providential shock therapy' to sever the Jewish attachment to exile.

Who did R. Teichthal identify as the 'erev rav' (mixed multitude)?

Self-interested rabbis, Hasidic leaders, and communal notables who opposed the Zionist movement to protect their own honor, status, and income.

How does Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum (the Satmar Rebbe) explain the cause of the Holocaust in Va-Yoel Moshe?

He argues that Zionist activity to 'force the end' violated the 'three oaths' (Ketubot 111a) not to rebel against nations or immigrate en masse by force, thereby causing the catastrophe.

What is the significance of the Mir Yeshiva's escape to Shanghai in Haredi Lithuanian memory?

It is likened to 'Noah's Ark,' a directed divine miracle meant to preserve 'the ember of Torah' so the scholarly tradition could be rebuilt in Israel and the US after the war.

What was Elie Wiesel’s central intent in writing Night?

To emphasize the absolute imperative to bear witness and tell the story, serving as a voice for the silenced millions and a warning against the world's indifference.

Why did Elie Wiesel write two books of Hasidic tales?

To serve as a living spiritual memorial to the world of Eastern European Jewry, demonstrating that the soul and culture of the Jewish people could not be destroyed.

What is Hannah Arendt's 'banality of evil' thesis concerning Adolf Eichmann?

The claim that Eichmann was not a demonic monster but a 'terrifyingly normal,' shallow bureaucrat whose evil deeds were rooted in 'thoughtlessness' and an inability to think from another's perspective.

According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, why is the fool more dangerous than the wicked person?

Wickedness can be resisted with reason, but the fool is morally compromised and immune to logic; having surrendered independent judgment, the fool becomes a reliable, internal-brake-free tool of evil for those in power.

In Zvi Kolitz's story, what is the meaning of the Spanish exile parable told by Yossl Rakover?

It represents unconditional covenantal loyalty: faith that persists despite extreme trials, refusing to let God's apparent absence or cruelty have the final word on one's religious practice.

What does Emmanuel Levinas mean by 'loving the Torah more than God'?

The adult realization of a faith that accepts 'empty heavens' (hester panim) and finds God through the discipline of the Law and responsibility, rather than through emotional rewards or mystical fusion.

What was the 'sheep to the slaughter' perception in early Israeli society?

An ambivalent 1950s attitude toward Holocaust survivors that favored the heroism of 'fighting sabras' and ghetto fighters over those who suffered in camps, a view that only shifted about 25 years later.