Esther Tokayer

I remember being in a college classroom with Yaffa Eliach a”H.  The course was Films of the Holocaust.  She showed us a film, Forbidden, about a German woman living in Berlin who saved Jewish people and helped get them out of Germany.  She hides a Jewish man in her apartment.  It is difficult for him but he manages until she brings in another Jewish man for a few days.  Together the two men chant Shema Yisrael loudly and clearly so it could be heard in the streets of Berlin.  The woman ousts the newcomer, but it is clear that the Jew had no regrets.  Perhaps this year, if we are alone or in small numbers in our homes – we can have our seders by open windows and we can chant loudly together.. maybe that will give us the strength to be able to be there for each other and to pull through this difficult time.

Esther Tokayer, Associate Principal
Magen David Yeshivah– Joe & Celia Esses High School, Brooklyn, NY