Stories Of Greatness

The following story was brought to light by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles, associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, who received it from Chaim Berkowitz of Tzefas, who heard it from Yosef Hurwitz of Miami, who got it from the protagonist’s family.

The mitzvah of kiddush Shem Shamayim is one that is ingrained in the heart and mind of every Jew. But as the Rabbinic saying goes, “It is often easier to die al kiddush Hashem than to live al kiddush Hashem.”

A few weeks after the Six-Day War, the Maggid of Jerusalem, HaGaon R’ Shabsi Yudelevitz zt”l, was approached by a young, resourceful man who served as a liaison to the officers and soldiers of the Israeli army.

After the fall of the Czar in 1917 and the defeat of the Bolsheviks in 1923, the Communists conquered all opposition and were in full control of what became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). While the Communists were opposed to all forms of religion, especially Judaism, they were too preoccupied in the formative years of their regime to make a concerted effort at subverting religious practices.

What is true heroism? How does one make a real kiddush Hashem in this world? There are many stories of people who acted admirably during the Holocaust to rescue others and help the survivors. This is the story of the tzaddik, R’ Tzvi Yechezkel Michelson zt”l Hy”d, one of Warsaw’s oldest rabbanim, a member of its Vaad HaRabbanim, and author of Sefer Tirosh V’yitzhar, who at the age of 79 became one of the 700,000 Jews killed in the death camp of Treblinka.

The Torah and our Sages praise Aharon HaKohen after the death of his sons for his silence. The Mashgiach, Rav Shlomo Wolbe zt”l, discusses the art of silence. He wrote: “We teach a child to speak. Once we teach him to speak, this becomes his nature, to speak and to chatter without end. Do we teach this child how to be silent as well? Behold, silence is also a tool.”