Rav Shach and the Chassid

Rav Shach and the Chassid

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the passing of Harav Shach zt”l, here is a moving story about Rav Shach that appeared in the newly-released book Song of Teshuva by Rav Moshe Weinberger

There was a Chassidic Jew in Bnei Brak who had lost everything during WWII and was spiritually broken. One day he came to pour his heart out to Rav Menachem Man Shach, who was not at all Chassidic, but who understood full well the pain of a broken Chassidic heart.

This Jew told what had happened to him and said, “I cannot even pray anymore.”

Rav Shach said, “What Chassidic group do you belong to?”

The man told him, and Rav Shach began to hum a niggun, a tune, from that group. The Chassid closed his eyes and hummed the niggun together with Rav Shach, until he started to cry.

Rav Shach said, “For a Chassid, it’s not enough to sing a niggun. We have to dance.” So Rav Shach stood up and danced with this Jew for a long time.

Afterwards this Jew could pray again. Rav Shach did not give him a theological explanation about where God was during the Holocaust.

He knew that this niggun was still inside that Jew, hidden underneath the pile of ashes from Auschwitz.

One comment

  1. Here’s a blog with tons of great articles about Rav Shachzt”l:

    http://zichronaviezri.blogspot.com/

    and here’s divrei Torah and mussar from Rav Shach:

    http://divreiaviezri.blogspot.com/

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