I am writing to you from Austria where I have had the honor of being the scholar in residence for an amazing Jewish heritage tour in Western Europe. There are so many lessons to be learned when walking in the footsteps of our forefathers. I have felt the range of emotions from the pride of the Jewish communities who operated here for two thousand years and the tragic final solution which decimated European Jewry.
Earlier this week we traveled to Bratislava where I was able to visit the grave of the famed Chasam Sofer. Rabbi Moshe Sofer was the rabbi of Pressburg in the early 1800’s. His answers to complex questions and commentaries on all parts of Torah are widely studied today. He led the famous Pressburg Yeshiva which produced many noted Rabbis who led Hungarian Jewry.
During World War II, a decision was made to build a roadway on top of the Jewish graveyard. Through some negotiation at the time the community was able to encase part of the cemetery in concrete beneath the roadway, including the grave of the Chasam Sofer. A little over 20 years ago the grave was finally restored and one can visit it beneath the road.
I was extremely moved when I had the opportunity to pray at his grave. The love and respect that the Jewish people have for Torah and its disseminators was so great that they knew they had to preserve his grave. The fact that all these years later our Yeshiva in the heart of Jerusalem overlooking the Temple Mount has young Jews studying the Chasam Sofer’s Torah meant that we Jews have survived and continue to thrive.
From Bratislava we traveled to the infamous Mauthausen Concentration Camp where 100,000 Jews were butchered. I have been to many different camps over the years but this experience felt different. As I walked through the gas chamber and adjacent crematorium, I couldn’t help but think about the current circumstances in which world Jewry finds itself.
Once again, antisemitism has risen to a point where Jews are being assaulted for the simple fact that we are Jews. From Mauthausen, I saw images of violent protesters trying to storm the Israeli consulate in Chicago. From Mauthausen, I saw images of violent protestors trying to storm an event on antisemitism hosted by Agudath Israel. Once again we find ourselves being demonized and attacked, as we were 85 years ago.
As I walked out of this vile building I recorded a raw message for social media. I said that if any Jews have doubts about the righteousness of our direction as a Nation today, all they have to do is visit any of the gas chambers of Europe. Today the world is frustrated that the Jewish people have the most talented young people in the IDF ready to defend their brothers and sisters. We know that if we were to lay down our arms we would be slaughtered once again. We must support each other and Israel.
One of my traveling companions, Allen Fagin, is an old friend and mentor of mine. Allen served as the Executive Vice President and CEO of the Orthodox Union. He took me aside and said, “Now you know why your work at Aish is so important.” He emphasized that we must not stop doing what we are doing. I told him that I understood, and we shared a hug.
My friends, we live in scary and uncertain times. We are watching the world shift against our people in real time. Still, we know that we are right and just. Jews are a peace loving people. Yet, if attacked we will no longer accept the abuse.
The power of Torah will keep us united. The fact that our enemies went to such great lengths that they tried to erase the grave of one of the greatest European Rabbis and we would not allow it shows the strength of our people. The fact that the Chasam Sofer’s Torah is being studied across the world today means we have won. We have learned the lessons of history enough to know that Jews united on a physical and spiritual level will always emerge victorious. May the Almighty grant us the strength to continue to serve Him and remain committed to each other.
