Salvation in Debrecen
Story by Yaakov Rosenfeld, Ganzach Kiddush Hashem
Commemorating the 100th yahrzeit (anniversary of the passing) of Rabbi Yeshaya of Kerestir
The Second World War came to an end, leaving behind broken-hearted Jews scattered here and there throughout Eastern Europe.
In the city of Debrecen, too, there were some shell-shocked Jews living, trying to rebuild, and among them was a small family; a father, mother, and daughter, who had previously been Torah and mitzvah observant.
The father and mother both sadly abandoned their heritage. They became secular, but the daughter went one step further, deciding to break away completely.
She befriended a gentile boy and informed her parents that she intended to marry him.
The parents could no longer agree to this, but no matter how much they cried, begged, shouted, explained, and threatened, the girl became even more entrenched in her decision, announcing over and over again that the decision had been made and nothing would dissuade her from it.
One of their neighbours was the shochet (ritual slaughterer) Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Deutsch z”l, a chassidic Jew, pleasant and friendly. The differences in outlook between the father and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman were polar, and therefore there was almost no contact between the two. However, when the father realized that his predicament was dire, he overcame himself and knocked on his charedi (ultra-Orthodox) neighbor’s door. In his distress, the Jew recounted what was happening in his home and asked for advice.
This happened a few days before the yahrzeit of Rabbi Yeshaya ben (son of) Rabbi Moshe, and then an idea flashed in the heart of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman.
“I’m traveling tomorrow to the grave of the tzaddik (righteous man) in Kerestir, who was a lofty righteous man and a miracle worker. Join me on the trip and pray there. I’m sure your prayers in the right place will bear fruit!”
This Jew did not believe in anything at the time, and the shochet did not easily succeed in convincing him, but the shochet’s words came from the heart, and in the end they entered the heart of the caring father, and so the two traveled together to the grave of Rabbi Yeshaya ben Rabbi Moshe, on the day of his yahrzeit.
And there, in Kerestir, the heart of the lost Jew opened. He was so far away that Rabbi Shlomo Zalman had to show him in the siddur (prayerbook) what to say and how, but the tears flowed, and his heart overflowed. Thus the father stood for a long time at the holy grave and begged for the soul of his daughter, that she would not be assimilated among the gentiles.
When the father returned to his home in Debrecen, he noticed his daughter sitting at home and doing nothing. He looked at her face and saw that she was sad. The parents asked the daughter what had happened, and she answered bitterly:
“I do not want to marry that man!”
“What happened?”
The girl told:
We went to buy utensils for the new house, and I showed him some set that I liked. Suddenly he looked at me with angry eyes and fumed at me: “You dirty Jewess!” He shouted in hatred. “You won’t tell me what’s beautiful and what’s not beautiful!”
I was amazed and continued the shopping trip with him, and again, I showed him some utensil that I liked, and he, as if madness had overtaken him, began to bark again: “You loyal and submissive dog, get used to being with me, and don’t you dare express opinions about anything!”
“It was already too much for me. I informed him on the spot that I was done with him, and here I am. And I inform you: I am not marrying this man.”
After a brief investigation, everyone realized that the “groom’s” senseless attack occurred at the exact time the father was at the grave of the tzaddik, on Iyar 3, his yahrzeit, about eighty years ago!
In the end, G-d put a pure spirit in the girl’s heart, and she immigrated to the Land of Israel and established a bayit ne’eman b’Yisrael (a home faithful to Jewish tradition).
