Eighty years ago this month, Germany surrendered to the Allied forces. The six-year world war, and the ensuing Holocaust, destroyed much of Jewish civilization in Europe. Nevertheless, Jewish life re-emerged, like a phoenix, from the ashes, and ultimately reclaimed their scholarly heritage. The Avner Institute presents an exchange of letters concerning a special edition of the Babylonian Talmud that was distributed to the survivors, with the Rebbe’s affirmation that the Jewish spirit could never be vanquished.
In the immediate years after World War II, the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) teamed with the U.S. Armed Forces to print a special edition of the Babylonian Talmud for Jews in the Displaced Persons (DP) camps across Europe. This Talmud, the only known edition to ever be published by a government, included drawings of the Nazi death camps. It was distributed to the survivors.
Once the set was complete, the JDC sent courtesy sets to various rabbis who were involved with their work. (These documents are part of the JDC Archives, which were digitized and uploaded online, thanks to a grant from Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky CBE.)
On 2 Shevat 5712 (Jan. 29, 1952), Mr. Moses Leavitt, Vice-Chairman of JDC (New York) sent a set of the “Survivors’ Talmud” to the Rebbe, with the following letter:
Dear Rabbi Schneerson,
It gives me great pleasure to present to you a set of the Babylonian Talmud which the Joint Distribution Committee, in cooperation with the American Military, reprinted in Germany.
As you doubtless know, the project was undertaken to meet the need among religious schools and rabbis, not only in Germany where Hitler burned the Talmud, but also in other countries abroad. As a result of this effort, we were able to supply sets of the Talmud for a number of refugee rabbis and institutions in Europe, as well as for yeshivoth and newly established communities in Israel.
A few sets of the Talmud were allocated for the Western Hemisphere, which we distributed among yeshivoth, seminaries, and outstanding libraries, as a token of the historic significance of this project and of our appreciation of the help extended by American Jews in our efforts to aid our fellow Jews abroad. It is in this spirit that the set is being sent to you. May it serve as a memento of the Shearith Hapleitah [remnants] and the assistance which was extended by the American Jewish Community through the Joint Distribution Committee to Jewry overseas.
Ten days later, on 12 Shevat 5712 (Feb. 8, 1952) the Rebbe responded with a beautifully written letter in English:
Dear Mr. Leavitt:
This is to acknowledge with sincere thanks receipt of your letter of January 29th, as well as of the set of the Babylonian Talmud, which the JDC, in cooperation with the American Military, reprinted in Germany. It will make a prized addition to our library, and your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.
The Babylonian Talmud, our Oral Law, which goes hand-in-hand with our Written Law (the Bible), represents our greatest and most sacred spiritual heritage, the very soul of our people, and the light of our exile. The reprinting of this vast treasure would have been an occasion for rejoicing at all times. In our present day, after the Hitlerite hordes had destroyed a great many of our living Talmudists together with their holy books and the famous European Hebrew presses, the reprinting of the Talmud is not only a fitting monument to our great tragedy, but it fills an urgent need. That it was printed in the very country which had set out to spread a blanket of darkness over the whole world, adds a touch of Divine justice.
What is further worthy of note is that the JDC took the initiative in rendering this great public service. It demonstrates that this organization is alive to the vital spiritual needs of our people.
The long record of cooperation which the JDC extended to my father-in-law of sainted memory in his lifelong work for the perpetuation of our sacred heritage, which has proved consistent throughout its dealings with Lubavitch to this day, bears this out. I sincerely hope and pray that the JDC will be in a position to enlarge this most valuable contribution to the spiritual rehabilitation of our people, commensurate with the growth and expansion of our work in Europe, North Africa, and our Holy Land.
Please accept my fullest appreciation of your personal interest and cooperation, as well as of those of your colleagues in the leadership of the Joint Distribution Committee and its European Executive Council.
With prayerful wishes,
[signature]
The Missing Volume
Interestingly enough, the set the Rebbe received was missing one volume, which the JDC promptly replaced. On 15 Shevat 5712 (Feb. 11, 1952), Rabbi Nissan Mindel, the Rebbe’s secretary, sent the following letter to the JDC:
Gentlemen:
With reference to the set of Babylonian Talmud which you kindly sent to the Lubavitcher Rabbi shlita we wish to advise you that the second volume (Tractate Sabbath) is missing.
You will no doubt wish to complete the set, and many thanks for your attention.
Three days later, on 18 Shevat 5712 (Feb. 14, 1952) JDC staff member Mrs. Henrietta K. Buchman responded to Rabbi Nissan Mindel, assuring him that the new volume was on the way:
I am distressed to learn from your letter of February 11th that the second volume (Tractate Sabbath) was missing from the set of the Babylonian Talmud which was sent to the Lubavitcher Rabbi. We had not opened the case to examine it after it arrived from Germany, and we were unaware that the set was incomplete.
We are promptly mailing a copy of the second volume under separate cover, and we hope that the binding will prove to be the same as that of the other eighteen volumes in the set sent to Rabbi Schneerson. If the binding does not conform with the others, please let us know, and we shall try to get a replacement from such odd volumes, as there may be on hand in our offices in Germany.
A few days later the new volume arrived. On 29 Shevat 5712 (Feb. 25, 1952) Rabbi Nissan Mindel responded with a “Thank You” letter:
Dear Mrs. Buchman:
This is to acknowledge with thanks receipt of your letter of Feb. 14, 1952. The missing tractate has been received, and everything is in the best of order.
Your kind attention is fully appreciated.
With all good wishes.
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