„Jedynie bramy łez nie zamknęły się przed nami”. Bóg i Zagładaw listach lubelskiego rabina Hersza Majlecha Talmuda

Abstract

The last rabbi of Lublin, Hersz Majlech Talmud, held that position during 1936–1942. The main objective of this article is to tell his biography and present and analyze two letters he wrote in the rump ghetto at Majdan Tatarski in Lublin in July and October 1942, that is, shortly before the final liquidation of the ghetto. Both these texts constitute a unique testimony to the theological and existential dilemmas troubling Talmud in the face of the Holocaust drama unfolding before his eyes, with the place and role of God in that process being one of their basic threads discussed in those letters. The characteristic of the Lublin rabbi’s opinions has been supplemented with the historical context (a description of the everyday life in the ghetto at Majdan Tatarski based on witness testimonies and recollections) and the philosophical context (a brief juxtaposition of Talmud’s theological reflections with conceptions of several other Jewish writers and thinkers originating from the religious circles who wrote both during the war after its end).