Yom HaShoah 5773

Rabbi Jeremy Gordon rabbi@newlondon.org.uk

Kalonymous Kalman Shapira The Piaseczno Rebbe 1889 1942 Esh Qodesh, pp. 84-5, va-Yeshev 5701, Shabbat Chanukah (Dec. 21, 1940) [That is why our sages of blessed memory said that the Israelites were only redeemed by virtue of (their) faith, (Midrash Yalkut Shimoni Ex 14.240) for then too exile was a hukkah, for they saw that they were descending further and further.... And (what was the purpose) of [this] exile? Because its purpose was to lift up the holy sparks, it was a hukkah in their eyes. [T]o meet every hukkah, a strengthening of faith is required. The hukkah is without reason; but faith too is above reason, so that when we bind ourselves with a perfect faith, to God [Who is] above reason, then even the hukkah-type calamities are transformed into sweetness... In reality, however, what place is there for arguments, God forbid, and questions? It is true that sufferings like these which we are now enduring come only once every several hundred years, but nevertheless, how can we expect to understand these actions of God? Esh Qodesh, pp. 186-7, Parashat Huqqat, 5702 (June 29, 1942) It is indeed incredible that the world exists after so many screams. We are told that, regarding the Ten Martyrs, the angels cried, Is this the Torah, and this its reward? Whereupon a voice answered from heaven, If I hear another sound I will turn the world back to [primordial] water. But now innocent children, pure angels, as well as adults, the saintly of Israel, are killed and slaughtered just because they are Jews, who are greater than angels. They fill the entire space of the universe with these cries and the world does not turn back to water, but remains in place as if, God forbid, He remained untouched. Tzav ve-Zeruz, pp. 23-4 A Jew is always under the yoke of divine service but how arduous it is for him to rejoice before God on ... Simhat Torah.... When he begins to flame [lehitlahev] with joyous emotion, his heart becomes embittered: How can he rejoice when the Jewish people including [his] friends and [he him]self are plagued with afflictions and burdened with worries? Then he takes heart and says: I rejoice with my God who is on high and exalted above all worlds and with his holy Torah. All is null now; there is no world and no worries, no body and no afflictions and the soul objects and speaks to the man in his heart What do you have to do with your God that you dance before Him? Has your service before Him, blessed be He, been service without measure? And have you also been careful and safeguarded me, a Jewish soul? And the man will arise in horror and cry: Will you keep my God from me, heaven forbid, and despise the bond [I have] with Him? Master of the universe, You know that I am prepared at all times to surrender myself for Your sake, and that it is indeed true
Translations with thanks to N. Polen, The Holy Fire and A. Zur http://tinyurl.com/ch6ebm5

Yom HaShoah 5773

Rabbi Jeremy Gordon rabbi@newlondon.org.uk

that by measure of Your greatness, in all of my service, I have given You nothing, but my neck is always ... stretched out [as if for slaughter] before your glory. With all my might I rejoice in You, my God The soul is filled with what it does not grasp, and rejoices more than she knows.... And perhaps this joy constitutes the unity [of man with God], when the wall of iron comes down and every division falls away, at least for a moment. Esh Qodesh, Parashat HaHodesh 5702 (March 14, 1942) (Based on Hagigah 5b) There are times when the individual is astonished at himself. [He thinks:] Am I not broken? Am I not always on the verge of tears and indeed, I do weep from time to time! How then can I study Torah? How can I find the strength to think creatively in Torah and Hasidism? At times the person torments himself by thinking, Can it be anything but inner callousness that I am able to pull myself together and study, despite my troubles and those of Israel, which are so numerous? Then again, he will say to himself, Am I not broken? I have so much to make me cry; my whole life is gloomy and dark. Such a person is perplexed about himself.... God, blessed be He, is to be found in His inner chambers weeping, so that one who pushes in and comes close to Him by means of studying Torah, weeps together with God, and studies Torah with Him. Just this makes the difference: the weeping, the pain which a person undergoes by himself, alone, may have the effect of breaking him, of bringing him down, so that he is incapable of doing anything. But the weeping which the person does together with God that strengthens him. He weeps and is strengthened; he is broken but finds courage to study and teach. It is hard to raise ones self up, time and again, from the tribulations, but when one is determined, stretching his mind to connect to the Torah and Divine service, then he enters the Inner Chambers where the Blessed Holy One is to be found; he weeps and wails together with Him, as it were, and even finds the strength to study Torah and serve Him.

Translations with thanks to N. Polen, The Holy Fire and A. Zur http://tinyurl.com/ch6ebm5