The camera caught a "street scene" that typified war-torn Poland. It captured the irreversible alteration of the life of a child and of the lives of the young men surrounding him.
The boy is about six years old, standing in his little coat and cap, his arms raised in a gesture of surrender as the Nazi soldiers point their weapons at his head.

The contrast between his eyes, in which all hope has been extinguished, and those of his captors, who looked like their next stop would be a movie or a coffee, is imprinted in my memory.
I saw that photo when I myself was a child and it seems it has been a part of my life from as long as I was aware that the world didn't begin with me. I found myself re-examining the picture again and again. The years never dulled the ache that it evoked, nor the simultaneous repulsion that would lead me to close the book.
This was one of many photos from the Holocaust, in which the contrast between death and life were reduced to almost formulaic horror. I was haunted by the images of people I will never know, but who seemed to me, nonetheless, so awfully recognizable.
THE LITTLE BOY'S EYES
Reflected in the little boy's eyes is the image of the approaching angel of death. And yet, to me, the look in the eyes of the men surrounding him is far more horrifying. They don't care; they could be doing anything. It's their normalcy that is far more shocking than the child's terror.
My own desire to let my eyes and those of the anonymous little boy meet is not consistent. I want to, yet I avoid it. The craving for bright blue skies, familiar tastes and textures, and most of all the warmth of laughter is the motivating factor for my avoiding his gaze.
It's their look of normalcy of the Nazis that is far more shocking than the child's terror.
I want to continue avoiding the permanency of the dread that redefined a pair of eyes that could not have seen the world for more than six years. His presence may invade my life too harshly, and make my laughter sound tinny and my desire for pleasure feel crass. Most of all, I don't want to cry.
Crying is not always a bad thing, however. The Zohar tells us "the sorrow and misery that brings tears to our eyes open all the gates. Those who are appointed to close them, [the angels created by our human failures,] open the gates wide, and bring the tears before the Holy King."
Who closes the gates? We do! Our eyes are dry. We remain heartless and self-protective. We are afraid of facing life itself.
Life, even on the simplest biological level, is at least partially defined by growth. There are many obstacles that obstruct our movement towards wherever our journey takes us, the most serious one being ourselves. Our ponderous egos and insatiable desires seem to block us at every corner. There is no Satan to accuse us, or devil to send us to hell; our stunted growth is its own accusation. We sentence ourselves to the worst condemnation of all, mind-numbing, tedious mediocrity.
OPENING THE GATES
In His mercy, God created a world in which He presents us with gates. What this means is the many opportunities to re-open doors that we closed through choice or habit. What happens all too often is, however, that what we feel is that we are not faced with a gate, but with a wall.
We want to be alive. We know that the amputation of our hearts, of our willingness to feel, dooms us to being only half alive. We are trapped by thousands of choices creating patterns of behavior that feel like steel manacles. The only key that will open the gates under all circumstances is the key of tears.
Tears of self-pity are not going to do it.
Tears of self-pity are not going to do it. They paralyze our will, and drown our resolve in self-indulgent bathos. What kind of tears does initiate real breakthroughs? The kind of tears that come to my eyes, even though I try to blink them back, when I see the photo of the little boy again.
These are tears that break the barrier of the limitations of my own ego and the smallness of my life.
Bereavement and grief can come from one of two places. One is mourning the physical absence of someone beloved. The other kind of mourning is deeper; it is mourning the loss of goodness not only in our own lives, but also in the world as a whole.
The first sort of mourning invariably leads towards resolution and consolation. As time goes on the sharpness of the loss is dulled by the constant flow of new events, and inevitably the dead are, to a large degree, forgotten. However what is not forgotten is life.
When what we are mourning is not death, but life, than there is no real comfort. It is for this reason that the image of the little boy -- who reminds us of the 1 million children killed in the Holocaust and whose images the camera did not catch -- is so indelibly etched in my mind.
But if I am to remain honest, I must broaden my vision. The obscene normalcy of the faces of the Germans who held their weapons to his head is an insult to life itself. They are part of the picture. As long as we tolerate that sort of insult, the gates are closed too easily. We have to retain awareness of how little room there is for insensitivity to life itself.
How can we revive ourselves without retreating in fear to the safe places that we construct in order to hide? Let us examine how the Torah responds to our search for emotional integrity.
THE TORAH SOLUTION
One of medieval Spain's great thinkers, Rabbi Bachya, made a piercingly astute observation in his Torah commentary. He quotes the Talmud that tells us that prayer parallels the ancient sacrificial offerings. There is, however, one crucial difference. When we pray, we offer ourselves.
Part of the ritual of sacrificial offering required pouring out water on the altar. This was known as nissuch ha-mayim. This aspect of the sacrifice, like every other facet of the service has profound symbolic meaning. Water is a symbol of life. The majority of the world's surface is covered by water, which is also the main element in our body's composition.
When we pray, we offer ourselves.
The outpouring of that water, which is the embodiment of the life force that we experience in the world and in our own bodies, is a message. Its flow gives us insight into God's outpouring compassion and the constancy of His giving. When we sense something of His caring for us, when we let ourselves feel beloved, then the next step is easy to foresee. We realize that it is safe to weep. We can pour ourselves out to others. We can love.
Tears, Rabbi Bachya tells us, is outpouring of compassion. It is from that perspective that we can begin to understand how they open all the gates.
There are times that we must weep for ourselves, and times that we must weep for the world. Every so often, we should let our eyes meet those of the little boy, and those of the others who did not survive.
Let us allow them to soften us, to love life more, and to embrace it with more passion. Let it inspire us to love our children. Let it move us to never accepting cruelty as normalcy.
(23) jane, February 4, 2008 3:51 PM
not human
i am studing the Holocaust now and the photos i've seen is heart breaking. I belive that any one who can kill a child and not think twice about it is not human.I'm not saying killing all the grownups are ok but a child a little boy or girl is just a crazy they cant even take up for thier self.I wonder what those men thought about as they killed all those people and waych them die.Thats my opinion.What yours?
(22) Elly Van Hoution, April 17, 2002 12:00 AM
"It's sad to see what the germans did to them."
when I started to read a book about the
the holocaust it was so horrible I have to had to read it to my classmates,to see if thay felt the same about it as i did then my teacher asked me to do a project to see if my family came from Poland or some where well to male it short my family came from Germany and it is sad to see me my family that is there. and GOD CRIED FOR THEM TAHT HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE GERMANS.WE MUST NEVER FOR GET THE HOLOCAUST
(21) Dianne Bedford, July 29, 2001 12:00 AM
You have touched my heart with your article. G-d bless.
I want to learn more about the Jews and their sorrows.
(20) HSH 853a, May 1, 2001 12:00 AM
let the tears flow
Rebbe Heller:
I found your article very moving. I ascribe to Rabbi Luria's ideas about the pleroma, the tikkum and our cumulative, individual roles in bringing redemption through the simple magic of human acts.
As Kafka wrote: "The Messiah will only come when he is no longer needed." May we all work together toward that end.
Shalom, HSH
(19) Anonymous, April 26, 2001 12:00 AM
Rebtzn. Heller will always be a very deep influence in my life, even reading an article that she wrote so far away. I am grateful that you include her.
(18) Anonymous, April 24, 2001 12:00 AM
Thank you for sharing
Protecting oneself from the horrors of Holocaust is also rejecting the opportunity to feel.
(17) Rev. Louis Koury, April 21, 2001 12:00 AM
My heart breaks over the agony of God's chosen people
The horror of what the Jews had to endure at the hands of godless gentiles who disguised themwelves beneath a thin veil of religion, goes beyond description. During the horror of the nazi years, 3 million Christians who refused to be part of the so called purging, were plunged into the furnace of affliction with their 6 million Jewish brothers. The worse horror was the casual tolerance of what was happening to God's chosen people. Most of the world looked on either in apathy or casual interest while these horrors took place. True Christianity is directly opposed to all forms of persecution, especially to the persecution of the beloved chosen peole of God. I am appalled at the role so called established christianity had in their role of the systematic persecution of my Jewish brothers and sisters.
(16) michael, April 20, 2001 12:00 AM
just a thought
thank you for your article....very thought provoking..i am a photojournalist and have seen a lot of things most people would run from..it tends to harden a persons heart..you become immune to much in the way of feelings as a shield to survive..but the one thing that i cant shield myself from are the feelings i get when i look at photos from the holocaust...i become profoundly depressed..so many emotions when i look at them...soo much waste..sensless useless waste..sorrow beyond comprehension..and always the question of why people hated so much.why so many turned aside....why did God let it happen and for what reason.......and why did we let it happen.....or was it a freight train that couldnt have been stopped even if we had seen it coming....and will we see it coming the next time
(15) Anonymous, April 20, 2001 12:00 AM
Well written article to share and to remember forever
When, as a teen, I saw pictures in Life magazine and a few other publications, of the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis, my heart would weep for them. Ever since that time, I have yearned for more knowledge of that terrible period. This site and The Jerusalem Post is, at last, providing an honest (but still heartbreaking) avenue of learning. Peace is my prayer as I learn.
(14) Anonymous, April 19, 2001 12:00 AM
I was facing what I thought was a terrible wall.
and i read this article and realised that you are right. I should try facing what my husband did to me as a "gate" not a "wall".Turn desperate times into an extraordinary opportunity Although I have unbelievable problems ahead of me. If I can remember your words, then I will never accept the crulty as normalcy. My wounds will heal, in the meantime I'll use make-up.
(13) Broos Johannes, April 18, 2001 12:00 AM
Tears. Lots of tears. Tears that appear in the eyes and many tears that stay inside, in the heart.
Our hope and trust is that The G-d of Israel will wipe off all tears of His beloved People.
(12) Anonymous, April 18, 2001 12:00 AM
"Tears never felt so comforting before...."
To this day, I have not been able to bring myself to watch the movie Shindler's List. But perhaps I can give it a try now. Thank you.
David
(11) Gregg Philipson, April 18, 2001 12:00 AM
The story must always be told!
Pictures tell the real story. If tears are necessary then let them flow. A bit of sadness is a small price to pay to prevent this from happening again and take heed it will if we let it!!
(10) Yitsy P., April 17, 2001 12:00 AM
Holocaust pics
"But only tears open all the gates of heaven". ONLY Tears ? I doubt it. Joy, Acts of Kindness, Mitsvot and Serving G-d open gates too.
(9) John Berger, April 17, 2001 12:00 AM
Sadness from the world vs Sadness from G-D
I read somewhere a long time ago and it makes sense to me,since I had suffered from depression for a very long time,that the sadness that comes from the world ends in death,but the Sadness that G-D brings ends in repentance with the turning of Israel to Ha Shem.
(8) jane croom, April 17, 2001 12:00 AM
i was moved to tears and despair
The reason for the tears and despair and guilt for a world of humans who allowed this to happen . It could happen again because of the evil in the human hearts and the apathy of G-ds people
(7) Luciano Dalle Molle, April 17, 2001 12:00 AM
YIZKOR!!!!!!
Do not forget!!!!!! Maybe not strictly a "mitzva". But surely a duty. For everyone!!!!!!
(6) , April 17, 2001 12:00 AM
little boy
When I was in 11th grade in yeshiva high school, the Yom HaShoah speaker was the grandfather of one of the seniors. He was the little boy in the picture. With his granddaughter attending yeshiva, he was showing the ultimate triumph over all those who sought to murder the Jewish people.
Yes, we must face the tragedy, but by living as Jews, thus honoring both the survivors and the victims, we open the gates.
(5) Douglas Smith, April 16, 2001 12:00 AM
My heart hurts for the Jews
As I have seen many pictures from the Holocaust and lived in Germany three years and visited the torture camps, my heart hurts for the Jews. I will never understand how humanity can sink to such a depraved state of mind as the Germans did. Living in America I am now very concerned that I see a growing attack against the Jews from the mainstream media. As the media supports the Arabs more and more it makes me wonder how many people will be brainwashed again to make Israel look like an evil nation. You are in my heart and prayers Nation of Israel ! There are many of us who love you and support you even though we are not Jews ! America can NEVER afford to turn its back on you again as we did before and during WWII. God bless you and keep you !! We cry with you !!
(4) Shirley Stufflebeam, April 16, 2001 12:00 AM
It is beyond my comprehention
To think of the many little children is even more horrifying than the rest.I personally cannot stand this.It hurts in the pit of my stomache . How can any one with an ounce of conscience do it.
(3) nech bronspiegel, April 15, 2001 12:00 AM
dear rebbetzin heller, that little boy is alive. there was an article in the ny times. he is a dentist and .lives in the u.s.
(2) Jay Wallet, April 15, 2001 12:00 AM
why we must cry
It is up to my generation, born just after the war to cry. When we think of the generation of our brothers and sisters who died for reasons we can not understand, we must think of the smiles these kids never got to use.
I know that the almighty may have had areason for what happen to them, maybe my tears will help me understand what that reason is.
(1) Peter Klein, April 15, 2001 12:00 AM
pklein@usa.com
your article touched my soul.the boy's face is as familiar to me as that of anyone in my immediate family. i also saw his face first when i was a young boy, looking deep into his eyes has always haunted me, i've met him many times in my dreams.
i've also met his captors in my nightmares, the look of good humor on their faces & in their eyes has been something i could never reconcile.
thank you for touching my heart.
peter klein