Who Told President Roosevelt to Ignore 500 Rabbis

Historic Treasures — Episode 308: "Who Told President Roosevelt to Ignore 500 Rabbis"

Welcome to our weekly Mitzvah Shabbat program.

This week will be Chof Sivan in the Jewish history. This month in Jewish history, especially on the day of Chof Sivan, many tragedies happened. Many people have a custom to fast on Chof Sivan. It says it's for this that Rabbeinu Tam declared this a fast day on Chof Sivan.

In the year 1648 the decree of Tach v'Tat began in the month of Sivan. The city of Tzur was captured in Sivan. Thousands of Yidden were deported to Auschwitz, and it started in the month of Sivan.

And it says further that in the month of Sivan, the words "Asher b'Sivan hu asher bo nishpach dam Yisrael kamayim" — Jewish blood was spilled like water in the month of Sivan. And that's why we know that every Shabbat Yom Tov we don't say Av Harachamim before Musaf, but davka in Sivan we do say Av Harachamim, because of the tragedies that happened in the month of Sivan.

Also, we know that Sivan is the beginning of Tisha B'Av, because the Meraglim, forty days before Tisha B'Av — the Meraglim left Eretz Yisrael, and it says on Chof Sivan they left to go to Eretz Yisrael.

So Sivan is a month of tragedies. The Frierdiker Rebbe, I think, was also taken to prison in the month of Sivan. It says pogroms in France and Germany and riots began in the month of Sivan.

So this is the month to remember the tragedies of the Gedolim that passed away in the month of Sivan.

So, in connection with the more recent tragedy, the Holocaust, I found in the notes of Rabbi Mindel that in 1943, in the middle of the Holocaust, 500 rabbis went to Washington on behalf of the Jews in Europe to plead, to talk to President Roosevelt. Even though I once mentioned it, but as you'll see soon, when Rabbi Silver wrote to the Rebbe about this march of 500 rabbis, the Frierdiker Rebbe told him we should never forget this. So I want to repeat it again.

So before the 500 rabbis went to Washington, the Frierdiker Rebbe called over four people — they should join the march of the 500 rabbis. I'm doing what was written. Who were the four people?

Elya Quint [?] — he was also like a mazkir; I think he worked in Merkos. Harav Zalman Gurary — he was part of the Agudas Chassidei Chabad. Harav Binyomin Levin — his father was Reb Shmuel Levin. And Rabbi Nissan Mindel, we all know, the Rebbe's secretary, mazkir rashi.

And Rabbi Mindel took pictures, and I have pictures of the whole march — I'm not going to show it today, but I have pictures of the whole march.

Now I want to read to you a report that I found here in the archives. Here I'm going to read it. It writes:

"A gathering of 500 rabbis, Orthodox, took place in Washington, D.C., in front of the Capitol, on October 1943. The protest alerted Americans to awareness of the Holocaust, helping Jews in Europe. They marched from Union Station to the Lincoln Memorial. While marching, people were crying bitterly. People were screaming, 'Ribbono Shel Olam,' vechulu vechulu, and they said certain terrible things, because they knew what their parents or their grandparents, who were starving, were going through. This was mamash in the middle of the war."

Rabbi Mindel writes: "People screaming, 'Hashem, don't shecht, don't slaughter our children. Help us.'"

The march was led by rabbonim. One of the greatest rabbonim was Harav Eliezer Silver. He was from the Agudas Gedolei HaTorah. He lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was very close to the Frierdiker Rebbe; he wrote a lot of letters to him.

Also he writes: Harav Yisrael Rosenberg, the head of Agudath Israel; also the Boyaner Rebbe; Bernard Levy [?]. These were from the older rabbonim. And from the younger rabbonim was Harav Kamenetzky and the Bostoner Rebbe.

The march began three days before Yom HaKadosh, before Yom Kippur. They marched to the White House and were met by Vice President Henry Wallace and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and other members of Congress. And there Harav Silver read a petition to President Roosevelt.

And this is what Harav Silver said — I'm going to read what Rabbi Silver said then, in front of the rabbis:

"Children, infants, elderly, men and women are crying to us. Help. Help. Millions have already fallen dead. Millions were sentenced to fire and sword. And tens of thousands have died of starvation. And we — how can we stand up to pray on the holiest day of Yom Kippur, knowing that we have not fulfilled our responsibilities? So we have to come brokenhearted, on the eve of Yom Kippur, the eve of the holy day of Yom Kippur, to our honorable President Franklin Roosevelt, to form a special agency to rescue the remnants of the Jewish nation in Europe."

This is what Rabbi Silver said. Then, afterwards, after he spoke, the protesters walked to the Lincoln Memorial. They prayed for the welfare of the president and American soldiers abroad, and also for the Jews in Hitler's Europe. And he also writes that the Meltzer Rebbe was also there, and he said Tehillim, and he said Keil Malei Rachamim.

Now, this is the shocking thing that happened. Terrible.

When the 500 rabbis came to the White House, they were stunned to be told that the president was not available to see them, to meet the delegates. What the rabbis did not know was that the president's top Jewish advisers — his speechwriter, and prominent Jewish members Samuel Rosenman and Stephen Wise, who was a Reform Jew — these were all Jewish — had told the president to avoid the rabbis by leaving the White House through a rear exit, so they should not see the way the president leaves. They were embarrassed by the protesters, and feared that the march might provoke anti-Semitism. They did not want the president to give them any attention. That's what he writes.

The rabbis were very disappointed. Many cried, over the fact that there were Jewish advisers telling the president not to meet with them. And Wise, especially Wise, was among the people that told the president — and he was a Reform Jew. He was very close to the president. And he's the one, basically, who made sure the president felt it was not important for him to see them, so he shouldn't pay attention.

So our Rabbi Silver said then that the president failed our cause. He failed to let refugees into the United States. He did not do anything to protect the Jewish people.

Months later, he writes — Harav Silver wrote in a letter to the Frierdiker Rebbe, and he said to the Rebbe: "Even though the president did not help, through the protest they saved many Jews — about 200,000 Jews they saved." He wrote: "Even though these self-hating Jews told the president not to let the rabbis [meet with him], Hashem helped, and through this protest 200,000 Jews [were saved]."

Now, it's very painful, but it's not surprising — this self-hating Jews, this is what they did.

Now, we see also from the Rebbe — the Frierdiker Rebbe — who arrested him? These were Jews. We see with the Alter Rebbe also — self-hating Jews.

And the Frierdiker Rebbe answered Harav Silver: "We should never, never forget what happened to the Jews in Europe — men, women, children, never forget. And you should announce, you should tell everybody, this protest."

Now, Hashem — nowadays we have a president, President Trump. He loves Israel. He loves [unclear]. And Hashem — things changed. So the Rebbe helped... [unclear] ...since we're getting closer now to [unclear]...

I'll be with you next week, we'll continue our weekly program. Thank you.