The First Sukkot After The War - Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

[Music] 1946 the very first y Kipper after the war they had just finished CRA in a displaced person Camp called feldin which was a gathering of many of the broken shells those those who had survived the terrible catastrophe and were groping to put the shattered pieces of their lives back together they just finished CRA and on that day General Eisenhower the supreme commander of the Allied Forces and later the 34th president of the United States came to visit a few days earlier they had been told that General Eisenhower was going to visit their DP camp and when the general would come there would have to be a represent ative of the camp someone to greet him to give a speech maybe there would be a few speeches and the representative would have to give over their message someone who could describe their feelings to vent the storm inside their souls and a dispute arose who should be appointed for the task the sh in the camp the observant in the camp they maintained that only the kenberg rebba only the great rebba someone although he himself had lost his wife and 11 children he was the one who went from one broken Nama to the next breathing life into the Embers to reignite the spark of yahad they said who could better represent us than the kenberg Reba who can better give over our feelings only the rebba the father of all the orphans in the camp only he can represent us but the more Progressive ones the more enlightened ones the ones who had forsaken Ty Mitzvah they said no not the rebba we've long forgotten about that type of Judaism we don't want to bring that back again it's an embarrassment to us we want to have someone who could speak to to the general a man of the present a man of today someone we don't have to be ashamed of and there was a big argument and many other the people insisted no only the rebba and they prevailed but there was a compromise the others insisted okay you can have the rebba speak but there was going to be three conditions the rebba could speak first but number one he cannot mention the name of God number two he cannot give any muser he can't give any rebuke and number three he has to speak very briefly because we'll be appointing our representative after him we'll have one of our people speak following the rabba and so Eisenhower came and they set up a big platform a stage and they set him up at the table and the Clen bbba goes up to the podium to greet him and just as he's going up the rebba grabs a Talis he wraps himself in the Talis and he makes so the rebba managed to mention the name of Hashem he greeted the general he thanked him he said General we will forever be grateful to you for the part that you played in saving the lives of a people The Last Remnant of a Nation persecuted hounded murdered totally innocent of any crime we thank you for the part that you played and we will forever be grateful and then he turned to his brothers and sisters to the Jewish people and he began to encourage them he said my dear brothers and sisters we must never forget that we are the am Hashem we must never forget we have a we have a purpose in this world to proclaim the greatness to and if the almighty saw fit to save our lives and we serve survive we have to realize we have to understand there is a purpose and we have a mission in this world and as the rebba is speaking he's literally tugging on the heartstrings of all these broke injes and the people began to cry there were many said they hadn't cried the entire time that they were in the camps the Wellsprings of Tears had long dried up and the thousands of people who were listening were crying rivers of Tears flowed through this assembly Eisenhower was shaken to the coure he was visibly and profoundly moved and all the others who had prepared speeches they said no they can't speak there there's nothing left to say there was nothing left to say and Eisenhower turned to the kenberg rabba and he said holy Rabbi tell me what can I do for you what can I do for your people clabel looks eyes in how in the eye who knows what he's going to ask for the rebba says today is y Kipper 4 days left till suus please General can you bring us arim can you bring us the four species can you get us the lul of an asri that's all we ask for that's all we need Eisenhower could not believe his ears and on that day Eisenhower dispatched a plane to travel to Italy and to bring them the Dal Min upon Liberation our revered grandfather of blessed memory gladin who was a survivor of all the dark places of D of ASW he was a student of zba zba he had SM before the war from he was educated he knew English and he was appointed by the American Army as the head of the religious Department Of The Joint distribution committee and in that capacity he was able to help the survivors he imported for them Tash he printed the first for the survivors the D of the schma of the V but he also served as the translator for General Eisenhower when Eisenhower visited feldafing on that fateful young Kipper and he was also the kenberg rebba translator to Eisenhower and when Eisenhower shipped in those DAL meim to the DP Camp those dalim arrived at the desk of harav M La glance he was the he was the Heavenly Messenger to distribute theim to hundreds and thousands of survivors that very first suus after the war we are proud to share that our grandfather was the one who received those doad minum from General Dwight Eisenhower and distributed those do meim in the very first sucus after the war to the wishing everyone