The Rabbi saves our day

1 year ago
69

As I've said previously, I do not believe in coincidences. What are the odds we would see and talk to a Rabbi in Auschwitz-Birkenau? Well I would say that would not be so unusual.
Rabbis from around the world make the trek to this hell hole regularly. Many are bringing members of their congregations, many are coming to say prayers for the departed, many come to learn more like many regular people.
From our perspective this Rabbi was here for an additional reason. This was not by chance or a simple coincidence. He was here to provide us with guidance and direction in the face of our total deflation and anger after being verbally assaulted by a blatant anti semitic tour guide. We approached the Rabbi because we were so forlorn in seeking some form of justice from this Polish Pigs actions.
This Rabbi set us back on the path to harmony and satisfaction in just a few moments of coming in contact with us.
As I mentioned in the previous video, he diffused the anger and disbelief we had in what had just happened to us by forcing us to cast the episode aside and look at the positive of all of us being free to be here together.
He reiterated how fortunate we all were to be able to stand together on this blood soaked piece of G-D's earth and that we should rejoice this fact and not be diverted away from this reality by the one negative caused by the anti-semite in our midst.
The Rabbi smilingly rejected the foolish tour guide as an irrelevancy and an obstacle we needed to overcome to attain our true goals while present here.
This was truly a man of wisdom and his ministry to us was greatly appreciated. It certainly saved our harrowing day of witnessing first hand the depravity, evil and perpetual unjustness of these two camps in Oswiecim Poland.
Of course this was not the end of the positive interaction we had with this Rabbi. Sol asked the Rabbi where he was from and of all places, he came from Amsterdam with some of his congregant friends to visit the camps. Sol took the Rabbi's details. Why? well you never know when you might need a Rabbi in Amsterdam. Particularly considering Sol's eldest daughter was now effectively betrothed to her partner of several years and both lived and worked in Amsterdam. They would be needing a local Rabbi to assist with their future Jewish homemaking and more.
It was no coincidence of course that once Sol and I were home after our sojourn in Europe and then another month in the U.S that Sol's daughter in passing, while speaking to Sol on the phone, posed the question..."Dad, do you know a Rabbi we can speak to here in Amsterdam?" Sol of course said..."yes darling, I know a Rabbi in Amsterdam and will have him contact you both right away".
Amazed, the young lady said..."how would you know a Rabbi from Amsterdam?"
Like I said, there are no coincidences.
In this short happy video, the Rabbi and his friend simply told us in Yiddish..."Be well". We all repeated the Rabbi and his friends words and were now ready to say Kadish.

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