The Refugees Shivered: This Is Israel's Answer to 'Mein Kampf'

Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky zt"l in his renowned book "Vehigadeta - Haggadah of Pesach" tells the following story:

"It was after the fall of Germany in World War II. We were in a refugee camp, in the section occupied by the Americans. There was plenty of free time, and the thirst for learning was great, but there were no books.

"They found one copy of the Talmud and made 100 copies of it. In honor of the publication, they held a celebration in a hall in Karlshorst. The camp rabbi, Rabbi Schenk, asked me to come to the hall and speak as a representative of the refugees.

"I replied that my appearance would embarrass them," continues Rabbi Galinsky, noting that his pants were short and torn, while the American soldiers were dressed in elegant uniforms. "And besides, I don't know English," he added.

"You will speak in Yiddish for the Jewish soldiers. They don't care how you're dressed," Rabbi Schenk replied.

Rabbi Galinsky continued to ask: "Why in a city hall, why not hold the event in the dining room of the camp?"

Rabbi Schenk gave chilling reasons: "In this hall, in Karlshorst, Hitler announced his book 'Mein Kampf', my battle, where he declared war on the Jewish people and his plan for their annihilation. At the same meeting, he boasted that there would be no trace of them left except in a museum, as remnants of a nation extinct from the world."

When Rabbi Galinsky heard this, he agreed to speak. "I have something to say," he said.

"In the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 84:5) it is written a parable of a blacksmith who saw a caravan of camels laden with much flax entering an alley, and feared: the alley is narrow and the flax will be pushed and enter his shop and fill it! A wise man told him: 'What are you afraid of, if the flax enters your shop - one spark from your bellows will consume it all,'" Rabbi Galinsky told the attentive refugees.

"So when Jacob our forefather saw all the chiefs of Esau, he was afraid. He said: 'Who will stand against all of them for me?' Hashem told him: 'The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau will be stubble, and they shall kindle and devour them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for Hashem has spoken!' (Obadiah 1:18).

"The enemy declared war on the Jewish people, thought to destroy it, and who did not fear that his plot would succeed? And what is the end? He was vanquished and destroyed, and we rise from the ashes thanks to the Torah, which is compared to fire," Rabbi Galinsky proclaimed and concluded loudly! "'Is not My word like fire, says Hashem' (Jeremiah 23:29), and this is our celebration today with the printing of the Talmud."

The platform still exists, Hitler does not exist, but the Jewish people live and endure forever. Watch:

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