A Soulful Journey

"We are innocent, as we have proclaimed and maintained from the time of our arrest.  This is the whole truth.  To forsake the truth is to pay too high a price even for the priceless gift of life -- for life thus purchased we could not live out in dignity and self-respect." -Ethel and Julius Rosenberg's petition for executive clemency filed January 9. 1953. Looking back did we, as a nation and people, turn a deaf ear to truth for the sake of pride and acceptance?

It is told of the sage called the Chofetz Chaim that he once had to go to a Czarist official and plead for relief from a particularly harsh decree against the Jewish people. Since the Chofetz Chaim spoke no Russian and the aristocratic official spoke no Yiddish, an interpreter stood waiting. Once permitted to speak, the Chofetz Chaim delivered his message with all the feeling and sincerity that emanated from a heart as pure as his. When he finished, a pregnant silence filled the room. Then the interpreter started to speak: “Your honor, the Jew claims…” Whereupon the Russian official raised his hand and said: “No translation will be necessary. I understood.” As a result of this meeting, the decree was revoked.   - Rabbi Baruch Cohon