Fulfilling Birchas HaTorah with Ahavas Olam of Maariv (v4 #3) by R' Aaron Cohen
Sunday, the 28th of Tishrei, 5702 (October 19, 1941). The Gestapo demands the services of 15 Jews, emphasizing that the work will be light and easy. Fifteen individuals agree to go, and they are rushed to their work place, where they are forced to clean the Gestapo toilets with their bare hands, without any equipment. They are not given any food or water the entire day. They arrive back at the Kovno Ghetto in the evening, and go to daven Maariv and attend their daily Shiur. They are troubled: they had no time to even say Birchas HaTorah in the morning; can they fulfill the obligation with Ahavas Olam of Maariv?