Akiva, a young student, comes before Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Meisels, a posek (rabbinic expert). It seems Akiva’s best friend, Moshe Rosenberg is a brilliant student. But Moshe has been “selected” to die. The Nazis were insistent that all their numbers tallied at the end of the day. The question: Could Akiva offer up his life in pace of Moshe?
Akiva said, “I have seen the destruction of my family…led away to be burned while I am alone and bereft. In what way am I better than they? What is my life now worth on the face of the earth? But if I can still have the merit to do one exalted thing….perhaps I can save dear Moshele, whose life is worth much, whom the world needs.”
- Rabbi Phil Scheim
Imagine what a world with such pathos would look like.
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