Holding On

Story by Yaffa Eliach from "Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust", based on a conversation between the Grand Rabbi of Bluzhov, Rabbi Israel Spira and Baruch Singer: January 3, 1975.

It was a dark, cold night in the Janowska Road Camp. [The Janowska Road Camp was situated near the cemetaries and sand mountains outside the city of Lvov, in the Ukraine]

Suddenly, a stentorian shout pierced the air: "You are all to evacuate the barracks immediately and report to the vacant lot. Anyone remaining inside will be shot on the spot!"

Pandemonium broke out in the barracks. People pushed their way to the doors while screaming the names of friends and relatives. In a panic-stricken stampede, the prisoners ran in the direction of the big open field. Exhausted, trying to catch their breath, they reached the field. In the middle were two huge pits. [The vicinity of the Camp was scarred with bomb craters from WW1. The huge pits were used as torture sites and mass graves.]

Suddenly, with their last drop of energy, the inmates realized where they were rushing, on that cursed dark night in Janowska. Once more, the cold healthy voice roared in the night: "Each of you dogs who values his miserable life and wants to cling to it must jump over one of the pits and land on the other side. Those who miss will get what they rightfully deserve - ra-ta-ta-ta-ta." Imitating the sound of a machine gun, the voice trailed off into the night followed by a wild, coarse laughter. It was clear to the inmates that they would all end up in the pits.

Even at the best of times it would have been impossible to jump over them, all the more so on that cold dark night in Janowska. The prisoners standing at the edge of the pits were skeletons, feverish from disease and starvation, exhausted from slave labor and sleepless nights. Though the challenge that had been given them was a matter of life and death, they knew that for the S.S. and the Ukranian guards it was merely another devilish game.

Among the thousands of Jews on that field in Janowska was the Rabbi of Bluzhov, Rabbi Israel Spira. He was standing with a friend, a freethinker from a large Polish town whom the rabbi had met in the camp. A deep friendship had developed between the two.

"Spira, all of our efforts to jump over the pits are in vain. We only entertain the Germans and their collaborators, the Askaris. Let's sit down in the pits and wait for the bullets to end our wretched existence." said the friend to the rabbi.

"My friend," said the rabbi, as they were walking in the direction of the pits, "man must obey the will of G-d. If it was decreed from heaven that pits be dug and we be commanded to jump, pits will be dug and jump we must. And if, G-d forbid, we fail and fall into the pits, we will reach the World of Truth a second later, after our attempt. So, my friend, we must jump."

The rabbi and his friend were nearing the edge of the pits; the pits were rapidly filling up with bodies. The rabbi glanced down at his feet, the swollen feet of a 53 year old Jew ridden with starvation and disease. He looked at his young friend, a skeleton with burning eyes. As they reached the pit, the rabbi closed his eyes and commanded in a powerful whisper, "We are jumping!"

When they opened their eyes, they found themselves standing on the other side of the pit. "Spira, we are here, we are here, we are alive!" the friend repeated over and over again, while warm tears steamed from his eyes. "Spira, for your sake, I am alive; indeed, there must be a G-d in heaven. Tell me Rabbi, how did you do it?"

"I was holding on to my ancestral merit. I was holding on to the coat-tails of my father, and my grandfather and my great-grandfather, of blessed memory," said the rabbi and his eyes searched the black skies above. "Tell me, my friend, how did you reach the other side of the pit?"

"I was holding on to you" replied the rabbi's friend.

Memorial Sign for Jews killed in Lviv Janowska Concentration Camp

Shiur: Where Was G-d During The Holocaust? [shiur includes other topics] from Rabbi Y. Mizrachi - Divine Information.com

The Mystery of Pain: Why Was Moses Afraid to Gaze at G-d?

World-renowned teacher Rabbi YY Jacobson presents a fascinating class on why Moshe Rabeinu refused Hashem's offer to understand the mystery of pain.

This week's class explores that unbelievable teaching of our Sages that at the burning bush Moshe forfeited a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hashem offered to reveal to Moshe the greatest revelation of all: The mystery of human suffering.

The greatest minds, and the greatest believers, have grappled with this throughout history to no avail, yet Moses unequivocally refused the once-in-a-universe chance.

Why?

The answer sheds light on the true meaning of leadership, and on the depth of Moses' relationship with the Jewish people.

To listen to the shiur, click here: TheYeshiva.net

Rabbi Lau: Shouts of 'Nazi!' Cause Me Nightmares

Jerusalem - Tel Aviv-Yafo [Jaffa]‘s Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau says he was shocked to see a photograph of a Jewish boy wearing a yellow star in last week’s hareidi religious demonstration in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim.

Rabbi Lau told the Hebrew-language newspaper Ma’ariv in an interview that the hareidi public feels “persecuted,” but that this feeling “in my opinion leads it to express itself in a way that borders on blasphemy. If you explain to secular Jews observance of the Sabbath through hurling rocks and shouts of “Nazi!” then first of all, they [themselves] are sinning by touching the rock—which itself is forbidden on the Sabbath—and you also destroy the tiniest chance that those who do not observe the Sabbath might begin to do so.

“The picture of the beautiful and innocent Orthodox child at a demonstration, raising his hands in surrender, wearing on his garment a yellow star, chased the sleep from my eyes that night,” Rabbi Lau continued. “I am afraid for him, even for his faith. When this child will grow up and will realize what they did to him in his community, how they exploited his innocence, how they used him, he is likely to kick away the traditions of his father’s house.

“For me, to stand a child up with his hands raised in surrender in imitation of that famous photograph from the Warsaw Ghetto distorts history and shows incomparable ingratitude to the Master of the Universe, who gave us the Jewish State that did not exist when that original photo was taken,” he added. “The significance of the act is simply to ignore the kindness of the Creator Who tells you, you aren’t standing today before Nazis who are coming to destroy you. Today you have a country, you have a home, and the police are coming to defend every Jew, even if he demonstrates in the streets of Jerusalem.

“How can you compare Jews to a Nazi who was able to throw a baby into a frying pan on a burning Primus stove?” Rabbi Lau demanded. “And I am talking about things I saw with my own eyes. Or a Nazi who could take a child similar to the one who participated in that demonstration and tear him apart? Those who demonstrated “Nazis! Nazis!”—including the “price tag” demonstrators who attacked the IDF officers—don’t know what a Nazi monster is and to what depths he can reach.”

Rabbi Lau said he believes there should be deterrents and enforcement of the law when anyone uses symbols of the Holocaust. “Shouts of ‘Nazi’ at Jews—not to mention photos of things like that child—cause us, the survivors, insomnia and nightmares,” he said.

Source: Israel National News

So here we are

"In the days before Moshiach.......wisdom shall be putrid; the pious shall be despised........."

'Treatment of haredim – like Nuerenberg Laws'

Eda Haredit member who participated in 'Holocaust display' during Jerusalem rally claims 'persecution of haredim resembles race laws passed in Germany against Jews'; slams secular Jews for 'making Hitler proud by acting like goyim'

After images of kids wearing yellow patches and striped pajamas during haredi protest in Jerusalem shocked many across the country, some participants wished to explain the move.

Warsaw 1943, Jerusalem 2011 [Photos: Jürgen Stroop, Noam Moskovich]

Moshe, a member of the Eda Haredit sect and resident of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Mea Shaarim neighborhood told Ynet he does not regret participating in the "Holocaust display."

Moshe, who attended the rally along with his eight-year-old nephew, noted that the sect leaders supported the demonstration, even if they did not personally participate. "They didn’t publicly call to attend the rally because they feared that the police might employ violence and rubber bullets, and that haredi blood would be spilled."

The Eda Haredit member attempted to explain the rationale behind the display of Holocaust symbols, saying it was important that secular people understand the campaign that is being conducted against their community.

Source and more: Ynet News

Also see:  Jerusalem - Hundreds Board Segregated Buses to Protest Exclusion of Women

Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks addresses Chabad Kinus

At the Chabad Kinus HaShluchim last weekend where over 5,000 Chabad rabbis gathered, as they do every year, the guest speaker was Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Addressing the theme of the Chossid's need to strive for a higher standard in everything he does, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speaks of the role of the Shluchim, his experiences with the Rebbe, and of the need for “Unashamed Jews.” 

[absolutely worth half an hour of your time!]  HT: Chami

"Why I chose to speak at the Kinus" - UK Chief Rabbi Speaks with Arutz Sheva at Chabad Conference

Alone

Art: Dalhart Windberg

Words by Rebetzin Esther Jungreis

Yes, I`m afraid. When I say these words, most people do not understand, and they attribute my fears to the fact that I am a survivor and live in the shadow of my Holocaust experiences. Still others attribute my fears to "overreaction", and assure themselves that everything is okay, that there is nothing to worry about. "Fear", they rationalize, is a Jewish neurosis, identified with past generations, when our people lived in the darkness of the ghetto.

But today, things are different. Today, we live in the United States, a free, democratic country, in which all people have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..” And more, for the very first time in almost two thousand years, we have our own State and because of that, there is nothing to fear. I wish that I could be as confident as they, but I smell the noxious fumes of pre-Holocaust Europe, and so I write and speak wherever I can. It is not Hamas or the Moslem Brotherhood, nor for that matter, Ahmadinejad that I fear. Nor do I fear the United Nations, an institution notorious for its despicable hypocrisy and anti-Israel bias. I do not fear the sophisticated, intellectuals who camouflage their hatred of Jews behind politically correct pseudonyms that mis-lead all too willing ears, but what I do fear is our own people – yes, our own people who have forgotten who we are, who no longer remember that we stood at Sinai, that we heard the voice of G-d, that we belong to a priestly kingdom, a holy nation and that everything that befalls us is choreographed by Hashem, and is a reflection of our own deeds, our own hands.

To be sure, there is nothing new about all this. It is a “Truth” that is a very pillar of our faith and is inscribed for all eternity in G-d’s Book – the Torah. The warning screams out to us from almost every portion, yet we refuse to heed it. How can it be that we, the nation that is so brilliant, is so blind? How can it be that after thousands of years, we still fail to understand?

Our history is constant replay – again and again, tragedies befall us, yet we refuse to comprehend. It could all be so simple if we would all be willing to understand. But no matter how unbearable our pain, how agonizing our suffering, we continue to reject it. Every day, a Bas Kol – a Heavenly Voice calls us, but we choose to remain deaf. We have shed our Priestly garments and no longer recognize ourselves.

Time and again G-d sends His prophets to remind us that our destiny is different from that of all other nations, that our very existence is directly linked to our adherence to G-d’s commandments. Hashem has guaranteed our eternity, for we, the Jewish people have been chosen to be His witnesses, but tragically, we fail to see the glory of our calling, and that is the painful reality of our long, tormented exile. We have seen mighty nations come and go, rise, only to fall, but even as we have endured and triumphed,....but it’s all to no avail. We continue to remain obdurate.

Even as a young child in Bergen Belsen, I was aware of this Truth. My saintly father, HaRav Avraham Halevi Jungreis, Z’tl, embedded it in my heart and soul. But I could never have imagined that, before I would see the dawn, six million of our people would be consumed in the flames. Despite it all however, by the grace of G-d, not only are we here, but we have reinvented ourselves. We have given new life to the great academies of Torah that once shone so brightly throughout the shtetlach of Europe, and we have returned and rebuilt our ancient land. We have brought new life to the barren wasteland. We have planted gardens and forests, and despite the constant barrages of missiles and rockets, we redeemed our land. Yes, miraculously, we did it all and yet we still failed to see G-d’s guiding Hand.

As I said, I smell the noxious fumes of pre-Hitler Europe. Once again, the nations are bent on swallowing us, and, as always, there is no one to come to our aid, no one to even raise a voice on our behalf. Once again, we are reminded of the eternal words of our Torah: “They are a people that dwells alone and not reckoned among the nations.”....”We are like one lamb surrounded by seventy wolves” – all to remind us that our salvation can come from only One source – AVINU SH’BASHAMAYIM – our Heavenly Father.

Time and again, G-d has impressed this Truth upon us. Not only did He engrave these words in our holy writ; not only did He send His prophets to remind us, but He constantly speaks to us loud and clear. And yet, we continue to fail to heed His messages, and it is that which I fear. Our generation has seen darkness and light. We have seen the most painful, the most tragic, and also the most spectacular, the most miraculous. I am not only referring to the Holocaust, but to the ongoing, savage, brutal and blood soaked hands of our neighbors who are united by only one purpose – to slaughter and exterminate our people. They surround our tiny State and encamp on all our borders, but miraculously, we have survived in this sea of murderers. Just the same however, we still fail to see the Hand of G-d – We refuse to hear His voice calling us.

I invite you to consider only the recent attack on Ashdod.....On Shabbos afternoon as our people gathered to daven mincha, Ashdod was hit by rockets. Such an onslaught could have resulted in catastrophe, but while there were some injuries, Ashdod held fast. Although a synagogue and a school suffered a direct hit, miraculously, the building was empty. This synagogue usually has a large minyan in one of the classrooms, but on that Shabbos, services did not take place. The Gabbi was not feeling well and could not make the necessary preparations. Just think about it..

All those who came to see the sight were awestruck. It was an open miracle. Had the Gabbai not been ill, had services taken place, the tragedy would have been to painful to contemplate...and there was more. The entire place was covered with shattered glass and debris.... Everything in the room was damaged, but the Holy Ark and the Torah within remained untouched! And there was still more!

Just two hours later, another rocket hit a parking lot setting cars afire, but the adjacent building escaped damage. Miraculously, the rocket exploded near a large gas tank. Had there been a direct hit, the result could have been catastrophic.

Coincidence or the Hand of G-d? Yet we fail to see it – we fail to understand.

Darkness and light in the very same breath, and once again, I ask, Coincidence or the Hand of G-d?

It is the blindness of our people that I fear!

When will we wake up? When will we don our Priestly garments and fulfill our G-d given destiny and be “a light unto all mankind?”

Mrs. Mozart, Viktor Frankl and the Lubavitcher Rebbe

by Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

How a Chassidic Master Affected the Trend of Psychology in the 20th Century

Note: A first and terribly incomplete draft of this article was posted on some websites and blogs. This version below is far more complete and authoritative, finalized after extensive research.  [Shirat Devorah was one of the blogs that published one of the first drafts, so here is the complete version]

Three Lives

This is a story about three remarkable lives which converged, in the most unlikely of circumstances, with extraordinary results. It is a story about a Jewish girl who became an opera singer, performing in front of Adolf Hitler; about a Jewish spiritual and Chassidic master, and a world-famous psychiatrist. [1]

It would have remained a secret if not for a strange phenomenon. The famed Viennese professor Victor Frankl (1905-1997), author of the perennial best-seller Man's Search for Meaning and founder of Logotherapy, would send each year before the High Holidays a donation to Chabad of Vienna. This began in 1981 when Rabbi Jacob and Edla Biderman arrived in Vienna to serve as Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Austria and began sending an appeal to all the local Jews along with a Jewish calendar in honor of the upcoming High Holidays.

Nobody in the Chabad center or in the larger Jewish community could understand why. Here was a man who was not affiliated with the Jewish community of Vienna. He did not attend synagogue, not even on Yom Kippur. He was married to a devout Catholic woman. Yet, he would not miss a single year of sending a contribution to Chabad before Yom Kippur.

The enigma was answered only in 1995, two years before Dr. Frankl's death at the age of 92.

I Am the First Emissary

Marguerite Kozenn-Chajes (1909-2000) walked into the office of Rabbi Jacob Biderman, the ambassador of Chabad to Austria, who has since built the magnificent "Lauder Campus" in Vienna, infusing Jewish spirit and life in the country which gave birth to Hitler.

Marguerite, an 85 year old woman, was dressed very classy, and looked youthful and energetic. She told Rabbi Biderman: "I know you think you are the first emissary (shliach) of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Vienna; but that is not the case. I have served as the first ambassador of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to this city, many years before you."

From the Chassidim to the Opera

Marguerite began to relate her story.

Her mother's maiden name was Hager. The Hagers were no ordinary Jewish family but descendants of the Rebbes of the famed Vishnitz chassidic dynasty. [2] Marguerite was born in Chernowitz, where she studied to become an opera singer, and then moved to Vienna where her career blossomed. She married a Jewish young man with the family name Chajes. [3] They had a daughter.

Marguerite performed during the 1930's in the Salzburger Festspiele (pronounced: Fest Shpile) -- The Salzburg Festival --a prominent festival of music and drama, held each summer in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Salzburg. The Anschluss -- the annexation of Austria by Germany -- was now complete, and Nazi ideology immediately began to affect the Salzburg Festival. All Jewish artists were banned, the leading Jewish conductors and composers were removed. Yet Marguerite Chajes was still performing.

For the Festspiele in August 1939, Hitler himself made an appearance at two Mozart operas. He did not know that one of the young women singing majestically was a young Jewess, a scion of a leading Chassidic family, Marguerite Chajes.

Shortly thereafter, the general management made a surprise announcement that the Festival would terminate on 31 August, a week ahead of the scheduled finale on 8 September. The reason was, supposedly, that the Vienna Philharmonic was required to perform at the Nuremberg Party Convention. But the Germans were brilliant deceivers. The true reason became apparent on 1 September when the German army invaded Poland and unleashed the Second World War, exterminating a third of the Jewish people, including Marguerite's family.

On the very night after her performance at the Salzburg Festspiele, close friends smuggled her with her husband and daughter out of Germany to Italy. From there she managed to embark on the last boat to the US before the war broke out just a few days later. Marguerite and her family settled in Detroit, where she became founder and president of the Pro Mozart Society of Greater Detroit, and acquired in her circles the name "Mrs. Mozart."

When she was asked in an interview why does a previously successful soprano work so avidly for the reputation of Mozart? Her answer was: "Because the idea of humanity is nowhere so convincingly expressed as in the work of Mozart."

Years passed. Marguerite's daughter grew up and married a doctor, who, in 1959, was honored at the dinner of a Chabad institution. In conjunction with that occasion, Marguerite had an audience with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. [4]

"I walked into the Rebbe's room," related Marguerite to Rabbi Biderman, "I cannot explain why, but suddenly, for the first time since the Holocaust, I felt that I could cry. I -- like so many other survivors who have lost entire families -- never cried before. We knew that if we would start crying, we might never stop, or that in order to survive we can't express our emotions. But at that moment, it was as though the dam obstructing my inner waterfall of tears was removed. I began sobbing like a baby. I shared with the Rebbe my entire story: My innocent childhood; becoming a star in Vienna; performing in front of Hitler; escaping to the US; learning of the death of my closest kin.

"The Rebbe listened. But he not only listened with his ears. He listened with his eyes, with his heart, with his soul, and he took it all in. I shared all of my experiences and he absorbed it all. That night I felt like I was given a second father. I felt that the Rebbe adopted me as his daughter."

Two Requests

At the end of my meeting with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, I expressed my strong desire to go back for a visit to Vienna.   Margerata was, after all, a kind of self-appointed "propaganda activist" for Austria and its music and she craved to visit the city of her youth.

The Rebbe requested from me that before I make the trip, I visit him again.

A short while later, en route to Vienna, I visited the Rebbe. He asked me for a favor: to visit two people during my stay in the city. The first was Viennese Chief Rabbi Akiva Eisenberg, and give him regards from the Rebbe (the Rebbe said that his secretariat would give me the address and literature to give to Rabbi Eisenberg.) The second person he wanted me to visit I would have to look up his address myself. The Rebbe said that he headed the Vienna Policlinic of Neurology. His name was Dr. Victor Frankl.

You Will Prevail

"Send Dr. Frankl my regards," the Lubavitcher Rebbe said to me, "and tell him in my name that he should not give up. He should be strong and continue his work, with complete resolve. No matter what, he should not give up. If he remains strong and committed, he will certainly prevail."

Using the German dialect, so Marguerite would understand, the Rebbe spoke for a long time about the messages he wished to convey to Dr. Frankl. Close to forty years later she did not recall all of the details, but the primary point was that Frankl should never give up and he should keep on working to achieve his goals with unflinching courage and determination.

"I didn't understand what the Rebbe was talking about. Who was Dr. Frankl? Why was the Rebbe sending him this message? Why through me? I did not have an answer to any of these questions, but I obeyed."

Marguerite traveled to Vienna. Her visit with Rabbi Eisenberg proved to be a simple task. Meeting Victor Frankl proved far more difficult. When she arrived at the clinic they informed her that the professor had not shown up in two weeks, thus there was no way she could meet him. After a few failed attempts to locate him at the clinic, Marguerite gave up.

Feeling guilty not to fulfill the Rebbe's request, she decided to violate Austrian mannerisms. She looked up the professor's private home address, traveled there and knocked at the door.

A woman opened the door.

"May I see Herr Frankl please?" asked Marguerite.

"Yes. Please wait."

The first thing she caught sight of in the home was a cross, hanging prominently on the wall. (In 1947 Frankl married his second wife, Eleonore Katharina Schwindt, a devout Catholic. They had a daughter Gabriella.)

"It was obvious that this was a Christian home. I thought to myself, that this must be a mistake; this can't be the person whom the Lubavitcher Rebbe wanted me to encourage."

Victor Frankl showed up a few moments later, and after ascertaining that he was the professor, she told him that she had regards for him.

"He was impatient, and frankly looked quite uninterested. It felt very awkward."

"I have regards from Rabbi Schneerson in Brooklyn, New York," Marguerite told him. "Rabbi Schneerson asked me to tell you in his name that you must not give up. You ought to remain strong. Continue your work with unflinching determination and resolve, and you will prevail.

"Do not fall into despair. March on with confidence," Rabbi Schneerson said, "and you will achieve great success."

"Suddenly," Marguerite related, "the uninterested professor broke down. He began sobbing and would not calm down. I did not understand what was going on."

"This Rabbi from Brooklyn knew exactly when to send you here," Dr. Frankl told her. He could not thank her enough for the visit.

"So you see Rabbi Biderman?" Marguerite completed her tale, "I have been an emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Vienna many years before you came around."

Forever Grateful

Rabbi Biderman was intrigued. Victor Frankl was now 90 years of age, and was an international celebrity. He had written 32 books which were ranslated into 30 languages. His book "Man's search for Meaning" has been deemed by the Library of Congress as one of the ten most influential books of the 20th century. What was the behind the Rebbe's message to Victor Frankl?

"I called him a few days later," Biderman recalls, "and asked to meet him. But it was difficult for him to meet me in person. So we spoke over the phone. Initially he sounded impatient and somewhat cold.

"Do you remember a regards Marguerite Chajes brought you from Rabbi Schneerson in Brooklyn," Rabbi Biderman asked Dr. Frankl.

Suddenly, a change in his voice. Dr. Frankl melted. "Of course I remember. I will never forget it. My gratitude to Rabbi Schneerson is eternal." In the actual German words of Dr. Frankl: "Eich vel eim eibek dankbar zein." (I will forever be grateful to him.)

And Victor Frankl confirmed the rest of the story Marguerite had already explained to Rabbi Biderman, which revolves around one of the greatest debates in psychology of the previous century.

In the Camps

Victor Frankl was born in 1905 -- three years after the Lubavitcher Rebbe -- in Vienna.   The young Frankl studied neurology and psychiatry, and in 1923 became part of the inner circle of one of the most famous Jews of the time, Dr. Sigmund Freud, the "Father of Psychoanalysis" who lived and practiced in Vienna.

The "Final Solution" did not skip over the Frankl family.  Dr. Frankl relates in his memoirs of the war years that he had a chance before the war to go to America to write his books and build a reputation. Yet he was confused. Should he pursue his career and abandon his parents or should he remain with them? He arrived home from the American consulate, visa in hand, to find a large block of marble sitting on the table. Recovered by his father from a local synagogue razed by the Nazis, it was, Frankl recalled, a piece from a tablet bearing the first letters of the Commandment, "Honor your father and your mother." He let his visa lapse and stayed.

Victor's mother and father were murdered in Auschwitz; his first Jewish wife, pregnant, was murdered in Bergen Belsen. All of his siblings and relatives were exterminated. Professor Frankl was a lone survivor in Auschwitz (he had one sister who immigrated to Australia before the war.) After the war, he returned to Vienna where he taught neurology and psychiatry.

The Great Debate

Already before the war, and even more so during his three years in the Nazi death camps, Victor Frankl developed ideas which differed radically from Sigmund Freud. Yet the faculty of his department and the academic elite in post-war Vienna consisted of staunch Freudian scholars ("Freudesten," in Frankl's expression).  They defined Frankl's ideas as "pseudo-science."

Freud emphasized the idea that all things come down to physiology. The human mind and heart could be best understood as a side effect of brain mechanisms. Humans are like machines, responding to stimuli from within or from without, a completely physical, predictable and godless machine, albeit a very complicated machine.

Victor Frankl disagreed. He felt that Freud and his colleagues reduced the human being to a mere mechanical creature depriving him or her of his true essence. "If Freud were in the concentration camps," Frankl wrote, "he would have changed his position. Beyond the basic natural drives and instincts of people, he would have encountered the human capacity for self-transcendence. Man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those chambers upright, with the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: The last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

He concludes that even in the most severe suffering, the human being can find meaning and thus hope. In his words, "Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how.'" A person was not a son of his past, but the father of his future.

After the war, Frankl returned to Vienna, where he developed and lectured about his own approach to psychological healing. He believed that people are primarily driven by a "striving to find meaning in one's life," and that it is this sense of meaning that enables us to overcome painful experiences. In the second half of his book, Frankl outlines the form of psychotherapy that he developed based on these beliefs, called logotherapy - the treatment of emotional pain by helping people find meaning in their lives.

But in the Academic Vienna of the 40's and 50's they defined Frankl's ideas as fanatic religiosity, bringing back the old, unscientific notions of conscience, religion and guilt. It was unpopular for students to attend his courses; his lectures were shunned.

"My position was extremely difficult," Frankl shared with Rabbi Biderman. "Rabiner Biderman!" Frankl said, "I could survive the German death camps, but I could not survive the derision of my colleagues who would not stop taunting me and undermining my success."

The pressure against Dr. Frankl was so severe, that he decided to give up. It was simply too much to bear. He was watching his life-work fade away. One day, sitting at home, he began drafting his resignation papers and decided to relocate to Australia where his sister lived. In the battle between Freud and Frankl, Freud would at last be triumphant. Soullessness would prove more powerful than soulfulness.

Hope and Resolve

And then suddenly, as he was sitting at his home, downtrodden, in walked a beautiful woman. She sent him regards from a Chassidic master, Rabbi Schneerson from Brooklyn, New York. His message? "Do not dare give up. Do not dare despair. If you will continue your work with absolute determination, you will prevail."

Frankl was stunned. Somebody in Brooklyn, no less a Chassidic Rebbe, knew about his predicament? And what is more -- cared about his predicament? And what is more -- sent someone to locate him in Vienna to shower him with courage and inspiration?

Frankl began to cry. He was deeply moved and felt like a transformed man. It was exactly what he needed to hear. Someone believed in him, in his work, in his contributions, in his ideas about the infinite transcendence and potential of the human person.

"That very moment I knew that I would not surrender. I tore up my resignation papers. New vitality was blown into me. I grew confident and became motivated."

Courage of "One Professor"

The Rebbe, we know from other sources as well, was well versed in the important debate which carried critical ramifications on the future of psychoanalysis and therapy. In a letter from May 31, 1962 (27 Iyar 5722) [5] he laments the fact that some psychiatrists and psychologists feel the need to begin "treating their patients by talking against G-d, against respect for a Higher reality, against respect of a father and mother etc. We need to research and explore how great are the benefits of this type of treatment? And even if this is important, does this approach not backfire as time passes?"

"It is obvious," the Rebbe continues in this letter, "that some doctors have helped and healed their patients in straight ways, especially since one professor found the courage in his soul to declare and announce that - contrary to the opinion of the famous founder of psychoanalysis - the faith in G-d, and a religious inclination in general, which gives meaning to life, etc. etc. is one of the most effective ways of healing etc.

"Nonetheless, due to several reasons, this philosophy has not penetrated the mainstream of these doctors..."

Clearly, the Rebbe is referring to the courage of "one professor," Victor Frankl, to stand up to the Freudian school and declare that discovering meaning in life is the primary cause for well-being and emotional health. As we have seen, part of this courage was inspired by the Rebbe himself.

The Conflict between Religion and Therapy

Why did the academic community dismiss Dr. Frankl?

In a letter dated June 19, 1969 (3rd Tammuz, 5729), to an Israeli psychiatrist, Dr. S. Stern-Mirz in Haifa, concerning one of her patients, the Lubavitcher Rebbe presents one possible reason. [6]

"I would like to take this opportunity to add another point, albeit this is her field, that the medical condition of ........ proves (if proof is needed in this area) the great power of faith - especially when applied and expressed in practical action, community work, observance of mitzvot, etc. - to fortify a person's emotional tranquility, to minimize and sometimes even eliminate inner conflicts, as well as "complaints" one may have to his surroundings, etc.

"This is in spite of the philosophy that faith and religion demand from a person the "acceptance of the yoke" - to restrain and suppress natural instincts and drives - and is, therefore, undesirable for any person, particularly in the case of a person who requires treatment for emotional anxiety.

"I particularly took interest in the writing of Dr. Frankl (from Vienna) in this matter. [7] To my surprise, however, his approach has apparently not been appropriately disseminated and appreciated. Although one can find numerous reasons as to why his ideas are not accepted so much, including the fact that such treatment is related to the personal lifestyle exemplified by the treating doctor, nevertheless the question [as to why it is not appreciated] still remains."

Use Me as a Reference

The Rebbe's relationship with Frankl is evident also from the following episode.

In the early 1970's (around 1973-74), Clive Cohen, studying psychology at the University of Leeds, visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe.  Clive, who began exploring the teachings of Judaism at the Morristown NJ Chabad Yeshiva, asked the Rebbe how to deal with the numerous conflicts between the contemporary study of psychology and the paradigms of Judaism.

The Rebbe suggested that he correspond with Victor Frankl on the matter. "If you wish," the Rebbe added, "you can use my name as a reference." [8]

International Influence

Back to the telephone conversation between the Chabad ambassador to Austria and Dr. Frankl.

"Indeed," Victor confirmed, "the words of Rabbi Schneerson materialized. My work soon began to flourish."

A short while later, Frankl's magnum opus "Man's Search for Meaning" was translated into English (first under a different title). It became an ongoing bestseller to this very day and has been deemed as one of the most influential books of the 20th century.The professor's career began to soar. The once-scoffed-at professor became one of the most celebrated psychiatrists of a generation. "Man's Search for Meaning" has been translated into 28 languages and has sold over 10 million copies during his life time. Frankl became a guest lecturer at 209 universities on all five continents, held 29 honorary doctorates from universities around the world, and received 19 national and international awards and medals for his work in psychotherapy.

His brand of therapy inspired thousands of other books, seminars, workshops, new-age and spiritual groups, which have all been based on Frankl's ideas of the unique ability of the human to choose its path and discover meaning in every experience. From Scot Peck's "Road Less Traveled" to Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits," and hundreds of other bestsellers during the last 30 years, all of them were students of Victor Frankl's perspectives.

Victor Frankl concluded his story to Rabbi Biderman with these words stated above: eich vel eim eibek dankbar zein, I will eternally be grateful to him, to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Chabad Is a Good Cause...

Not knowing who he was talking to, Victor Frankl added:

"A number of years ago Chabad established itself here in Vienna. I became a supporter. You too should support it. They are the best..."

Finally, Rabbi Biderman understood why he was getting a check in the mail each year.

Indeed, during a conversation with Rabbi Biderman, Frankl's non-Jewish son-in-law, Professor Alexander David Vesely, related that his mother-in-law, Eleonore Frankl, shared with him that her husband spoke of the Rabbi with "great respect."

Marguerite, who lived out her final years in Vienna, has become a close friend to Chabad in Austria. "She rediscovered her Chassidic roots, and became deeply involved in our work," Rabbi Biderman relates. She died in March 2000 and was interred in the Jewish cemetery in her beloved Vienna.

Daily Prayers

The story, though, is not over.

When Dr. Frankl was asked about faith in G-d, he regularly gave an ambiguous answer. Throughout his years he never displayed any connection to Jewish faith or practice.

Yet in 2003, Dr. Shimon Cowen, an Australian expert on Frankl, went to visit his non-Jewish widow, Eleonore, in Vienna.She took out a pair of tefilin (phylacteries) and showed it to him.

"My late husband would put these on each and every day," she said to him.

Then she took out a pair of tzitzis (fringes) he made for himself to wear.

At night in bed, the widow related, Victor would recite the book of Psalms. [9]

Indeed, Haddon Klingberg, author of "When Life Calls Out To Us: the love and lifework of Viktor and Elly Frankl", the only authorized biography of Viktor and Eleonore ("Elly"), writes:

"After his death I asked Elly if he actually made these prayers every day. "Absolutely. He never missed a day. Every morning for more than fifty years. But nobody knew this." As they traveled the globe Viktor took the phylacteries with them, and everywhere, every morning, he prayed. He uttered memorized words of Jewish prayers and Psalms."

"After Viktor died I saw his phylacteries for the first time. Elly had placed them in the little cubicle with his few simple possessions..."

Frankl's son-in-law also confirmed this fact to Rabbi Biderman: "My father-in-law would close himself off in a room every day for a little while. Once I opened the door and saw him with black boxes on his head and hand. He was annoyed about my intruding on his privacy. When he was taken to the hospital, however, his practice of putting on tefillin became public." [10]

It seems that the Lubavitcher Rebbe was determined to help Dr. Frankl get this message out to the world: We really do have a soul; the soul is the deepest and most real part of us; and that we will never be fully alive if we don't access our souls.

________________

Footnotes

[1] For this essay I personally interviewed Rabbi Yaakov Biderman. The quotes in the story are not verbatim but completely accurate in content.

[2] Vishnitz was founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager in the 19th century. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a village in present-day Ukraine. Followers of the Rebbe's of Vizhnitz are called Vizhnitzer Chasidim. Today its main centers are in Benei Berak, Israel and in Monsey, NY.

[3] He was a grandson of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes (צבי הירש חיות), who lived from 1805 till 1855, was one of the foremost Galician Talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work Mevo Hatalmud (Introduction to the Talmud), which serves both as commentary and introduction, as well as for his commentary on the actual Talmud. He was the nephew of Rabbi Zvi Peretz Chajes, who served as chief Rabbi of Vienna, from 1918 till his death in 1927. Another uncle was the publisher of the famous "Kozenn Atlas."

[4] Rabbi Sholom DovBer Shem Tov, the Chabad ambassador to Michigan, confirmed to me in a telephone conversation that he had some relationship with Chabad during those years. He did not recall details.

[5] Published in Igros Kodesh vol. 22 p. 227.

[6] Published in Igros Kodesh vol. 26 p. 156.

[7] One episode to illustrate this: A religious Jewish psychiatrist, Jacob Greenwald (today in Jerusalem), related that he was once invited by the Lubavitcher Rebbe for a visit. The Rebbe wanted to know if he was familiar with the writings of Victor Frankl and if they could be integrated into A Torah perspective of therapy. Greenwald was surprised of how familiar the Rebbe was with Frankl's works, "especially due to the fact that to the best of my knowledge his writings were available at the time only in German and Portuguese." (Related by Greenwald to Moshe Palace, who shared this episode with me. Palace did acknowledge that he heard this from Greenwald many years ago and would need to re-confirm details.)

[8] Mr. Moshe Palace (Monsey, NY) related this episode to me. He heard it directly from Mr. Cohen when the latter left the Rebbe's room.

[9] Rabbi Dr. Shimon Cowen shared all of these details with me in an e-mail exchange.

[10] Rabbi Leib Blatner, from Chabad of Arizona, related to me that during one Friday night dinner he was graced with a visit by Dr. Frankl's non-Jewish grandson. He, too, confirmed that his grandfather donned tefilin each day. Even when he went to the hospital, he would take them with him. "As he was taken for the final time to the hospital where he died, he told me he does not need them. I was surprised. Apparently he felt that this was the end.

The Sound of Silence

Art: Charnine

Most people these days are going about their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening.  I can't really understand it, because to me the world is on the verge of something huge, and yet only a small percentage of people seem to "see" it.   Not only can people not see what's going on in front of their eyes, they can no longer hear either..... as Rebbetzin Jungreis writes:

The Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

By: Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

`Deaf and Dumb` 

I have often written and said that we are living today in remarkable but dangerous times in which we can hear (provided we know how to listen) the footsteps of Messiah. Ours however, is a generation that has difficulty hearing. We are saturated with constant noise, not only by world events that are so rapidly unfolding that before we digest one, another is upon us. But we are also assailed by our own tumultuous, seductive life styles – lifestyles that are conducive to self-absorption and “deafness”.

You might, of course, wonder at the appropriateness of the word “deafness”. “Isn’t that a bit too extreme?” No! Even if there was a stronger expression, I would resort to that, because indeed, our generation has become deaf – no matter how thunderous the call of Hashem may be.

But still you might ask, “Why deaf?” What is there in our society that inhibits a person from listening? Why should our generation be more deaf than those that preceded us? To be sure, in every generation we have had problems hearing that “still small voice” that comes in many shapes and forms. However, in our generation, that blockage has become even more acute. There are so many sounds that divert us from hearing. Nowadays, it is rare to see anyone take even a moment to think. There was a time when people took walks to contemplate or they secluded themselves to give themselves time to think and review their lives. Today however, such happenings hardly occur, if at all. Today, when you see people walking, they are always involved in some activity, be it talking on their cell phones, text messaging, scrolling through their e-mail on their blackberrys, or listening to their I-pods. And should they steal some moments to seclude themselves, there are always other diversions vying for their attention, be it the internet, TV, or video games, etc.

In the interim, time relentlessly passes by, and with every moment, events unfold that we don’t hear or see. Not only have we lost our ability to hear, but we have also lost our ability to talk.... to hold a conversation. Nowadays, people communicate through e-mail, texting, or twitter. This has become so prevalent that children no longer speak to parents, couples no longer speak to each other. They find it much easier to text or resort to other technological means of communication, because through these methods, they don’t have to hear a response – another voice which might question or negate their message. Nor are they obliged to hear expressions of love which might make them feel guilty or indebted. There is an old Yiddish saying, “There was a time when parents taught their children to talk, but now, children teach their parents to keep quiet.”

Regardless of our reaction however, the messages continue.... the sounds become louder and louder, demanding a response, but how can we respond if we no longer know how to hear? Deaf, dumb, and blind, we continue to march on to the sound of our own music and congratulate ourselves on our open-mindedness and ready acceptance of all life-styles.

So it is that we never learn. Even the most world-shaking events go unheeded. Neither the Holocaust nor the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years of exile has made us stop and re-think our lives.

I could go through countless happenings of our contemporary life, but I will skip to 9/11 a tragedy which spoke thunderously to all the citizens of our USA. Remarkably, even then, we continued to remain deaf, and perverted its message to that which we regarded as “politically correct”.

We have become so inured that we see nothing unusual in the constant escalation of natural disasters, be they tsunamis, floods, tornados, earthquakes, nuclear spills, and so on. Nor do we see anything remarkable about dead birds falling from the skies or dead fish – sardines washing ashore. Even though they numbered a million. Nor did we wake up when financial disaster overtook us. Overnight, we witnessed the collapse of giant corporations and industries.... the melt-down of Wall Street and the devaluation of the dollar, all of which we once believed to be invincible.

Our inability to hear rendered us deaf and blind to the messages behind the toppling of powerful governments – governments that for years were controlled by dictators who ruled with iron fists. We delude ourselves into believing that that which we are witnessing is the establishment of democratic societies, the dawn of freedom and peace in the dark world of the Middle East. We refuse to consider that the mobs on the streets are the precursors of even more tyrannical dictatorships. Take, for example, Egypt, which we believe to be the perfect example of the democratic dream fulfilled. In our blindness and deafness, we refused to pay heed to the heinous shouts of “Jew! Jew” as Lara Logan, the CBS foreign correspondent was barbarously attacked (although Lara Logan is not a Jew). Nor has the world paid heed to the destruction of churches and the killing of those of the Christian faith. Yes, all this is unfolding in the “democratic new Egypt”. Paradoxically, neither Rome nor any other Christian denominations have raised voices of outrage. The silence is deafening. Why? Why? But we dismiss that question as well. We have our own problems. We can’t really get involved in world events. It won’t help anyway, so the call continues to be sounded and we continue to remain blind, dumb and deaf.

[to be continued]

Source: Hineni

Rebbetzin Jungreis: the Birth Pangs of Moshiach Part 2

[To read Part 1, click here: Birth Pangs of Moshiach]

In last week’s column I began the first part of my response to the woman who wrote expressing her fears regarding the escalation of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel throughout the world. In that column, I explained that our Sages and Prophets predicted it: and they tell us that that which we are witnessing today are “Ikvisei D’Moshiach” a period in which we can hear the footsteps of Messiah and the birth pangs that will precede the coming of that great day. At the conclusion of that column, I asked how long that labor will last, and how we can protect ourselves from the suffering that will accompany that period.

For that too, our sages have an answer. "Let he who wishes to be spared the birth pangs of Messiah occupy himself with Torah and gemilas chasidim (acts of loving kindness) and let him be scrupulous about Seudah Shlishis – the third Sabbath meal."

The first two recommendations – Torah and gemilas Chasidim, are self-explanatory and do not require much elaboration, for he who is committed to Torah and mitzvos and to reaching out with loving-kindness, must, of necessity, become a better, more spiritual person. But eating a third Sabbath meal is not as readily comprehensible.

We are enjoined to have three seudos – meals – on the Sabbath – Sabbath eve (Friday night), Sabbath noon (following prayer in the synagogue) and the third seudah – meal in the late afternoon as the Sabbath queen prepares to depart. Through these three meals we honor the three Patriarchs, the three sections of our Scriptures (Torah, Prophets, and the Writings), and we recall the three Sabbath meals of manna that G-d provided us during our sojourn in the wilderness [Exodus 16:25].

The final Sabbath seudah is called Shalosh Seudos, which translated literally, means “Three Meals” rather than Seudah S’hlishis – the third meal. Our sages explain that the reason for this is that all three Sabbath seudos are embodied in this one.

This third meal presents a most auspicious time for prayer. To this very day, when I close my eyes, I can hear the sweet voice of my revered father and my beloved husband, of blessed memory, leading their congregations in singing Psalm 23, the psalm that is traditionally chanted at the Shalosh Seudos.

“The L-rd is my Shepherd, I shall not want...” The task of the shepherd is a lowly and lonely one. Day in and day out he is destined to wander from place to place, seeking pasture for his flock, and yet, David did not hesitate to refer to G-d as a Shepherd for he perceived that G-d’s love is so total, so encompassing, that when it comes to caring for His children, nothing is beneath Him. What a magnificent and fortifying thought – for no matter where life takes us, even if we have to walk in the treacherous valley overshadowed by death, we need not fear, for G-d our Shepherd, will always be there to lead us to greener pastures, even if at first, we do not recognize that the pasture is green.

Still, it is difficult to comprehend how the mere eating of a third meal, singing Psalm 23, and discussing words of Torah could have such awesome power that they can actually protect us from the suffering that will accompany the birth pangs. But there is a profound lesson at the root of this teaching. The first two Sabbath seudos are eaten when we are hungry, but after a festive noontime seudah, we are hardly in the mood for another meal. So it is not to satiate our hunger that we gather around the Shalosh Seudos table. Rather, it is to celebrate the Sabbath and sing her praises, and that is why the Third Meal encompasses them all. The Third Meal is symbolic of the conversion of the physical to the spiritual, and ultimately, that is our purpose, to become spiritual beings and to free ourselves from the shackles of materialism – and that is something that our generation, obsessed with materialism and the pursuit of pleasure has yet to learn.

You might of course wonder, “Why must we experience birth pangs in order for Messiah to come? Why can’t he just announce his presence? But the Messianic period will be very much like Shalosh Seudos, when we sit around the table – not to satiate our physical hunger, nor to glory in our material achievements, but to celebrate our spiritual attainments.

In order for that to happen, we will have to divest ourselves of all the icons we hold dear. Therefore, our hallowed institutions, the bastions of strength in which we placed our trust, will have to fall away. It is that painful disintegration to which we are witness today. From the corporate world to governments, to religious institutions, to science and medicine, they have all failed us. And worse, we no longer feel safe or secure in our daily lives. Terrorists and suicide bombers have become a reality of our existence and no army or police force is capable of shielding us from them. Shorn of all of our defenses, we stand vulnerable and terrified, and wonder what life is all about as we see our idols crumble before our very eyes.

How long will these birth pangs last? Until we recognize the simple truth — that “we can rely on no one but our Heavenly Father.” So let us sound the shofar, awaken ourselves from our lethargy and heed the voice of our Father calling us.

But even as we do so, let us not despair. There is an amazing Midrash that recalls the story of three great Biblical figures: Reuven, Aaron and Boaz, about whom the sages said, had they only known that the Torah would record their deeds, they would have done even more.

How can we understand such puzzling teachings? How can it be that such spiritual giants would have needed the additional incentive of being inscribed in the Torah to conduct themselves more nobly? It has often occurred to me that there is a deep lesson to be gleaned from this Midrash that could be a great source of spiritual strength in these troubled times.

When Reuven discovered that the pit into which his brother Joseph had been cast was empty, he was overcome by inconsolable grief and cried out, “The lad is gone! And I – where can I go?” [Genesis 37:30] But had Reuven known that Joseph was on his way to Egypt to prepare the path for the family of Jacob, a path that would eventually lead the nation to Sinai, he would have rejoiced!

When Aaron went to greet Moses who was returning to the Auschwitz of Egypt, his heart fell, for he feared for the life of his younger brother. Had he only known that Moses was coming to redeem the nation, he would have greeted him with an orchestra!

Had Boaz, from whose fields Ruth gleaned, known that she would one day become his wife and the great grand-mother of King David, he would have rejoiced and made her a magnificent festive meal.

Had they only known what the Torah had mapped out for them, their hearts would have been filled with elation rather than trepidation.

Similarly, all our journeys, be they personal or national are guided by G-d. There is an ultimate goal – a destination to which we will all arrive. It is not for naught that we are launched on our paths. Our struggles are not in vain. So when our journeys become difficult, when our hearts tremble with fear, let us recall Reuven, Aaron and Boaz. Let us remember that we have not yet witnessed the end – and the end will be good. That which we are experiencing are birth pangs. Let us hold fast, for very soon, we will see blessed new life that will make all our sacrifices and suffering worthwhile.

Finally, dear friends, every day when you daven, read the little closing paragraph with great concentration: “Do not fear sudden terror or the Holocaust of the wicked when it comes... It shall not stand, for G-d is with us.”

You need only believe it. You need only place your full trust in G-d. Follow the light of His Torah and that light will pierce even the most dense darkness.

Rebbetzin Jungreis: the Birth Pangs of Moshiach

by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

Several weeks ago, I published a letter from a woman who expressed fear regarding the world situation – the escalation of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel that is reminiscent of pre-Holocaust Europe. Her letter provoked a torrent of e-mails from young and old, quite a few of which I published, but I had yet to respond to her specific questions regarding her fears which, B’ezrat Hashem, I will now do.

My Dear Friend:

Firstly, allow me to apologize for the delay in responding to your specific questions, but since you are familiar with my columns, you are aware that I always allow my readers to respond to the challenges that are under discussion. However, I have not forgotten your original question and will devote this column to it..

I wish that I could tell you that your fears are unfounded, that your imagination is running away with you, and that reality proves you to be wrong, but sadly, you are right on target and those who make light of your worries are sleeping, even as our people slept in pre-Holocaust Europe.

That which we are witnessing today was all predicted by our prophets and sages, but alas, we are no longer familiar with their teachings. Ours is a generation that the prophet Amos described: “And days shall come upon you, saith the L-rd, and I shall send a hunger into the land – not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water – but a hunger for the Word of G-d.”.... It is this spiritual famine that we are witnessing today. We simply do not comprehend and we continue on our merry way with business as usual.

Maimonides taught that, when suffering is visited upon us, we are commanded to cry out and awaken our people with the sound of the shofar. Everyone must be alerted to examine his or her life and commit to greater adherence to Torah and mitzvos. Maimonides warned that if we regard the tragedies that befall us simply as “the way of the world” – “natural happenings”. We will be guilty of achzarius – cruelty.

At first glance, it is difficult to understand why Maimonides would choose the term “cruelty” to describe those who view trials and tribulations as “natural happenings”. Such people may be unthinking, apathetic, foolish, blind or obtuse, but why accuse them of cruelty?

The answer is simple. If we regard our pain and suffering as “mere coincidence,” we will feel no motivation to examine our lives, abandon our old ways, and change. So yes, such an attitude is cruel, for it invites additional misfortune upon ourselves and others.

It would be the height of cruelty to dismiss that which is occurring in the world today as mere happenstance. Great Torah luminaries of past generations, such as the Chofetz Chaim and Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, told us that we are entering the final stages of history – a period in time called “Ikvesa D’Meshicha” – “Footsteps of the Messiah”. Our Torah foretells four exiles through which our people would suffer: Egypt, Babylonia – Persian-Mede Empires, Greece and Rome – the exile in which we presently find ourselves, for it was the Romans who exiled us when they destroyed the Second Temple.

In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, an early Midrashic work, it is written that, before the coming of Messiah, we will have to contend with a fifth source of tribulation that will come from Yishmael – the Arabs -- who will inflict terrible suffering on the world and on our people. This teaching is reaffirmed by Rabbi Chaim Vital, the illustrious disciple of the Arizal, who wrote that before the final curtain falls upon the stage of history, Yishmael will inflict torture on our people in ways the world has never before seen.

One need not have great powers of discernment to recognize the painful veracity of these predictions. Consider only the suicide bombers, the decapitations, the hijackings, the missiles, the rockets, and the constant, senseless brutal acts of terror.

We are the generation that has been destined to witness the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Hagar [Genesis 16:11-13]. “Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall name him Ishmael....and he shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him, and over all his brethren shall he dwell.....”

The long arm of Ishmael’s terror has indeed reached every part of the world.

There is yet another amazing prophecy in the Yalkut Shimoni – a Medieval/Midrashic compilation that eerily foretells the events of today and should give us all pause. Rabbi Yitzchok said, “The year in which Melech Hamashiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be provoking each other...The king of Persia (Iran) will provoke the King of Arabia. The King of Arabia, will go to Edom (the leader of the Christian nations) to take counsel and the King of Persia (Ahmadinejad) will threaten to destroy the entire world.

“The nations of the world will be outraged and panic. They will fall on their faces and will experience pains like birth pangs. Israel too, will be outraged and in a state of panic ask, “Where do we go?”

“But say unto them, ‘My children, do not fear. The time of your redemption has come... And this last redemption shall be different from the first that was followed by further bondage and pain. After this last redemption, you shall not experience any further pain or subjugation” [Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah 59]

The Klausenberger Rebbe Z’tl, referring to this teaching, said, “Remember these words. They are perhaps not understood now, but in time they will be, and will be a source of strength to our people.”

Had you heard these prophecies centuries ago, when they were written, you might have laughed and scoffed – even if you read them as recently as 1970, you would have been hard-put to believe it, for of all the Moslem countries the Shah’s Iran was probably the friendliest. But today, the impossible has become possible and events are unfolding so rapidly that we have difficulty absorbing their impact. So how are we to understand it all?

The Yalkut compares our suffering to birth pangs. But birth pangs are deceptive-- when the contractions begin, it’s easy to ignore them since they are mild and occur between long intervals. As the birth becomes imminent however, the contractions intensify and the pain becomes more intense. And just when it appears that the woman can no longer endure the pain, the baby is born and new life enters the world. It is these labor pains to which we are witness today.

How long will the labor last? It’s anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain – please G-d, the birth is sure to take place. In the interim however, we may very well ask, “Is it possible to ease the suffering? Is it possible to protect ourselves from these painful contractions?”

The answer to that is a most emphatic “Yes!”

[To be continued]

Source: Hineni

Click here for Part 2: The Birth Pangs of Moshiach

The Purim Torah Codes

[adapted from Keeping Posted with NCSY, Fall 1999 edition and also from Torah.org article by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld]

There is a famous "code" in Megillat Esther :- towards the end of the story, King Ahashveirosh allows the Jews to avenge themselves of their enemies on the 13th day of Adar. In Shushan, the capital, the Jews kill 500 men and hang Haman's ten sons on a gallows. Queen Esther then approaches the King with an additional request: "...allow the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow as they did today, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows" [Esther 9:13]. It's curious that she would request the hanging of Haman's already slain sons. Nevertheless, the King complies.

The Hebrew word for "tomorrow" ("machar") occasionally refers to the distant future. Further, the Sages tell us that whenever the word "king" appears in the Megillah it alludes to the King of kings as well. Thus, the verse could be understood as a request by Esther to G-d to again hang the ten sons of Haman at some point in the distant future. Now, when the Megillah lists the ten sons of Haman during their hanging [Esther 9:7-9] there are a number of unusually-sized letters. (There is a tradition to write certain letters in the Torah larger or smaller than the standard size.)

According to the most accepted tradition, there is a large 'vav' [numerical value = 6] and a small 'tav' [400], 'shin' [300] and 'zayin' [7]. The following suggestion has been made: The large vav refers to the sixth millennium (of the Hebrew calendar); the small letters refer to year 707 of that millennium. The meaning, then, is that G-d agreed to hang Haman's ten sons again in the year 5707 = 1946-7.

When listing the ten sons of Haman who were hanged [Esther 9:6-10], three letters, namely Taf, Shin, and Zayin, are written smaller than the rest (most printed texts reflect this; if yours doesn’t, look in another). The commentaries offer no explanation for this other than that it is a prophecy. The letters "Taf-Shin-Zayin" represent the Hebrew year 5707, corresponding to the secular year 1946-47.

On October 16, 1946 (21 Tishrei, 5707) ten convicted Nazi war criminals were hanged in Nuremberg. (An eleventh, Hermann Goering, a transvestite, committed suicide in his cell. The Midrash tells us that Haman also had a daughter who committed suicide.) As if the parallel were not obvious enough without further corroboration, Nazi Julius Streicher’s last words were: "Purimfest 1946". (In case you question the accuracy of Streicher’s last words, they are are well-documented; they appeared in Newsweek, October 28, 1946.)


It is fairly safe to assume that (a) Streicher did not know about the three small letters in the Megilla, (b) he did not know that these letters corresponded to the year in which he was being hanged, and (c) even had he known, he would have had no motivation to reinforce the validity of Jewish texts, traditions, or prophecies. One could not ask for a more independent confirmation of the all encompassing knowledge to be found in the Sifrei Tanach.

Rabbi Weissmandl - a great Hungararian scholar and holocaust survivor - made a number of findings concerning Megillat Esther using skip distances of 12,111 letters - the exact number of letters in Megillat Esther. If one starts with the first regular mem (as opposed to the "final mem" ) in Bereishis 4:14, where the name Esther (vocalized differently) appears for the only time in the Torah, and count at intervals of 12,111 letters, one finds spelled out the phrase "Megillat Esther." Coincidence? I think not.