Small Miracles of the Holocaust
The newest in the Miracles’ series, SMALL MIRACLES OF THE HOLOCAUST Extraordinary Coincidences of Faith, Hope, and Survival (Lyons Press). Here are some excerpts that were included in an article by J. Mark from The Jewish Week. The remaining very interesting interview is on COLlive, a wonderful resource of Judaism, so alive and involved:
"Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal were little children sitting with their parents, survivors, in their respective Brooklyn shuls listening to the davening, comparing our lives to 'withering grass, a fading flower, passing shade, a dissipating cloud, blowing wind, flying dust, a fleeting dream.' Poetry? Journalism, in its way, the real first draft of history, our fate inscribed in a Book of Chronicles, 'Who will die in his time and who before his time,' while 'a still, thin sound will be heard.' "
Yitta is a remarkable story teller, she has an “ear” and “heart” for the unusual sounds of life that speak volumes. I first read Small Miracles for the Jewish Heart: Extraordinary Coincidences from Yesterday and Today. So charming, it was hard to put down. While “coincidences” appear in the subtitle, Yidis says, in her own words that, “To be attuned is to see this dialogue as … miracle rather than happenstance.” With this in mind I offer some of my own thoughts vis-a-vis the current swirling of world events, in italics beneath quoted passages from her new collection:
“God used to speak to us in a more obvious voice,” adds Yitta, “with more obvious miracles, but we’re in a time when God is more hidden. He reveals Himself in little taps on the shoulder, small moments of grace when we say ‘this had to have come from God.’ You have to slow down,” and not let the world’s cacophony “block out the sound from above.”
Since all events in the world are orchestrated by God, while it may appear that things are more hidden, I believe that we are actually witnessing giant and grand movements in the world’s chessgame by the Hand of God. Because they are ‘concealed’ within ‘nature’ they seem to be secular aberrations of politics, economy, weather, but I say they are moves on the chessboard of life, preparing the world for a stupendous Checkmate.
“There are signposts,” said Yidis (as Leventhal is known), “the ‘still, small voice of God’ speaks to us continuously. Many people write off coincidences as ‘mere’ coincidences. But to do that is to miss out on a message to you from above. If you are clued in, then you are led to your destiny. It’s a dialogue. To be attuned is to see this dialogue as a small miracle rather than happenstance.”
Today likewise we are witnessing those signposts, and these signposts are meant to speak to the Jews. As Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt'l would say, “Everything that happens in the world is only on account of the Jews.”
So, since this is the motive, what are doing about it? Are we 'seeking' these ‘messages’ in our lives, are we on the lookout for the ‘signs’ in world events, are our eyes and hearts open to what Hashem may be telling us, cautioning us about. How loud does the cacophany of ‘hatred’ and ‘antisemitism’ and vitriolic shoutings to the world’s press do we have to hear before we REMEMBER
“And Hashem said...then you will be holy to your God. I am Hashem, your God, Who took you out of Mitzrayim…” to serve your God, to be a nation an Am Kodesh. [from the Krias Shema]
....Devarim 15:37-41
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