KOL NIDRE 5767

Sir Nicholas Winton

Rabbi Eric Polokoff, B’nai Israel of Southbury

BY A SHOW OF HANDS, HOW MANY FOLKS HAVE HEARD OF MEL GIBSON? IT’S YOM KIPPUR, SO YOU SHOULD BE HONEST. SHOULD WE HAVE ASKED THE OPPOSITE QUESTION? HOW MANY FOLKS HAVE NEVER HEARD OF MEL GIBSON? YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THAT MR. GIBSON WAS IN THE NEWS THIS SUMMER. WHILE BEING ARRESTED HE MADE ANTI-SEMITIC AND MYSOGYNISTIC REMARKS. WHAT MIGHT NOT BE AS WELL KNOWN IS THAT SOON AFTERWARDS AN L.A. RABBI, CLAIMING A DESIRE TO FACILITATE REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS, INVITED GIBSON TO SPEAK ON YOM KIPPUR AT HIS BEVERLY HILLS SYNAGOGUE. AFTER FACING CONSIDERABLE HEAT FROM HIS CONGREGATION, HOWEVER, THE RABBI DISINVITED MEL.

AS I FOLLOWED THE BEMUSING DETAILS, I MUST CONFESS, CHATATI, I SINNED.I SUCCOMBED TO AT LEAST A TINGE, IF NOT A FULL MEASURE OF SCHAUDENFRAUDE, (THAT’S SPELLED WITH A SHIN), OF PLEASURE AT ANOTHER’S DISTRESS. NO FAN OF MEL GIBSON, I ALSO ENJOYED WATCHING THE UNRAVELING OF SO BLATANT A COLLEAGUE’S GRANDSTANDING; THAT IS, HIS STUMBLING WHILE GENUFLECTING AT THE ALTAR OF CELEBRITY.

AS I STRUGGLED TO OUTLINE MY OWN HIGH HOLY DAY THEMES, WHAT SEEMED MOST DISTRESSING TO ME, THOUGH, WAS THE PROPOSED TIMING FOR THAT GIBSON VISIT. I THOUGHT: “EASY ABSOLUTION TO A UNREPENTANT ANTI-SEMITE IS CERTAINLY APPALLING – BUT THIS GUY’S EVEN TRYING TO WEASEL OUT OF THE SERMON. WHY, THAT’S SCANDALOUS!” FOR ON YOM KIPPUR, OUR HOLIEST OF DAYS, I THINK WE RABBIS SHOULD PREACH. THESE SACRED HOURS SHOULD NOT PASS WITHOUT COMMENT.

YET, IRONICALLY, WE’LL SEE WHO HAS THE LAST LAUGH: THE BEVERLY HILLS RAV OR ME. FOR NOTWITHSTANDING MY BOUT OF SCHAUDENFRAUDE, HE HAS A HOT TOPIC – WHILE I MUST ASSURE MY OWN WEARY CONGREGATION THAT TONIGHT IS INDEED FOR GRAPPLING WITH ULTIMATE QUESTIONS; AND IT’S NOT ABOUT MAD MEL.

SO LET ME POSE ANOTHER QUESTION. BY A SHOW OF HANDS, I’D LIKE TO ASK: WHO HAS EVER HEARD OF NICHOLAS WINTON? IF I GAVE HIS CURRENT TITLE, SIR NICHOLAS WINTON – WOULD THAT HELP? I DIDN’T THINK SO. I, TOO, WAS COMPLETELY UNFAMILIAR WITH NICHOLAS WINTON UNTIL HE RECEIVED THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE’S/ADL’S COURAGE TO CARE AWARD LAST APRIL. EVEN NOW NICHOLAS WINTON REMAINS OBSCURE. YET FEW STORIES ARE MORE PROFOUND, AND MORE ILLUSTRATIVE, THAN HIS.

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IN LATE 1938, NICHOLAS WINTON, A 29 YEAR OLD CLERK AT THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE WENT TO PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA TO VISIT A FRIEND OF HIS WHO WORKED AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY. WINTON BEGAN HELPING IN CAMPS ESTABLISHED FOR REFUGEES AND HE SAW THE CONDITIONS EXPERIENCED BY THE LOCAL JEWISH POPULATION. EXTENDING HIS STAY, WINTON DECIDED TO HELP BRING CHILDREN OUT OF THE REACH OF THE NAZIS. WORKING DAY AND NIGHT FROM A DINING ROOM TABLE IN HIS HOTEL ROOM, HE ORGANIZED RESCUE MISSIONS: PARENTS, ANTICIPATING THE GERMAN INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA, FLOCKED TO SEE HIM IN HOPE OF GETTING THEIR CHILDREN ONTO THE LIST OF “THE ENGLISHMAN OF WENCESLAS SQUARE.” RETURNING TO LONDON TO ATTEND TO OTHER DETAILS, WINTON WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND A KINDERTRANSPORTFROM PRAGUE TO GREAT BRITAIN. FOR EACH CHILD HE HAD TO FIND SPONSORS, FOSTER PARENTS, AND SECURE A 50 POUND STERLING GUARANTEE. IN MANY CASES HE ALSO HAD TO RAISE ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO COVER TRANSPORTATION COSTS. AND WINTON DEALT WITH THE HARDEST ISSUE OF THE LATE 193Os: IT WASN’T GETTING THE CHILDREN OUT OF GERMAN CONTROL – BUT RATHER, GETTING THEM IN TO SAFETY ELSEWHERE. WINTON’S SOLUTION WAS TO INVENT A FAKE ORGANIZATION, A PHONY SUBSIDIARY OF A KNOWN EMERGENCY ORGANIZATION, AND THEN PERSUADE THE BRITISH HOME OFFICE OF ITS RELIABILITY. IN THIS WAY OVER A PERIOD OF NINE MONTHS NICHOLAS WINTON MANAGED TO ARRANGE EIGHT MISSIONS THAT BROUGHT 669 CHILDREN TO BRITAIN.

ON THE DAY THAT BRITAIN ENTERED WORLD WAR II, SEPTEMBER 3^RD, 1939, ANOTHER GROUP OF CHILDREN, SOME 250, WERE SCHEDULED TO LEAVE PRAGUE. INSTEAD THE KINDERTRANSPORT WAS STOPPED. ALL OF THOSE CHILDREN PERISHED IN THE NAZI DEATH MACHINERY, AS DID MORE THAN 15,000 OTHER CZECH JEWISH CHILDREN. WITH THE WAR NICHOLAS WINTON PUT HIS REFUGEE WORK BEHIND HIM. HE JOINED THE ROYAL AIR FORCE, THE R.A.F., HE LATER MARRIED, RAISED A FAMILY, AND BECAME A COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER. IN 1983 WINTON WAS HONORED BY HIS GOVERNMENT WITH THE TITLE “M.B.E.”, A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FOR HIS SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH AN OLD AGE HOME IN HIS COMMUNITY.

IN 1988 – 1988! – AS NICHOLAS’ WIFE, GRETE, WAS CLEANING OUT THEIR ATTIC SHE STUMBLED UPON AN OLD LEATHER BRIEFCASE. INSIDE SHE DISCOVERED MATERIAL FROM A HALF-CENTURY EARLIER, INCLUDING LISTS FOR THE 669 CZECH CHILDREN AND THE LIKE. APPARENTLY, NICHOLAS HAD NEVER TOLD GRETE OF HIS PAST EFFORTS. TO BE SURE, COUPLES CAN KEEP SECRETS. THIS PAST WEEK’S FORWARD NEWSPAPER TOLD OF AN ELDERLY SAN FRANCISCO WOMAN WHO HAD KEPT SECRET HER WARTIME STINT AS A NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP GUARD FROM HER FAMILY, INCLUDING FROM HER LATE HUSBAND – A GERMAN JEW, WHO’D HIMSELF FLED THE HOLOCAUST. NOW THAT’S UNFAITHFUL! BUT WHAT EXPLAINS NICHOLAS’ PECULAR BEHAVIOR, CONCEALING HIS BENEVOLENCE? THINK ABOUT IT: HAD GRETE WINTON BEEN SLIGHTLY MORE OF A “THROWER-OUTER,” HER HUSBAND’S INSPIRATION WOULD HAVE BEEN UTTERLY LOST TO THE AGES.

GRETE PERSUADED NICHOLAS TO HAVE HIS ACTIONS OFFICIALLY DOCUMENTED. HE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY TRACKED DOWN BY SOME OF THE CHILDREN HE SAVED. AND AS HIS STORY WAS REVEALED OTHER “CHILDREN” SOUGHT HIM OUT AS WELL. NICHOLAS WINTON IS STILL ALIVE – HE’S 96. HE HAS BECOME CLOSE WITH SEVERAL OF THE PEOPLE HE RESCUED, AND HE ALSO FUNDRAISES FOR THE OLD AGE HOME HE HELPED ESTABLISH. ON ACCOUNT OF THOSE LISTS AND HIS RESCUE WORK, WINTON IS NOW SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS THE “BRITISH SCHINDLER.” IN RECENT YEARS HE’S BEEN KNIGHTED BY THE QUEEN, AND HE’S RECEIVED SPECIAL AWARDS, INCLUDING ONE FROM THEN CZECH PRESIDENT VACLAV HAVEL, AND NOW, THE ADL.

AS WINTON’S OWN PARENTS WERE CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY FROM JUDAISM, AND HIS RESCUE WORK OCCURRED BEFORE THE WAR, HE HAS YET TO BE RECOGNIZED AS A RIGHTEOUS GENTILE BY YAD VASHEM, ISRAEL’S HOLOCAUST AUTHORITY. BUT AS I SEE IT, ANY DISCUSSION OF ETHNICITY OR MOTIVES OR EVEN TIMING, IS REALLY BESIDE-THE-POINT. WHAT TRULY MATTERS WAS WINTON’S CONTRIBUTION. HERE WAS AN INDIVIDUAL WHO ACTED. AS HE EXPLAINED: “'I JUST SAW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND DID WHAT I COULD TO HELP.”

THE TALMUD TEACHES, “ONE WHO SAVES A SINGLE LIFE SAVE AN ENTIRE UNIVERSE.” THE DESCENDANTS OF THE PRAGUE KINDERTRANSPORT ARE NOW SOME 5,000 STRONG. AS ONLY ABOUT 100 CZECH JEWISH CHILDREN SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST, THE LARGEST REMNANT AND THE LEGACY OF PRE-SHOAH CZECH JEWRY WERE IN FACT SAVED BY NICHOLAS WINTON AND HIS ASSOCIATES. AND NOTE WELL: HE DID IT WITHOUT FANFARE. HE DID IT WITH ABSOLUTELY NO DESIRE FOR REWARD. HE DID IT WITH NO EYE ON CELEBRITY. HE DID IT INSISTING THAT HE WAS NOTHING SPECIAL. HE DID IT WITHOUT SUBSEQUENTLY TELLING EVEN HIS WIFE. AND HE DID IT FOR ONE REASON ONLY: BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO; BECAUSE, AS HE EXPLAINED TO THE ADL, “WE MUST LEARN TO BE KIND AND TOLERANT.”

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IT’S NEARLY 7 DECADES LATER AND THERE’S STILL RACISM, PREJUDICE, AND HATRED; WINTON’S LESSON REMAINS NEEDED. KINDNESS AND TOLERANCE ARE IN SHORT AND DWINDLING SUPPLY. CONSIDER, OF COURSE, SUDAN, ONE OF THE CENTERS OF BRUTALITY IN OUR WORLD. AMIDST ALL THE CELEBRITY GOSSIP – I DIDN’T ASK FOR HANDS ON WHO ELSE WAS ARRESTED THIS SUMMER FOR DRUNKEN DRIVING? THE LAST NAME RHYMES WITH MILTON; AMIDST ALL THE PSUEDO-NEWS LITTLE IS REPORTED OF THE HEIGHTENED GENOCIDE THREAT IN DARFUR. SINCE 2003, AS PART OF A PLAN OF STATE-SPONSORED ETHNIC CLEANSING: 400,000 HAVE BEEN KILLED; COUNTLESS WOMEN AND GIRLS HAVE BEEN RAPED; 2.5 MILLION ARE DISPLACED AND LIVE PRECARIOUSLY; AND 3.5 MILLION ARE DEPENDENT UPON INTERNATIONAL FOOD AIDE.

DARFUR, AGAIN? YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT IT BEFORE. AM I LIKE THE SONG: “POOR JOHNNY ONE NOTE SANG ONLY ONE NOTE AND ONE NOTE IS ALL HE COULD SING”? AREN’T THERE OTHER SUBJECTS? FRIENDS, IT WAS HEART-RENDING TO ATTEND THE RECENT SAVE DARFUR NOW RALLY IN CENTRAL PARK, AND HEAR SPEAKER UPON SPEAKER DESCRIBE THE WORST GENOCIDE OF OUR DAY AND BEG US TO CARE. THEY POIGNANTLY PLEADED WITH US TO OVERCOME INDIFFERENCE AND PASSIVITY AND HELP SAVE LIVES. LISTENING TO THEM, I FELT A PANG OF DESPAIR. MY MOOD HAD EARLIER DARKENED AS THE BUS OUR SYNAGOGUE HAD RENTED ENCOUNTERED ZERO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING A PARKING SPACE ON FIFTH AVENUE. THE RALLY ITSELF ATTRACTED ONLY 25,000 – NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE FOR A MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREA. AT THE VERY SAME MOMENT, AS WE SAT IN THE EAST MEADOW, THE CROWDS AT YANKEE STADIUM AND THE MEADOWLANDS WERE CONSIDERABLE MULTIPLES OF THAT NUMBER. WITH A LOSS OF HEART I LAMENTED THAT THE WORLD’S ASSISTANCE WOULD AGAIN PROVE TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.

BUT I CHASTIZED MYSELF, “CHATATI, ERIC.” FOR THIS WAS A COP-OUT, WHAT OUR HIGH HOLY DAY MACHZOR CALLS, “WEAKNESS OF WILL.” I CONSIDERED HOW EVEN A SOLITARY INDIVIDUAL INTENT UPON DOING WHAT HE OR SHE CAN TO HELP, COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THE DEATHS OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT DARFURIS WAS NOT – AND IS NOT – A FOREGONE CONCLUSION. I THOUGHT OF PEOPLE LIKE ECCENTRIC SIR NICHOLAS AND DREW STRENGTH. MY HOPE WAS RESTORED. I DETERMINED TO DO MORE, AND TO ENCOURAGE US ALL – AS WELL AS THOSE WHO WANT TO LEAD US – TO DO MORE. NOR WAS I ALONE IN SUCH CONVICTIONS, OUR OWN ISRAEL ADVOCACY COMMITTEE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH ADULT EDUCATION, BEGAN TO PLAN A HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL FOR OUR CONGREGATION AND COMMUNITY. FOR WE DON’T HAVE TO BE AS SELFLESS, OR AS HUMBLE OR AS TIRELESS AS NICHOLAS WINTON IN ORDER TO DO GOOD. RABBI ZUSYA ONCE TAUGHT: “IN THE WORLD-TO-COME THEY WON’T ASK ME WHY WASN’T I MORE LIKE MOSES, BUT WHY WASN’T I MORE LIKE ZUSYA.”

ON THE GRASS THERE IN CENTRAL PARK, MUSING ON THAT MAN WHO SHUNNED ATTENTION TO FOCUS ON RIGHTEOUSNESS, IT WAS EASY TO APPRECIATE JUST WHO SHOULD STAR IN TONIGHT’S KOL NIDRE SERMON, AND WHICH FAMOUS ACTOR WAS DESTINED, AT BEST, FOR A SUPPORTING ROLE. UNDERSTAND THAT IT WASN’T IN WINTON’S DNA – NO PERSON IS BORN A RESCUER, SENSITIVITY AND SENSE OF JUSTICE ARE LEARNED BEHAVIORS. AT THEIR BEST, RELIGION AND ETHICS TEACH US CARING. IN JUDAISM THE FIRST OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS STATES: “I, ADONAI, AM YOUR GOD, WHO LED YOU OUT OF EGYPT TO BE YOUR GOD.” THAT IS TO SAY, OUR FUNDAMENTAL RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING, COMMANDMENT ONE, BEGINS WITH THE RECOGNITION THAT WE ARE HERE FOR A PURPOSE: TO PROMOTE KINDNESS AND FOSTER TOLERANCE BY REMEMBERING EGYPT. INDEED, OF ALL THE RELIGIONS OF THIS WORLD IT IS JUDAISM THAT DISTINGUISHES ITSELF WITH ITS EMPHASIS ON JUSTICE; OUR VERY NAME – YISRAEL – TO STRUGGLE WITH GOD, UNDERSCORES THE JEWISH DEMAND THAT ALL BEINGS – INCLUDING GOD – BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR DEEDS.

AND WHO KNOWS? MAYBE AN INTROSPECTIVE RE-DEDICATION TO SOCIAL JUSTICE, TO AN AUTHENTIC COUNTER-CULTURE, IS PRECISELY THE RIGHT ANTIDOTE FOR OUR HOLLOW, CELEBRITY-DRIVEN CULTURE, A CULTURE WHERE EVEN A RABBI MIGHT SHAMELESSLY ENDEAVOR TO HAWK ‘CELEBRITY SHOW AND TELL’ ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT.

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I BEGAN THIS SERMON WITH A SHOW OF HANDS. ON BEHALF OF OUR ENTIRE CONGREGATION, TOMORROW AFTERNOON I WILL RAISE ANOTHER HAND – A YAD, A TORAH POINTER, DIRECTING IT TOWARDS THE FADED HEBREW LETTERS OF A SPECIAL TORAH THAT HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED TO US. THIS SCROLL IS USED ON YOM KIPPUR FOR ITS SYMBOLISM. WE’LL READ FROM IT BECAUSE THE VERY PRESENCE OF THAT SCROLL HERE AFFIRMS LIFE, REMEMBRANCE AND RESOLVE. THAT TORAH COMES, COINCIDENTALLY, FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA. BEFORE ITS JOURNEY TO US IT WAS HELD IN PRAGUE. IT TOO, MISSED THE KINDERTRANSPORT, IT TOO, IS A SURVIVOR OF THE HOLOCAUST.

UNDERSTOOD IN CONTEXT, AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF ITS HISTORY AND OUR LIVES, IT CAN TEACH US ABOUT HUMAN DIGNITY AND HOW TO LIVE. MAY WE BRING ITS WISDOM AND MEANINGS CLOSER TO US, AS WE REMEMBER RESCUERS, AND WE SEEK TO TRANSFORM OURSELVES AND OUR WORLD.

CAIN YEHI RATZON. BE THIS GOD’S WILL.