| R’ MOSHE SOLOVEITCHIK | The Grip of the Holy Letters

uring the first weeks following the liberation of Buchenwald, many of the former prisoners were drunk Dwith freedom. They could go as they pleased and take what they wanted from the nearby town. During the years of minute-to-minute existence under the oppressive Nazis, they could never allow themselves the luxury of thinking about the future, or even about the next minute. But now that they were free, they thought only of experiencing the present to its fullest. At that point, they could have stayed in Germany forever, enjoying the “good life” there.

Working with these young survivors was an American chaplain, . He understood that the first step in the long process of the spiritual rehabilitation of the survivors was for them to leave Germany. Working through international relief organizations, Rabbi Schachter succeeded in making an arrangement with the Swiss government, which grudgingly allowed the Red Cross to bring the youngsters to Switzerland for rest and recuperation.

One young man by the name of Yoav Kimmelman had no intention of joining the group traveling to Switzerland and told the chaplain he wanted to stay in Germany. Rabbi Schachter knew about this young man; he was born into a pious Chassidic home of Gerrer Chassidim from Sosnowiec. At the age of sixteen, he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp kingdom where he endured four years of misery, only to learn after liberation that he was the sole survivor of his once large family. He, like many other religious Jews, stopped practicing Judaism in the face of Nazi brutality and its aftermath.

Liberation and Beyond * 295 Rabbi Schachter knew what he had to do and he arranged with an American soldier to grab the young man and throw him onto a moving train headed for Switzerland. Although the young man resisted, it was to no avail; he was no match for the soldier. And so, quite against his will, Yoav found himself on his way to Switzerland with the other young men. He was none too happy but could do nothing about it.

It took a few days for the train to reach the Swiss border at Rheinfelden near Basel. The engineer was not too keen on taking the refugees into Switzerland, and an American soldier had to be posted with him in the cabin to make sure that he cooperated. Once in Switzerland, the group was welcomed by the Red Cross and it wasn’t long before the camp in Rheinfelden became a center for many Jewish organizations, from Agudath Israel on the right to Hashomer Hatza’ir on the left, each trying to influence the youngsters to accept their particular ideology. Yoav was apathetic to the “soul hunt” going on all around him and refused to be taken in by any camp. He remained staunchly and unapologetically detached.

One Shabbos, a prominent visitor came to Rheinfelden. R’ Moshe Soloveitchik zt”l , a grandson of the famed R’ (Brisker) zt”l , had evaded the Polish army draft in 1937, and with a group of young men from Brisk, escaped to Switzerland. He continued his meteoric rise in Torah study in Yeshivah Etz Chaim in Montreux, Switzerland, and was already renowned as a gaon in all facets of Torah and halachah at a young age. With the outbreak of World War II, however, his idyllic life came to an end. He became a war refugee and was incarcerated in the Schonenberg labor camp near Basel, where he was put to work laying roads. Although it may have seemed harsh to him at the time, in truth, this was the standard procedure for all refugees; they were interned

296 * Heroes of Faith until their papers were processed and it was determined that they were law-abiding civilians who could be trusted that they were not secretly working for the enemy. Later, he was taken to a camp in Lucerne where he was able to continue his studies unabated.

As a guest of Agudath Israel in Rheinfelden, R’ Moshe spent a Shabbos in the camp where he surveyed the various factions competing against one another for members. Late in the afternoon, a minyan for Minchah was organized and a tenth man was needed to complete the minyan . Yoav happened to be walking by at that very moment, smoking a cigarette. Someone approached him and asked if he would be willing to be the tenth man for a minyan . At first Yoav turned away – he truly had no interest in partaking in a minyan . However, upon further reflection, he realized that although he had no interest in praying, he had no reason to deprive others of davening with a minyan . He wasn’t doing anything of importance anyway, and so he went inside.

Within minutes after the prayers began, it became apparent that they could not continue the services because no one knew how to read the Torah with the proper cantillations and accents. Even R’ Moshe Soloveitchik, who was standing at the front of the room, refused to read from the Torah, continuously urging someone else to do the job. But there was no one else; no one recalled the proper way to read from the scroll.

An announcement went out: “Is there anyone here who can read the Torah?” There was no response. Requests for someone who could read the Scriptures continued for quite some time. Finally, Yoav stood up and said that although he had not seen a Sefer Torah for a long time, he could probably still remember how to read it.

Liberation and Beyond * 297 The others looked at this bareheaded young man and wondered. They glanced over at R’ Moshe Soloveitchik, only to see him nodding his head in encouragement. Yoav put his cap on. Then, he took his place at the bimah , looked over the reading quickly in a Chumash , stood in front of the open scroll of the Sefer Torah , and began to chant the ancient melody and words. As he stood before the holy scrolls, he felt the letters reaching out to him from the parchment, fixing him in their grasp, riveting him to the spot in front of the Torah. He finished reading and wanted to step down, but the letters would not let him go; their grip on him was firm. The entire room was mesmerized by his performance and nobody moved a muscle. Yoav continued to stand in front of the scroll, long after he finished reading, and just stared at the words. The message was being transmitted right before his eyes. It was clearly the turning point in his life. He gave up his carefree lifestyle and embarked on the road to complete Torah observance. As he later observed, “The letters have not relinquished their grip on me to this very day.”

| THE REICHMANN FAMILY | A Loan Repaid

s the winds of war rapidly approached, most Jews in countries occupied by or maintaining cordial relations Awith Nazi Germany, concerned themselves with the real and mortal threat to their safety. A number of wealthy Jews were also preoccupied with the notion of saving their wealth for later retrieval after the war, by converting their soon-to-be worthless bank notes into gold and precious stones or transferring it to Swiss banks.

298 * Heroes of Faith