In the large synagogue in Munich, people prayed every day at dawn, at half past six. Most of the worshippers were, so to speak, “graduates” of the extermination camps, most of whose families were murdered in the Holocaust. On religious holidays, at “Yiskor”, almost all the worshippers (there were still several hundred of them) said Kaddish together in great excitement.
Among those who regularly came to pray was the late Reb Yaakov (Yankele) Vignansky. A dear and friendly Jew. Reb Yankele arrived punctually for prayers, but began to talk about life before the war in the small town where he was born and in the “Cheider” where he learnt as a child and about the people he knew – who were no longer there.
My father זצ “ל – the Rabbi of Munich at the time – would delay the start of the prayer and say: “First we will hear what Reb Yankele says – and only when he too is ready to pray – will we start the prayer.”
I asked father – why do you delay the prayer by a few minutes every day – just to hear Reb Yankele’s words about his little town?
His answer remained forever engraved in my heart: “Reb Yankele never forgets for a moment what happened to the people of Israel during the years of wrath. Every morning – when he enters the synagogue, he is overcome with a feeling of pain and great sadness.” But immediately he comes to his senses, and by reminding us all of the past, he prepares himself – and us – to pray for the present and the future …
May the memory of Reb Jacob be blessed, and together with all the Kedoshim of the people of Israel, may the right of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel to be saved from all our murderous enemies who threaten us with destruction.
Best regards and wishes and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Chaim Michael Biberfeld