Night. And Day.

I know a mother who has nachas.

Ethel Kleinman is 91 years old. More, she is a survivor of Auschwitz.

Despite any descriptions we have heard from our parents or grandparents, Auschwitz is unfathomable to most of us. Despite “Schindler’s List” or the myriad of other Hollywood depictions, Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka and the like stand as horrors far beyond what normal people can possibly imagine in their worst nightmares. Even with Elie Weisel’s Night, Anne Frank’s diary, the Eichmann trials, and all the other accounts of the Holocaust that we’ve encountered and allowed to shape our mindscape of this terrible time in history, nothing second-hand can begin to compare with the tangible reality of having lived through those experiences.

But Ethel Kleinman—Etu to her friends—lived through those experiences, and Etu has nachas. Why? Because the most important lesson of the Holocaust stands clear before Etu’s eyes.

Recently, I was privileged to watch Etu as her son Elly Kleinman and grandson Yossie Kleinman stood with her before a captivated assembly that spanned four generations. We had gathered together to mark the unveiling of the new Kleinman Holocaust Education Center (KHEC) exhibit in Brooklyn. Standing demurely, with her adoring son’s arm draped around her, Etu gazed out upon a crowd that included not only her family and their many friends but also her great grandson and his class from Yeshiva Darchei Torah. The occasion was more than the ribbon-cutting of this important new exhibit at the temporary location of the center; the day was illuminated by her great grandchild’s first donning of his t’fillin. The boy’s name is Menachem, whose name means “to comfort.” The meaning was not lost on any of us.

Despite having navigated for more than 90 years on this planet, and having passed through and miraculously survived the Shoah, Etu has nachas—real Yiddishe nachas. She has witnessed firsthand not only the tragic chorban, which cost the Jewish people six million precious souls—our holy parents and grandparents and great grandparents—but also the rebuilding of our people, the reconstruction of our yeshivos and mosdos, our numerous institutions which care for the sick and the needy, the orphaned and the elderly.

In the century that Etu Kleinman has traversed this planet, she saw the utter destruction of European Jewry. But she also watched the rebirth and growth of Yiddishkeit and the spreading of Torah and chesed across the United States and Eretz Yisroel. Etu beheld a genuine composite of the entire history of the Jewish people, a history that has repeated itself more than once.

Etu Kleinman is a witness. She witnessed our people suffer and sees our nation rising again.

Nachas. Real Yiddishe nachas.

And I had nachas, too—the kind that brings tears to my eyes. I had joy watching the children from Darchei Torah stand up to thank Etu Kleinman and her dedicated family for their generosity. I had the pleasure of watching these young students—the future of our people—as they stood wide-eyed before the many important exhibits at the Kleinman Holocaust Education Center and listened to dedicated teachers about the facts and lessons of the Holocaust. I was delighted to stand with my friend Elly and his family who have dedicated not only money and years to this vital project, but their kishkes, their passion. I know that for generations to come, people from all over who visit Brooklyn will have the Kleinman family’s important gift to remind us of who the Jewish people really are, and what our role and obligation is.

Nachas. That’s what I had watching Etu Kleinman who, at 91 years young (b’li eyin hora), understands all of this better than anyone.

Simcha Felder

NYS Senator Simcha Felder represents New York State’s 17^th Senate District.

(This article reprinted courtesy of The Jewish Press)