[Jewish True Tales] The Western Wall
6 views
Skip to first unread message
Lawrence J. Epstein
Mar 24, 2011, 1:00:12 PM3/24/11
to jewisht...@googlegroups.com
[http://www.jewishtruetales.com]
In 1991, I was co-teaching a course on the Holocaust. The person I was teaching with invited a survivor to speak to the class. I hadn't met the man, a jeweler named Mendy Berger. So, I sat in the classroom and listened as Mendy told his harrowing story.
He had been on a death march. He had faced starvation. He had stared at dead bodies. When Mendy finished talking, there was utter silence. No one could move. Mendy asked if there were any questions, but the students were so shocked they didn't know what to say. I felt someone had to fill the silence, and so I blurted out an entirely inappropriate question, "Do you still believe in God?"
Mendy paused for a few seconds and then he told a story. He said after the war he had married a woman who had survived the camps. The couple tried to have children but they could not. They consulted many doctors, but no one gave them any promise. They accepted their fate.
After the Israeli victory in 1967, the couple rushed to Jerusalem. They wanted to pray at the Western Wall, formerly known as the Wailing Wall, that remaining part of a wall that surrounded the ancient Temple's courtyard and the holiest site in Judaism. Mendy and his wife arrived very late in Jerusalem. He wanted to visit the Wall immediately, but his wife said she was exhausted and told him to see the Wall alone. He did.
When he got there and stared at the Wall, he began to cry, unable to pray because of anger with God. Suddenly a young man was there, a student. Mendy stared because the young man looked very much as Mendy had once looked before being sent to the camps. The student went over to Mendy reminding him of the ancient tradition of writing a note on a piece of paper and placing it in the Wall. The student kept encouraging him, and so finally Mendy took some paper and wrote "I want a baby" in Hebrew. He stuffed the paper into the Wall. A few minutes later, Mendy looked for the young student, but he had disappeared.
Ten months later Mendy and his wife had a baby girl.
--
Posted By Lawrence J. Epstein to Jewish True Tales at 3/24/2011 01:00:00 PM
He had been on a death march. He had faced starvation. He had stared at dead bodies. When Mendy finished talking, there was utter silence. No one could move. Mendy asked if there were any questions, but the students were so shocked they didn't know what to say. I felt someone had to fill the silence, and so I blurted out an entirely inappropriate question, "Do you still believe in God?"
Mendy paused for a few seconds and then he told a story. He said after the war he had married a woman who had survived the camps. The couple tried to have children but they could not. They consulted many doctors, but no one gave them any promise. They accepted their fate.
After the Israeli victory in 1967, the couple rushed to Jerusalem. They wanted to pray at the Western Wall, formerly known as the Wailing Wall, that remaining part of a wall that surrounded the ancient Temple's courtyard and the holiest site in Judaism. Mendy and his wife arrived very late in Jerusalem. He wanted to visit the Wall immediately, but his wife said she was exhausted and told him to see the Wall alone. He did.
When he got there and stared at the Wall, he began to cry, unable to pray because of anger with God. Suddenly a young man was there, a student. Mendy stared because the young man looked very much as Mendy had once looked before being sent to the camps. The student went over to Mendy reminding him of the ancient tradition of writing a note on a piece of paper and placing it in the Wall. The student kept encouraging him, and so finally Mendy took some paper and wrote "I want a baby" in Hebrew. He stuffed the paper into the Wall. A few minutes later, Mendy looked for the young student, but he had disappeared.
Ten months later Mendy and his wife had a baby girl.
--
Posted By Lawrence J. Epstein to Jewish True Tales at 3/24/2011 01:00:00 PM
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages