_(english).jpg)
Nineteen years ago, my 64-year-old father, of blessed memory, passed away rather suddenly just before the High Holidays. Needless to say, it was difficult for me to concentrate on my prayers appropriately. When Simchat Torah came, I couldn't bring myself to join the others in my synagogue who were dancing with the holy Torah scrolls. So there I stood in a corner, feeling sorry for myself, and then I remembered the following incredible story.
One of the many great heroic personalities to emerge from the Holocaust was Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam, the hassidic grand rabbi of Klausenberg, Romania. Before, after and even during the most hellish experiences he suffered at the hands of the Nazis, the Klausenberger Rebbe was loved and revered for his sheer genius, his selfless devotion to the welfare of the most unfortunate, his piety and his courageous leadership.
Due to his pre-war reputation as a great rabbi, people were attracted to the rebbe and sought his advice and guidance even within the camps. This was not lost on the Germans and they treated the rebbe with special beatings and particular cruelty. The rebbe risked his precarious health by not eating any food that wasn't kosher or which may have been prepared together with non-kosher food and would regularly use his tiny allotment of drinking water to wash his hands before eating bread, all the while urging others to preserve their own lives by eating anything they could get their unwashed hands on, kosher or otherwise. His admirers and followers sought to protect the rebbe and would risk their lives to help him in any way that they could. They would often make it possible for him to keep Shabbos and Jewish holidays by taking on his workload in addition to their own.
It once happened that the rebbe was able to avoid working on the last days of the Sukkot holiday due to the creative designs of his devoted bunk mates. But somehow the Germans got word of the ruse and forced his followers to watch as they proceeded to administer a savage beating so violent that no one thought the rebbe could survive its ferocity. The Nazis would not allow anyone to go to Rabbi Halberstam's assistance, even after they were done with him, and they marched everyone out to work, leaving the rebbe in a broken heap on the barracks floor.
As night fell, the Jewish prisoners were marched back into their barracks expecting to mourn the rebbe's untimely passing. Instead, they found that their master had miraculously dragged himself over to a post, clawed his way up until he was nearly standing and was swaying back and forth while moving his lips in the hoarsest of whispers. "Rebbe what are you doing?!" his followers exclaimed. "Let us help you down so you can rest!"
The rebbe waved them off. "Children, tonight is Simchat Torah," he murmured. "Come dance with me."
I waded into the revolving circle of men who were clutching the Torah to their hearts, and on that particular Simchat Torah night, I walked round and round while in my mind I danced with the rebbe.
(17) Baruch , October 9, 2009
Michal, you ask, "How could the Rebbe allow others to do the workload for him?" The question is a reversal of what the Rebbe was probably asking himself. A famous story tells of a man who snuck a siddur into a concentration camp. He sold 30 minutes with the siddur to other inmates for half of their daily ration. Inmates lined up to take advantage of the offer. After the war, a man asked, "How could you believe in G-d when a man would use a siddur in that way?" The answer he got: "How could you doubt G-d when so many starving people willingly gave away half their daily ration for 30 minutes with a siddur?" We understand that to be a great Rebbe, a man must be modest. A modest man, like a parent, does not let others do work for them to 'take it easy,' but rather to inspire and nurture goodness and giving. The Rebbe likely asked himself how to inspire his students, and saw that allowing them to give this way was a defiance against the Nazis that lifted many. "A man can survive anything if he has a why," said survivor Viktor Frankle. The Rebbe probably knew that, too. Relieving the load of a caring, loving, wise, self-sacrificing and modest teacher makes one powerful why.
(16) Carol , October 21, 2008
Not by might, not by sword but by my spirit
Not by might, not by sword but by my spirit. Fighting back can been done by the power of spirit. This spirit connected starving, sick people to Torah, to G-d, and to the good in each other. That spirit triumphed over evil and many people survived to live long and full lives.
(15) Laurie , October 20, 2008
also in response to gina d
think this through: how do you suppose a handful of starving, sick, wounded people would fare against an army of trained, healthy, heavily armed barbarians?
(14) Carolina Peach , October 20, 2008
A reminder for g.davis
Please, do a little more reading of history and you will find plenty of examples where Jews did fight back against what was happening.
(13) Michael Uman , October 3, 2007
Answer to g. davis
G. Davis, what would have been accomplished if the Rebbes students ganged up on the Nazis? Do you think they would have survived? I doubt it. It is much better to stay alive and endure the beating than to fight the beating and die trying. I fully understand why the Rebbe did what he did. A true Jew knows in his heart of hearts that one must do whatever is possible to continue living, including breaking commandments {see laws of Shabbat regarding saving life}. Nobody is saying "Turn the other cheek" here... If it were possible to rise up against the Nazis, Im sure that they would have. Unfortunately the world had turned their backs on German Jews at the time, and there was little which could be done about it. Your comment does not do these tzaddiks justice...