By Rabbi Baruch Lederman, Congregation Kehillas Torah, San Diego

“Holy shall you be for I am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) We are a people of unparalleled holiness and purity as the following true story illustrates:

In 1945, the Jews who were now liberated from the camps began the challenging process of getting their lives back together. There were many physical challenges. They couldn’t go back to their original homes. Where were they to go? What were they to do once they got there?

There were many emotional challenges. Many had lost their families. They had been exposed to inhuman inconceivable experiences. They were emotionally shattered and drained.

A group of young men who had survived the holocaust met the renown Vizhnitzer Rebbe. The Rebbe went out of his way to comfort and console the countless Jews who had lost their families, friends, and possessions as the result of the horrible war.

With great sincerity and heartache, the Jewish men told the Rebbe that they felt guilty for having eaten non-kosher food throughout their time in the camps. "Perhaps we should have been stronger," said one of the young men with remorse. "Perhaps we could have survived without eating the food from their kitchens. What should we do to repent for our sins?"

The Rebbe was touched by their sincerity. He was quiet for a few moments and then he began to cry. He took the hand of one of the young men and clasped it warmly in his own hands. "The only reason you and your friends ate the treif (non-kosher) food was so that you should survive, is that not so?" The young man nodded yes.

"Surely the reason you felt you had to eat the food was because of the commandment "And you shall live by them [the commandments] (Leviticus 18:5)," said the Rebbe. Again the young man nodded. (The Torah commands us to violate all but three types of mitzvahs in order to save a life.)

"The Germans did not give anyone a morsel of food more than what they needed for survival," said the Rebbe. "Thus in fulfilling the commandment [of saving your lives], you fulfilled it to the exact specifications required in Halachah (Jewish Law). In Heaven you will be rewarded in full measure for your observance of this sacred mitzvah."

"I only wish," cried the Rebbe, "that the eating and drinking that I do for the purposes of a mitzvah (such as eating matzoh on Pesach, or challah on Shabbos) should be as perfect and as holy as your eating was!"   (The foregoing true story is documented in the Maggid Series by Rabbi Paysach Krohn)

—Dedicated by Yehudah Manosh in honor of his wife Jennifer.