Setting Out
Janet R. Kirchheimer
It is not permitted to set out on a ship less than three days before Shabbos. This is said only for a voluntary purpose. For a mitzvah, it is permitted.— Babylonian Talmud: Shabbos 19a
“ I almost lost all my photographs,” my father tells me.“ My mother, sister, and brother brought me to the train in Niederstetten on Thursday. I got off in Aachen and waited with others for the Antwerp train. The Gestapo pulled me out, searched my luggage, my family photographs, told me to take off my shoes and socks, searched them, let me go. I missed the train and waited two hours for the next one.
Shabbos morning, I walked to the boat. My name was called on the loudspeaker, and I reported to the purser who said my large suitcase wasn’ t sent from the train station. He would drive me there if I wanted. If I didn’ t return on time, I would miss the ship, but those photographs were all I had. I found my suitcase, and the purser drove as fast as he could back to the ship.
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