Rabbi Israel Spira, the Grand Rabbi of Bluzhov, recalled how one night during the Holocaust he and other Jews imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp were ordered to try to jump over a large pit. If they fell into the pit, they would be shot immediately. If they managed to jump to the other side, they would live another day,”
Rav Yisrael stood next to another man, a companion who was not religiously observant. His companion said, ‘Why are we even trying? We are giving entertainment to the Germans. Let’s lie down and die with dignity.’ Instead, the Rebbe said, ‘Let’s jump to the other side,’ and they did.
“The non-observant man asked, ‘How did you do it?’ The Rebbe replied, ‘I was hanging onto the coattails of my father and grandfather and great grandfather.’ The Rebbe asked his friend, ‘How did you do it?’ His reply? ‘I was holding onto you!’”
-Rabbi Hammer-Kossoy of Pardes
Now is when we hold onto each other.
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