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Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce - Breathtaking story from R ‘ Paysach Krohn for your Seder

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Author: Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce
Categories: Lifestyle Psychology Education
Tags: lifestyle, psychology, education
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 00:55 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Treat the matzah and oneself as a vessel of mitzvah, a "Kli Mazaket Bracha" (a vessel that contains blessing), by recognizing that every person is meant to be a vessel of blessing and purpose. The speaker presents this idea through the story of Reb Shia Unger, the matzah "shiver" (the one who takes out the matzos), whose painful Auschwitz past gives his work at the oven a sense of redemption. The story is meant to be shared with children at the Seder.

Key Points

  • The story is told through Rabbi Schiphol, a Manhattan rabbi who has spent ten years baking matzah with the Square Rebbe and more than 100 others, a communal event with Shabbos clothes, Hallel, singing, and dancing.
  • Reb Shia Unger was the gabbai of the current Rebbe, Reb Mordechai Torsky, and of the previous Rebbe as well, and served as the one who judged the matzos every year, continuing to judge them even when it became too hard for him to stand near the fire to take them out.
  • His reason is a Holocaust memory: at Auschwitz he walked beside trucks carrying 60 to 70 bodies to make sure none fell off, often crying because he recognized many of the victims, and his job was to place the bodies into the crematorium, feeling guilt and a need for a "Tikkun" (repair).
  • He says that when he takes out the matzos he sees faces, so each matzah becomes a face he must rescue from the fire.
  • The speaker argues that on the night of the Seder, matzos receive an identity, and that is what parents must teach their children.
  • The three categories of Jews (Kohen, Levi, Yisrael) spell "Kli," a vessel, which the Gemara says can be a "Kli Mazaket Bracha," a vessel that contains blessing; the matzah itself is described as a symbol of mitzvah, not literally symbolizing these categories.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: The speaker encourages listeners to watch the matzah-baking process with their children at least once or twice. The steps described are: set out and parcel the dough; cut and parcel it; roll it out; roll a tool over it to make the holes; place the matzah on a long board and push it into the fire; remove it with a long thin pole fitted with a flat piece of wood; lay it on a table and judge it, rejecting any that are bent over or have bubbles, and checking that it is fully baked. Different people take on different jobs each year.
  • The speaker recommends telling children that the matzos are not just objects but faces and people, so they can learn the meaning behind the Seder symbol.
  • The speaker bought his wife a silver vessel after marrying off his youngest child, engraved with all the children's names, as an example of a "Kli Mazaket Bracha."
  • The sequence of the story: Rabbi Schiphol asked Reb Shia why he insisted on the role after years of service, and Reb Shia answered with the Auschwitz account.
  • The speaker frames the story as perhaps the most moving he has heard about Yom Tov.

Bottom Line

The matzah is more than an object; by recognizing each one as a face and each person as a vessel of mitzvah, the Seder becomes a moment to pass that meaning on to children.