Rommel and The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh
(Excerpt from The Rabbi of 84th Street: The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser:)
That Tuesday (the 15th of Tammuz) was the yohrtzeit of one of the greatest rabbonim in history, Rav Chaim ben Atar, also known as the Ohr HaChaim. Rav ben Atar lived during the eighteenth century and was renowned for perhaps the most brilliant commentary on the Bible – one that is studied to this day. He is buried in Har Hazeisim, Mount of Olives, the famous cemetery in Yerushalayim.
So, with Rommel poised at Palestine's doorstep and no conceivable protection for the population, thousands of religious Jews turned to the only power they knew. They turned to Hashem and fervent prayer – one that seemed to come from their souls. A fast day on the yohrtzeit was declared by the Rebbes. Upwards of twenty thousand people went to pray at this man's grave.
Beryl Ludmir (whose son was to get married the next week) accompanied the Husiatiner Rebbe to the grave. While the Rebbe prayed, Beryl noticed that he seemed to fix his eyes on the words chiseled on the gravestone.
