THE SHABBOS GOY
By Zev Roth
Submitted by:Sylvia Stern a.k.a. Bobbie (Rabbi Paltiel's Grandmother!)
In a small midwest town in the mid-1880s, Jacob Viner and his wife attempted to bring up their children in accordance with Jewish tradition. Shabbos was observed as best as they could in their Missouri village, located just outside Kansas City. One of the few advantages of living in such a setting was the presence of a large stock of people who could be used as a "Shabbos goy." When it was required, it was the Viners' young neighbor Harry who was usually called upon. Harry frequently visited the Viner family to help light a fire to warm the house in the frigid midwest winter, or to perform various other Shabbos chores. He was well liked, respected, and always around when you needed him. He eventually came on a regular basis to the Viner family, as his sister Mary Jane had become best friends with her classmate Sarah Viner. Whenever he came, the Viners made sure to reimburse Harry with a small token of their appreciation - a piece of kugel or gefilte fish was always offered. Harry was particularly fond of matzah.
When Harry returned from duty in World War I, he opened a haberdashery business with a Jew, Eddie Jacobson. When the business venture failed, Harry tried his hand at politics and performed a number of favors for the Jewish community, like surfacing the road to the local Jewish cemetery. The Viner family no doubt took tremendous pride in the friendship they had shown their Missouri neighbor. But in their wildest dreams, they could not have imagined how far the dividends of their Kiddush Hashem would extend.
The Viner family's close contact with young Harry may have influenced the course of Jewish, and indeed, world history. Harry's political aspirations were only beginning. In 1934 he was elected to the United States Senate, serving for two six-year terms. In 1946, President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt inexplicably dropped his vice president, Henry A. Wallace, in favor of a then-unknown Missouri senator, Harry S. Truman. Shortly thereafter, Roosevelt passed away, and Truman became president of the United States.
One of the major problems for the Truman administration following the end of World War II was the United States policy in regard to the proposed State of Israel. There were many pro-Arab officers within Truman's cabinet who were vehemently opposed to supporting the proposed State. As Truman later wrote: "The Department of the State's specialists on the Near East were, almost without exception, unfriendly to the idea of a Jewish state... Like most of the British diplomats, some of our diplomats also thought that the Arabs, on account of their numbers and because of the fact that they controlled such immense oil resources, should be appeased.
I am sorry to say that there were some of them who were inclined to be anti-Semitic." In spite of all this, Truman immediately supported the State. As Truman himself put in a personal note: "I recognized Israel immediately... in 1948 ... against the advice of my own Secretary of State, George Marshall, who was afraid the Arabs wouldn't like it... But I felt Israel deserved to be recognized and didn't give a darn whether the Arabs liked it or not."
To this day, historians debate exactly what influenced Truman toward this policy regarding the newly founded State of Israel, a policy of support and aid which has been in place more or less for the past fifty years. His memoirs indicate his desire to help those who experienced the terrible suffering at the hands of the Nazis. Truman was far more sympathetic to the plight of the Jews than his predecessor. The earliest experiences an individual has are often the ones which form the crux of his views for the rest of his life. Is it inconceivable that this stance was ingrained in a young Harry Truman from the Viner family in turn-of-the century Independence, Missouri?
In recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the State of Israel, the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, is offering a series of programs highlighting Truman's role. Among the items on display are a Sefer Torah, Aaron, and Menorah made in 1767 in Buergel, Germany. In this fiftieth eighth year of the founding of the State of Israel, perhaps the populace at large would be interested in knowing that a shomer Shabbos family had some impact on the very existence of the State of Israel.
And we can all recognize the importance of making a kiddush Hashem with everyone we come in contact.
Zev Roth has been previously published in The Jewish Observer and Yated Ne'eman. He learns in Kollel Shaarei Shlomo. He lives in Kiryat Sefer with his wife, Nomi, and his flve children