Goal: The chanichim should see from this story the anarchy and immoral behavior that took place during the time of the Shoftim, largely because there was no king or strong central leader in charge. They will also see the irony and the backwardness shown in this story by the people who should be leaders.

Objectives:

1. You will begin to understand the nature and uniqueness of the Holocaust.

2. You should be able to begin to understand the enormity of the "war" against the Jews.

3. You should begin to understand that the Shoah was perpetrated by human beings - normal people who were fathers, mothers, architects, lawyers, engineers, doctors, church-goers, cultured people.

Rabbi Mendel Futerfass spent several years of his life in a Soviet labor camp. He later related that one of the ways that he kept his sanity was to constantly engage his mind in the Chassidic practice...