She'eilos U'Teshuvos Mi'maamakim

On the 27th of Elul, 5701 (September 19, 1941), the Nazis began forced labor in which one thousand Jews from the Kovno ghetto worked daily under brutal conditions in an airfield outside of the ghetto. They were given meager rations, and the main nutrition was a bowl of meat soup. A few days later, during Aseres Yimei Teshuva of 5702, a number of men approached Rav Oshry with the question of whether they were allowed to refrain from eating the non-kosher soup. They reasoned that the lack of nutrition was not an imminent danger to them and therefore this was not categorized as being needed for Pikuach Nefesh. Were they obligated to eat the soup if the danger would only emerge at some later point?

On the 27th of Elul, 5701 (September 19, 1941), the Nazis

began forced labor in which one thousand Jews from the Kovno ghetto

worked daily under brutal conditions in an airfield outside of the

ghetto. They were given meager rations, and the main nutrition was a

bowl of meat soup. A few days later, during Aseres Yimei Teshuva of

5702, a number of men approached Rav Oshry with the question of whether

they were allowed to refrain from eating the non-kosher soup. They

reasoned that the lack of nutrition was not an imminent danger to them

and therefore this was not categorized as being needed for Pikuach

Nefesh. Were they obligated to eat the soup if the danger would only

emerge at some later point?

Following the war, Rav Oshry and others invested extraordinary efforts to track down Jewish children who had been entrusted by their parents with non-Jews in order to save them from the inferno that engulfed European Jewry. Many of the boys that they recovered had not undergone a Bris Milah, as their parents were afraid that it would indicate their Jewishness. One ten year old boy was adamant that he would not undergo a Bris unless he was given a general anesthetic that would prevent from experiencing pain during the Bris. Is it  permissible to  anaesthetize someone undergoing a Bris under such circumstances?

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The Jews in the Kovno Ghetto did not have the means to acquire conventional candles or oil for Shabbos candles and Havdala. Could they fulfill the Mitzva of Neros Shabbos and Borei Me’orei Ha’aish on Motzei Shabbos through incandescent electric bulbs?

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Rav Oshry presents a heart-wrenching question posed by R’ Moshe ben R’ Aryeh, who davened in Rav Oshry’s Bais Medrash. While on a work detail, he looked for potatoes and vegetables growing in the fields to give some nourishment to the starving Jews working with him. The Germans caught and beat him mercilessly, causing him to lose his hearing and speech faculties. He maintained his cognitive abilities. Could he be counted in a Minyan? Could he receive an Aliya to the Torah?

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A student of Rav Oshry by the name of Yaakov, was given the opportunity to work in the kitchen where food was prepared for the Jews. This would allow Yaakov to avoid the excruciating work that Jews were subject to, and would also give him greater access to food, which would increase his chances of survival. Would he be able to work in the kitchen even though he would be forced to cook on Shabbos? And, if he was allowed to cook the food on Shabbos, was he allowed to eat it?

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A young Jewish woman who survived the Holocaust was haunted by the horrors that she had experienced. Was she allowed to erase the numbers that the Nazis had tattooed onto her arm, in order to put these terrifying events behind her?

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Elul 1941. The Germans, intent on rapidly building a major military airbase outside of Kovno, increase the demand on Jewish slave labor. The Jews are forced to work, including on Shabbos. The workday ends at 7:30pm, and there is no time for davening or Krias HaTorah. The question is posed to Rav Oshry: can the workers layn the Parshas Hashavua when they return to the ghetto at 7:30?

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Rav Oshry was given the task of running a bathhouse that was a lifesaver for the Jews in the Kovno Ghetto, who were suffering ailments and sickness brought on by the terrible hygiene in the ghetto. He made sure that the bathhouse remained closed on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Community leaders expressed concern that if the Nazis found out, Rav Oshry would be killed. Was Rav Oshry permitted to endanger himself in order to prevent Jews from desecrating Shabbos?

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As word spread that the Nazis were planning to conduct a mass murder of children, parents frantically sought ways to save their children. Could they give the children to a priest or church, knowing that they would be inculcated with Christian beliefs? Could they entrust the children with non-Jewish acquaintances who avowed that they would return the children to their families after the war

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