I Will Be Sanctified: Religious Responses to the Holocaust

Levin gathers essays by Jewish writers that attempt to understand the place of the Holocaust in Jewish history. Seeking to address as wide an audience as possible, Levin has chosen essays that provide insight into the workings of the halakhic mind as it seeks to apply traditional Jewish religious law to situations of life and death. In his essay on ""Manifestations of Divine Providence in the Gloom of the Holocaust,"" Hayyim Kanfo says that the Holocaust constitutes the darkness and terrible absence that will cause events of salvation to spring forth. There are innumerable examples of heroism in the Holocaust. Nissim Nadav records an instance when, on a Saturday afternoon, a large group of Jews had been assembled at a train station to be transported to Auschwitz and certain death. When they realized that it was time for the third Sabbath meal, the Jews searched for a bit of water and bread, washed their hands, recited the blessing over the bread and began to sing songs of praise. Through these essays, Levin portrays a living and deep faith facing squarely the suffering of the Holocaust. (June)