Bialy plays central role in mitzvah
By Deborah Moon Seldner
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From delivering a dozen bialys to Ashland Rabbi David Zaslow to raising funds to support an elderly Christian rescuer near Bialystok, Daniel Koenigsberg's bar mitzvah revolved around that Jewish staple of chewy, crusty roll around a toasted onion center.
Daniel's father, William, said he had been hoping his son would choose to become a bar mitzvah, but he had refrained from pushing the issue. Then, last spring Daniel and William took a dozen bialys ordered from New York to Zaslow, who had recently lamented the lack of bialys in Ashland. William said that as Daniel delivered the bialys, Zaslow told him, "You should have a bar mitzvah," to which Daniel casually replied, "OK."
A few days later, when Daniel learned how much work he had let himself in for, he decided to stick to that "OK" because, he said, "I wanted to take on the challenge and continue the tradition in my family."
Another family tradition Daniel decided to continue was his father's support for the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. JFR is committed to providing financial assistance to those aged and needy non-Jews, known as the Righteous, who risked their lives and those of their families to rescue Jews during the Holocaust.
Daniel decided to participate in the JFR's bar/bat mitzvah program, which teaches Jewish youth of the heroism of the Holocaust rescuers who risked their own lives to save the lives of others.-?
When the foundation sent the Koenigsbergs a map of Eastern Europe with pictures of some of those rescuers, Daniel selected Ivan Jaciuk, whose face appeared near Bialystok, where bialys were created. Both the geographic location and the fact that Jaciuk had rescued two teen-age boys near Daniel's age appealed to him.
According to the JFR, "In 1942 in Volynskaya, Ukraine, the Prital and Shatz families were herded into the Ghetto, where they were killed.-?David Prital and Ignatz Shatz escaped the killing squads and sought refuge with a peasant, Ivan Jaciuk.-?They asked him for food.-?Ivan had seven children and was very poor.-?Yet he could not turn away these two scared Jewish boys.-?He gave the boys food and shelter. David and Ignatz stayed with Ivan and his family for more than two years until the village was liberated by the Russians. Both David and Ignatz joined the Soviet Army. Ignatz was killed fighting the Germans.-?David lives in Israel."
That description "made me like him," said Daniel. So, in addition to spending five months in intensive study for his bar mitzvah, Daniel spent much of the summer painting curbs, pet sitting, mowing lawns and doing other chores to raise money for Jaciuk. In addition to donating a portion of his earnings to the foundation, Daniel also requested that friends and relatives consider a donation to the foundation in honor of his bar mitzvah.
The Koenigsberg family donated enough to support Jaciuk for one year. Unfortunately, the recently updated JFR Web site notes that Jaciuk died at age 103, having lived until then in the same house in which he rescued the teens.
Though sad to hear of Jaciuk's passing, William said that the foundation's mission of supporting rescuers had been the source of the family's support, and he was sure the funds would be well used, since the foundation provides ongoing financial assistance to 1,700 elderly and needy Christian rescuers in 28 countries.
"I believe in the concept of helping people who help other people," he said.
At his Nov. 15 bar mitzvah at Havurat Shir Hadash, Daniel was flanked by large photos of Jaciuk and a bialy. Bialys also were in plentiful supply at the reception after the service in recognition of the role a bialy delivery had played in that day.
"The bar/bat mitzvah program allows b'nai mitzvah to expand the significance of this event in their Jewish life by putting the mitzvah back in bat mitzvah," according to Stanlee J. Stahl, JFR executive vice president.-?"It also offers them the opportunity to recognize and appreciate the heroic efforts of non-Jewish rescuers."
For more information about the program, visit JFR's Web site at www.jfr.org.
