THREE LESSONS I LEARNED FROM A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR
Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam, also known as the Tsanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, survived the extermination camps, having lost his wife, Chana, and all 11 of their children. During those horrific years, he made a commitment that if he survived he would dedicate his life to saving life.
Miraculously, Rabbi Halberstam survived. Committed to fulfilling his promise, he built the Laniado Hospital in Netanya, Israel, where people of all backgrounds are treated with utmost dignity. He also rebuilt his Chassidic community in America and in Israel and founded neighborhoods in Jerusalem and Netanya. In 1947, he married his second wife, Chaya Nechama, and together, they were blessed with five daughters and two sons who continue to lead the Tsanz Chassidic community until this very day.
Rabbi Halberstam taught us volumes on Divine faith and courage, humility and grace, meaning and purpose, and so much more. Here are three holy life lessons from Rabbi Halberstam:
1. "WHY" CAN'T BE ANSWERED, BUT WE MUST CHOOSE LIFE & REBUILD OUR WORLD
"If I wanted G-d to answer all of my questions about my personal tragedies, I am sure He would invite me to the heavens and give me answers to all of the questions I have. But I prefer to remain here on earth with my questions, choose life, and rebuild this world with all my might, than die and go up to the heavens to receive the answers."
2. ENOUGH WITH THE "LABELS": A LESSON OF UNITY AT AUSCHWITZ
"There is one thing I miss about the Holocaust. When we went on the death march, we were all clean-shaven and our hair was shaved off too. We marched side by side, and no one knew the "label" of the person next to them. No one knew I was a Rebbe and no one knew if this person was "religious" or not. We all just held our arms around each other and tried to keep one another warm."
3. WHAT MAKES US "CHOSEN":
When the Nazis invaded Klausenberg, Romania they taunted Rabbi Halberstam in front of the town's Jews, and asked him:
"So, tell us Rabbi, do you really believe that you are the Chosen People?"
With a serene voice, Rabbi Halberstam answered: "Most certainly."
The officer in charge threw a fit. He lifted his rifle and sent it crashing onto Rabbi Halberstam's head while yelling: "Do you still think you are the Chosen People?"
Once again, the Rebbe nodded his head and said: "Yes, we are."
The officer continued to beat Rabbi Halberstam ferociously while repeating his question: "You stupid Jew, you lie here on the ground, beaten and humiliated, in a puddle of blood. What makes you think that you are the Chosen People?"
With conviction and determination, the Rebbe replied: "As long as we are not the ones kicking, beating, and murdering innocent people, we are the Chosen People."
