In April 2010, Rabbi Yisroel Mantel, the rav of Khal Adas Yeshurun in Washington Heights, New York, received a letter from Rabbi Levi Weis, a member of the kehillah. Rabbi Weis had enclosed a copy
of a unique prayer that had been found among the papers of Mrs. Irma Haas, who died in Israel at the age of 101. Mrs. Haas was one of the few survivors of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. She came to the United States and settled in Washington Heights. Decades later, at 97, she and her sister Hilde, 94, made aliyah to Israel. They were the oldest survivor sisters ever to make aliyah. When Mrs. Haas passed away, her papers were given to her niece, Mrs. Judy Marcus of Teaneck, New Jersey. When Mrs. Marcus read the creased paper with this remarkable tefillah, she realized the significance of the words. She made copies and sent them to Rabbi Weis, a family friend who was close to Rabbi Mantel. He, in turn, sent the tefillah to Rabbi Mantel. The tefillah was composed by Rabbi Yissachar-Bernard Davids, who was the chief rabbi of Rotterdam, Holland before World War II. After Germany conquered Holland, he was sent to Bergen-Belsen with his family. Here is his poignant prayer:
לפני אכילת חמץ יאמר בכוונת הלב:
אבינו שבשמיים הנה גלוי וידוע לפניך שרצוננו לעשות רצונך ולחג את חג הפסח באכילת מצה ובשמירת איסור חמץ, אך על זאת דאבה לבנו שהשעבוד מעכב אותנו ואנחנו נמצאים בסכנת נפשות. הננו מוכנים ומזומנים לקיים מצוותך וחי בהם ולא שימות בהם, וליזהר מאוד. הישמר לך פן ושמור נפשך מאוד. על כן תפילותינו לך שתחיינו ותקיימנו ותגאלנו במהרה לשמור חוקיך ולעשות רצונך ולעבדך בלבב שלם, אמן.
“Before eating chametz [in the concentration camp], say this with heartfelt commitment.” Our Father in Heaven, You know very well that our will is to do Your will and celebrate the festival of Pesach by eating matzah and being vigilant with the prohibition of chametz. But our heart aches that our enslavement restrains us and we find ourselves in mortal danger. We are set and prepared to fulfill Your commandment of “And you shall live by them” (Vayikra 18:5), “and not die by them” (Yoma 85b),” and be heedful of “beware for yourself and greatly beware for your life” (Devarim 4:9). Therefore, our prayer to You is that You keep us alive, sustain us, and redeem us quickly, so that we can observe Your laws and fulfill Your will and serve You with a full heart, amen.
Many people have told me that they read this tefillah at their Seder table to teach the assembled the mesirus nefesh of Jews in the concentration camps and the gratitude we must have to Hashem for the conditions we live in today.
Artscroll Shabbos Table - Pesach
