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Recalling the stirring words of the rabbi in Munich


On a Saturday morning in 1983 during a European lecture tour, my father and I visited the large synagogue at Reichenbach Strasse 27 in Munich. The Haftarah passage from the prophets, which was read in synagogues worldwide on that Shabbat (Sabbath), included the following verses:

“For a brief moment have I forsaken you, but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wrath with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you….No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, says the Lord” (Isai. 54:7-10, 17).

When it was his turn to speak, the rabbi commented (I can only paraphrase after forty years):
“If all the suffering, persecution, terror, pogroms and holocausts we have experienced took place during that ‘brief moment’ when the Eternal One turned His face away, then we cannot possibly imagine the unending blessings, the greatness, the magnificence of His eternal mercy and love that have been promised to us.”

They were unforgettable words. This is our future, our goal and our reward, together, in His presence.

Let us not be disheartened by daily events. Take heart, be not discouraged, for He is with us (41:10). Even more, let us be ambassadors of His Truths.

–Ed.