Our ancestors suffered in the Holocaust, but despite their suffering, they did their best to perform the Mitzvos. I heard one particular story that had a major impact one me.
A young man was being taken away from his family to a labor camp. His mother took a risk and, as he was leaving, she slipped a shofar into his hand. Then he was gone. That year in the camp someone pointed out that it was the month of Elul, so they all gathered in a hidden place and he blew his shofar.
About a month later came Sukkos, and the prisoners wanted to build a sukkah. One of their jobs was to carry boards from one side of the field to another, so they decided to put them down, three boards on one side and three on the other, etc. A guard asked them what they were doing and they said they were told to make the hut as camouflage, so when the English came they wouldn’t bomb the camp. So the guard let them build their sukkah. On Sukkos they got in line and took turns slowly walking through the sukkah. As they did they said Kiddush, so they were able to fulfill the Mitzvah of eating in the sukkah.
While I listened to this story I thought about how these people were suffering greatly and were not allowed to practice their religion—but still, through their pain, their goal was to do Mitvzvos and serve Hashem to the best of their ability. Nowadays we are free to do all the Mitzvos we want, so how much more should we do good deeds. We take our freedom for granted. We should all learn from this story how important it is to do the Mitzvos of Hashem.
Miryam Esther Jarcaig lives in Milwaukee and is in 7th grade at Yeshiva Elementary School.
The Coalition for Jewish Learning is the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.