A Jewish couple, the man born in America, the woman in Europe is vacationing.  One night all the hotels at which they try to register are fully occupied.  The only Hotel with vacancies is restricted; it will not accept Jews.

The Man says when we check in let me do the talking.  You don’t say a word, because the moment that you open your mouth, they will know that you are a Jew.

The woman agrees, and they register without a hitch.  The next morning the woman goes down to the pool.  She dives in but the water is very cold and she calls out “Oy Vey!”  Suddenly she sees everyone around the pool staring at her.  “Whatever Dat means” she adds.

American banker Otto Kahn was Jewish by birth, but had converted to Christianity.  He was once walking with a hunchback friend, when they passed a Synagogue.  “You know I used to be a Jew” Kahn said.  “And I used to be a hunchback” his companion replied.

The defining characteristic of being a Jew is that no-matter what happens, we are born and remain Jewish.  Circumstances may force us to forget that most important part of our being, but ultimately it will re-surface.

On the festival of Shavuos Hashem gave us the greatest gift that was ever given to mankind.  On Shavuos he gave us a part of himself, and that part of himself is the soul that defines our Jewishness. 

The Ten Commandments were carved into stone tablets.  A letter carved into stone can get covered over with dirt over many years.  The dirt can so cover the letters as to make them illegible.  However, the letters are still there.  All we need to do is blow away the dirt, to reveal them.  Similarly the Jewish Soul is always present, and always ready to burst forth into a powerful blaze, even if occasionally it is reduced to a small fire.

This idea is beautifully illustrated by the following meaningful story.

In Poland, survivors who tried to return to their former homes were often met with deadly hostility.  A certain Jew told how, after liberation, he clandestinely led a group of two hundred survivors to freedom.

The Polish authorities would not readily grant their Jewish citizens exit permits.  In order to escape from Poland, the two hundred had to pose as Greek Jews seeking repatriation to Greece.  Our friend instructed this ragged group not to speak Yiddish, Polish, Russian, or any other regional language, lest they reveal their true identity. 

Though none of them spoke Greek, the group’s leader did speak Sphardic Hebrew which is often spoken by Greek Jews.  Confounded by the leader’s language, the Polish military at the Czechoslovakia rail terminal was eager to have the Greeks exit. 

When they Bratislavia, Czechoslovakia, they were stopped by Russian troops.  An officer pointed to one of the members of the group and began questioning him in Russian.  The man became frightened, since he did not speak Greek or anything that sounded foreign.  However, he was familiar with the Hebrew prayer book.  Hoping to fool the Russian officer, he looked him in the eye and spoke the opening words of the Shabbath Prayer “Yekum Purkan Min Shamaya”, Which means “May salvation come from heaven”.  

The Russian officer continued the Prayer, “Chinah Vechisdah Verachamim” – “With grace, kindness and mercy”.  The officer then explained that he too was a Polish Jew forced into the Russian army.  He concluded by saying in Yiddish “Perhaps some day we will meet in Eretz Yisrael.”

In mere moments, we will begin the recital of Yizkor.  Yizkor is an introspective time, when we pause from our hectic lives and contemplate the fact that we may have strayed from the path that our ancestors so hoped we would follow.  It is a time to re-commit ourselves to their holy ideals and goals.  True, it is a time to look back and gain inspiration, but it is also a time to realize that our children are relying on us to be their role models and spiritual compasses.  It is a time to find that inner reservoir of Jewish strength and devotion that lies in all our hearts and blow off the dust to show the sharp crystal clear edges of the soul letters carved there.

It is a time to fan that flame into a brave and courageous fire, burning bright and strong and standing for what is right and true.  It must burn so bright that no Jew on earth is afraid, regardless of the social conditions that prevail, nor of ill winds that blow.  We must do it for the sake of those that perished before us for no other reason than that they were Jewish.  We must do it for the soul that burns within our hearts. And most importantly, we must proudly proclaim our Jewishness for the sake of our children.  So that they may look towards us, much like we look towards our own parents, for guidance and for spiritual direction,  and for the soul that is inside us.

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