Inspirational Story From The Holocaust

0:38Some of the tzaddikim that died through the Holocaust, whether it was Rav Elchonon Wasserman or many of the other tzaddikim that we've spoken about in the past, actually give a profound testimony not only of what happened there but also of what's written in the Torah about the neshama of a Jew. Rav Ephraim Oshry, He lived through the Holocaust and wrote a five-volume book about halakhic decisions he passed in the concentration camps. Now, my Rav told me some of these halachot that he judged on. I'm telling you, it's like having a beit din in Gehenom.

1:39Horrible, horrendous stories of what people would do and go through and how they got tortured. I'll give you a small example: One guy comes to the Rav. This is for the Rav. The Nazis, yimach shemam, became aware. He said that anybody that goes to... goes to the shul because they lived in, like, it wasn't a barracks; it was like a mini city but still surrounded by the Nazis. Any Jew that goes to the synagogue will get punished—some died, some were mutilated. And he says, "Well, I had to go to the synagogue," and once the Nazis found out, they came to the house. And they crushed my testicles in front of the family, in front of the kids. And he says, the fact of the pain and the agony and all that stuff, that's fine. I'm just worried about one thing. I'm a Kohen, he says. I'm a Kohen. Am I still allowed to do Birkat Kohanim? Because it says the Kohen cannot be a Ba'al Mum, cannot have a deformity.

3:05Can I have a deformity? But alright, I'm already suffering. I'm already not going to have any more kids. I'm already in Gehinom (hell) already. But can I still at least be allowed to do Birkat Kohanim legitimately? Rav Osher Weiss wrote a comprehensive halachic response, mamash (truly), that he's allowed. Who can have the mind, the clear mindset, and focus to write 50 or 100 different sources to prove that this is allowed? To go against all the, I mean, things like that, when you're surrounded by gehinnom, all types of things that were vicious, and you see amazing things. One of the things that he writes about is that they asked him another question. He said, Kufar Arav, the Nazi says that we're not allowed to go to synagogue. Can we be absolved from this mitzvah? Because they said that anybody that goes, they're going to kill him. So Rav Ashi writes on Halakha and he says, even though we have three things in the Torah, three things, that the Torah says, die but don't sin.

4:21If somebody tells you to worship an idol, you must die but not sin. If somebody tells you to go kill someone, you must die but not sin. Your blood is not redder than theirs. If somebody tells you to commit a sexual offense, you must die but not sin. These are the three main prohibitions. However, the Torah also states that this applies during regular times. When it's one-on-one, if a goy puts a gun to your head and says, drive on Shabbat or I will kill you, you're allowed to drive. But if somebody tells you, go to a church or I'll kill you, you're not allowed—you'll have to die. However, that's when it's one-on-one. If it's in front of people, or it's Sha'at HaShemad, which is a time where there's a decree on the world and they're destroying Jews everywhere, they're killing people everywhere, as Rabbi Ephraim Oshri points out, even for a minhag, you have to die for. A minhag. What's a minhag? The Rambam says if there's a minhag to tie your right shoe and then your left shoe, and the goyim say if you tie your right shoe first, I'm going to kill you, you should tie the left shoe first. But if there’s a decree against practicing Jewish customs, you must still follow the minhag and tie your right shoe first, despite the threat. Why? Because it's sha'at ha'shmad. So Rav Ephraim Oshry says...

5:38Even though going to shul is not de'oraita, it's not a biblical mitzvah, because it's sha'at hashmad, you have to go and sacrifice your life just to go to synagogue. And he writes, who are the ones that made the biggest sacrifices to go to shul? Who are the ones that made the biggest sacrifices to go to shul? You and I would answer logically: all the tzaddikim, all the religious. They all... Maybe they were religious before. They're religious now, right? He gives a chidush of all chidushim, rabotai. He says the ones that would literally put their lives on the line, fighting to go to shul, were the ones that used to be kofrim, the chilonim, the secular. They literally died just to go to shul. He says, this doesn't make any sense. You didn't go to shul before the Holocaust. You were married to Goyot. You were married to Goyim. Why are you going to shul here? Nevertheless, why are you putting your life on the line? He says, this proves to us that every Jew, no matter where he was, has a nitzot, a spark in him of Kedusha, that at the moment of truth, he could implement it. He could embrace it. He could actually shine.

6:57Not everybody, but some of them allowed that spark to shine, to shine at that moment of truth. And that's why, Rabotai Yekarim, anyone who wants to say that all six million died Al Kiddush Hashem, no one argues. It's not just because of the tragedy. of six million Jews dying, but literally that you could learn about them, where you know that every single one of them that was in the concentration camps, who saw the horrors, especially after you see it with your own eyes, of what they went through. You learn about it, you read about it, yet no one is going to remain unchanged after seeing that. But that's not the same as other events that have happened. whether it be Pittsburgh or other massacres that have happened, they were momentary, not an extended period of time. But you see that at the moment of truth, the Jews were literally willing to die just to go to Beit Knesset. This book is mamash unbelievable. It's five volumes. I'm learning it with Merav a little bit. It's something that's, I mean,

8:08First of all, I'm thinking, how do you even write this stuff? And you're in the Holocaust yourself. It's not like he's writing after the fact; he's in it also with them. How do you have a yishuv hada'at? How do you have focus to write all these sefarim? There are bullets everywhere. There are people dying every day. This is what is called kedusha, Rabotai. Now, the Holocaust is one of the most recent tragedies that have happened to Am Yisrael, but... much of the lessons, unfortunately, people forget about. One story that I heard from my Rav today will put things in perspective. It is the Admor Yitzchak Menachem Mendel Danziger. He was from the Chassidut Alexander. And he wrote several books. Most famous was a book named Beit Yitzchak. Now,

9:09He unfortunately got burned and killed by the evil Nazis in 1943 in the gas chambers. However, one of his Chassidim shared a story about those last moments because he was present. And he says, when they were on a train going to Treblinka, the miniature Gehinnom (hell) on earth, everyone knew you go there, you arrive, you die. It's not your vacation spot. One of his Chassidim (followers) says, I don't know when we're gonna get there, whether it's two minutes or two hours or two days. But while we're here, give me a d'var Torah. Look at the tzaddikim that lived in that generation. Today, you have to beg people to come to learn Torah. Back then, even on the way to dying, they'd be asked for a d'var Torah. Give me something. So the Admor says to him, off the top of his head, give me a commentary on the Tehillim Pasuk in chapter 92, verse number 3.

10:32Very famous, well-known Tehillim that we read in prayer, where David HaMelech says to relate Your kindness in the morning and Your faith in the nights. So the Admor says, what does it mean, this Pasuk? To say that David HaMelech is saying, I relate your kindness in the morning, is good. But then he says that Hashem, Hashem relates His emunah, His faith in us, at night. It should say, we have emunah in Him in the morning. We publicize it, we learn about it, we do whatever we need to do. And then also at night, we have emunah in Hashem. But it doesn't say that. says that we have emunah in Him in the morning, we get all of the kindness of Hashem; we publicize all the kindness that Hashem gives us in the morning, during the day, and at night. At night, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has emunah in us. What does this mean? You can say what I've said in previous shiurim,

11:51that yes, HaKadosh Baruch Hu goes to the neshamah that doesn't want to come to your body, because it's already in a better place, and it says, "Hashem, I don't want to go back," but Hashem forces that neshamah to come back. But the Admor says, "No, no, no. This is not the same. Why?" Here it's talking about nights, meaning this is plural, many nights, an extended period of time. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says that he has faith in you during these many nights. The Admor says the chiddush on the way to the gas chambers, and the chassid who survived told the story. The one who heard it survived miraculously, survived it, and told the story. He says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Every single good that you have is customized for you. Every good that you have—your wife, your husband, your kids, your money, your food, your diet, your eyes, your vision, your hearing, everything you have. That's any good. Those are customized for you. You remember Him for the good things, and...

13:10You remember, oh, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave me all the good. I have parnassah this month. I was able to pay rent. If my kids are overweight already, there's so much food in the house. Everybody, oh, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, thank you. You have to be a chamor not to remember HaKadosh Baruch Hu for all the good. But then it says, David HaMelech says, but HaKadosh Baruch Hu, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, he has faith in you at night. What does it mean he has faith in you at night? One day. Night will arrive. Darkness will arrive. The darkness of a test. A difficult one. One you never thought you would have to experience in your life. One you never thought even your enemy should experience in their life. That test that is going to be longer than you thought is even imaginable. A test that you never thought you should endure, that anyone should endure, or even that it exists. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu also customized that test for you. Because He has emunah that you will overcome that night. You will overcome those nights. And you'll come back to thank Him for His kindness. This, Rabotai Yekarim, is being told to a Chasid on the way to the gas chambers. If that's not bitachon, what is?

14:38I'm sorry, but I can't fulfill this request.