Recreating the achdus of times past by Rabbi Y. Reuvein Rubin Shlita

Recreating the achdus of times past

I have to confess that I am addicted to old pictures of previous Torah leaders. The walls in my small office at home are festooned with the holy faces of tzaddikim of yesteryear, some of whom I had the merit to meet. This week I was treated to a new find. It seems that lying in some vault in the old Fox News archives is a five minute film of Gedolei Yisroel attending the Knessia Gedola in Vienna, 1924. In the few moments of the clip (can be viewed at the bottom of this post) we see such luminaries as The Chortkover Rebbe ztl, Rav Menachem Zemba ztl, Reb Elchonon Wasserman, The Rav of Varsha, Rav Perlmutter ztl with a top hat and snow white thick long peyos, The Bendiner Rav ztl, and most astoundingly, the Chofetz Chaim ztl arriving in his well-worn trademark workman’s hat. This must be the clearest image we have of the tzaddik whose impact we all feel today, and it is not the one often used on the cover of his seforim. Interspersed amongst these tzaddikim in this rare footage are simple Yidden, obviously excited, staring at these holy men and yet consciously playing to the new technology of the movie camera.

I found myself watching these images over and over again, and as a close friend whispered after watching the film, “You just don’t want it to finish.” My heart wanted to feel the air they were breathing, sense the kedusha their presence created. Raised on stories of just such events, it filled in the gaps of how my imagination pictured things to have been.

I sense that this treasure has come to light just now, in Adar, a month when we seek to bring greater simcha into our lives, because many of us are feeling particularly broken. Great tzaddikim have been taken from us recently. London is shrouded in a blanket of sorrow as the impact of Rav Chuna’s petirah strikes home. Yidden are being targeted by terrorists who seek to destroy us. Even from within we find those seeking to hurt and defame Torah-true Yiddishkeit. There are so many reasons to be sad, and then something like this film is given to us as a gift, to tell us that we are part of a Klal Yisroel that has weathered many storms and has been gifted with great leadership. This film must have lain in some long forgotten corner of a disused building, waiting to be found just when we need its uplifting message. ‘Mishenichnas Adar Marbin Besimchah’, the Be’er Haparsha of Rav Meilech Biderman points out, in reference to the Gemoro in Eruvin where Shmuel said to his student, Rav Yehuda: “clever student, grab food and drink (representing the mitzvos) because this world is like a wedding hall.” Rashi explains: “The world is like a chasunah, which passes quickly. It is here today, gone tomorrow.”

Life is short, and therefore, Shmuel tells us, we must grab the opportunities that life gives us. When the opportunity to perform a mitzvah comes your way, it is worth grabbing it immediately, because we are not in this world forever. Notice that this sombre advice is set in the background of a wedding. Tzaddikim tell us that Shmuel wanted to teach Rav Yehuda another essential lesson, in addition to his admonition: one must be careful with his time, and grasp as many mitzvos and good deeds as he can. Shmuel wanted to impart how people should live. He called this world a wedding hall, because just as at a wedding, everyone is happy, so too this is the way we should live in this world with joy. Another Gemoro says that in Adar, one should marbim besimchah (increase his simcha). The Rebbe of Ruzhin ztl noticed that Chazal do not say that one should be happy in Adar. They say one should increase his simcha. This is because one should be happy every day of the year, only during Adar, he should be happier than usual.

Simcha should be the default position of a Yid; no matter what life throws our way, our hearts must focus on Hashem’s love for us. Yes, we will have times when we may not understand how this benevolence is playing out in our reality, but “Ivdu es Hashem besimcha, Serve Hashem with happiness,” is not just a short quip suitable to be danced too; it’s the true avodah for every Jew.

Looking at that film reminded me of how dark clouds were already forming over Klal Yisroel all those many years ago. Assimilation was rampant, and anti-Semitism was on the rise. Yet, if you look into the faces of those Yidden you see a sense of positive purpose and calm. The tzaddikim and the attendees were excited; they were doing something together. That strength of our oneness should serve as a point of strength that hopefully reverberates till this day. In the few fleeting moments of that film, you see Yidden dressed in many different styles. The Polisher Yid in his long coat and cap, the Rabbonim with their large hats, German Rabbonim with smart frocks, and more. Yet they were together, sharing and caring. That early Aguda convention broke the ice and introduced Yidden from all corners of the Torah world to one another and to history.

We are living in broken times; now a film has come from the past to lead us to the future. Maybe we should cherish its message not with nostalgia but with the clarion call its makers sounded. “Yidden, gather together!”

The only true simcha is when we all share the same wedding hall that is life. Amalek and his ilk may plot and deceive, yet Klal Yisroel comes together and nothing can stop them. Haman thought he had all the answers, but Yidden fasted and davened as one and he ended up totally disgraced, the tool for all future remembrance of Hashem’s love for His people. May our Redemption come soon, and may the merit of our shared respect and support bring that date even earlier. If you get the chance, look at the faces in that old archive film, notice their warmth, and know it is possible today.

(Below is the clip mentioned in the article)