Jews Strengthened Themselves During the Holocaust, Even Inside the Gas Chambers – Parashat Shemini by Rabbi Eliezer Berland Shlit”a

THE HOLY WORDS OF MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A ON PARASHAT SHEMINI * “AHARON WAS SILENT” * THE LEVEL ABOVE “AHARON WAS SILENT”: “SO THAT THE SOUL MAY SING TO YOU AND NOT BE SILENT” * INSTEAD OF FALLING INTO DESPAIR, YOU NEED TO STRENGTHEN YOURSELF WITH HAPPINESS AND DANCING * SONGS AND ZEMIROT SWEETEN ALL DECREES “AHARON WAS SILENT” Every person needs to learn books of musar (ethical teachings), to know the book “Mesilat Yesharim,” to know the book “Shaarei Teshuva,” to know the book “Orchot Tzaddikim,” to read the chapter on anger in “Orchot Tzaddikim,” to learn not to become angry, to know how to be happy in every situation, to know that everything is for the best.  As it is written about Aharon, “Aharon was silent.”  Aharon experienced the greatest, most terrible tragedy in his life; his two sons, Nadav and Avihu, who were considered  on the level of Adam HaRishon, were killed.  They were slaughtered in front of his eyes.  He didn’t fall into despair.  He continued forward in his avodah (Divine service) – “Aharon was silent.”  He didn’t become confused because of anything. THE LEVEL OF “SO THAT THE SOUL MAY SING TO YOU AND NOT BE SILENT” IS HIGHER THAN “AHARON WAS SILENT” There is a level higher than “Aharon was silent” which is called “So that the soul may sing to You and not be silent” (Tehilim 30:13).  Like the stories from the Holocaust about Jews who danced and sang in the gas chambers.  It’s told about how one time the Nazis brought fifty bachurim of Vizhnitz into one of the large gas chambers on the night of Simchat Torah.  Instead of falling into terrible despair, they began to dance and sing, “Ki Mitzion Tetzei Torah, U’Dvar Hashem MiYerushalayim – For from Zion, Torah will emerge, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem.”  They had such simcha (joy/happiness), such enthusiasm, as if they were dancing now in Jerusalem, at the Western Wall, singing there, dancing.  When the Nazis saw them dancing, they said, “What’s going on here!  What’s this dancing?  What’s this singing?  This is heresy!”  They wanted to hear the Jews crying, to hear weeping.  What is this here, a dance hall?  What’s going on here?  A dance hall at Auschwitz?!  The Nazis burst the doors open and shouted, “Stop this dancing, stop this celebrating.  This isn’t a theatre here!  This isn’t a dance hall!”  But the Chasidim continued dancing and rejoicing, “Ki Mitzion Tetzei Torah…”  The Nazi told them, “If this is how you’re acting, laughing at us, everyone get out, and tomorrow morning at 9:00, we will cut you into tiny pieces, with every type of torture -- not a quick death, a death ‘by a kiss’ with gas.  Tomorrow, we’ll see how you’ll be dancing.”  The following morning, a message arrived that a thousand workers were needed immediately to be moved to another camp, and they were lacking exactly fifty workers.  Someone said, “Here, in this hut are exactly fifty bachurim who know how to work well.  Let’s take them.”  They were immediately loaded onto a truck and disappeared from there.  In the merit of the singing and dancing, they merited to remain alive, and this is the meaning of “On the altar’s fire, we will go forth dancing.”  A Jew never loses his faith for even a moment, for even a second.  He just dances and sings, even in the harshest situations in life. INSTEAD OF FALLING INTO DESPAIR, ONE NEEDS TO STRENGTHEN THEMSELVES WITH JOY AND DANCING When a person is found in some kind of trouble, has some kind of problem, some difficulty in life, and he doesn’t fall into despair and doesn’t lose his faith for even a moment, and strengthens himself with singing, dancing, and simcha, then he is not on the level of “Aharon was silent,” that he accepts it silently.  Rather, he is found on the higher level of “and not be silent” – “So that the soul may sing to You and not be silent.”  He sings, dances, and rejoices in the midst of the trouble, in the midst of the sufferings.  He sings to Hashem, thanks Hashem for every single breath.  Why difference does it make what happens to you?  You always need to thank Hashem for every single breath, as it is written about King David, “For the conductor with the neginot, a maskil by David.  When the Ziphites came and said to Shaul, ‘Is not David in hiding among us?’” (Tehilim 54).  Shaul was pursuing him, everyone was informing on him.  The Ziphites informed on him.  When he was in Keilah, the people of Keilah informed on him, and the only way that David managed to flee from them was through songs, that he would rise at Chatzot and play music until the morning.  “The Philistines in Gat seized him” – the Philistines seized him in Gat and he said “Lamnatze’ach” and began to sing songs and melodies.  When Shaul entered the cave to catch him, he began to sing songs and melodies.  “They guarded the house to kill him” – he saw that they were already laying siege to the house, were already surrounding the house.  In a moment, everything will be surrounded by soldiers with arrows and spears.  The first thing that David did was to begin to sing songs and melodies.  Whenever David was in trouble, he would sing a song of victory, a melody, and this is how he was saved from all troubles. SONGS AND ZEMIROT SWEETEN ALL JUDGMENTS A person feels like he goes through such troubles, such suffering, then the minimum he can do is to rise at dawn and sing the songs, the zemirot (liturgical hymns), and through this, he sweetens the judgments.  All the judgments and troubles are sweetened through joyful singing and melodies, as it is written, “May they sing in joy and be glad, those who desire my vindication” – King David said that all those desire my vindication should sing joyfully and be glad.  What is the meaning of “my vindication”?  These are judgments -- through singing and simcha, the judgments are sweetened.  The Zohar says in “VaYishlach” that King David would sing all night, that he would overcome through songs and praises until morning broke.  A person always needs to praise the Kadosh Baruch Hu, and anyone who knows how to praise the Kadosh Baruch Hu “always, as is fitting,” then the Kadosh Baruch Hu accepts his prayers and rescues him from all accusations, saving him from all tragedies.  When people don’t dance, don’t sing, aren’t happy -- walk about broken, then they also break everything.  If a person is broken, then he breaks the entire system, the entire creation.  Why are you broken?  What is this now – a Holocaust?  Sing, dance, say a chapter of Tehilim, say “Lamnatze’ach Binginot Mizmor Shir” (Tehilim 67) seven times – it brings all the salvations, matches, healings.  It brings everything.  It is written in the Ari that whoever says “Lamnatze’ach” seven times is guaranteed all salvations, sons, healings, etc.  Songs and melodies are the way to sweeten all judgements.  Hashem becomes angry at someone who doesn’t arouse himself to sing songs, melodies, zemirot.  There is no other way to sweeten judgments except through simcha and dancing, and this is the meaning of “On the altar’s fire, we will go forth dancing.”  A Jew never loses his faith for a single moment or second.  He dances, sings, rejoices in every situation in life, in every place – on the pyre in Auschwitz, it makes no difference where.  He always comes to singing and dancing. Jew (Yehudi) is the language of “hodaya (gratitude).”  He always thanks, always sings, that whatever Hashem does is good.  Hashem is always with us, Hashem always walks with us, Hashem never once abandons us for even a moment.  We are with Hashem, the chosen people, the treasured people -- and what is our treasure?  Our treasure is that we dance on the pyre, on the altar – that is our treasure.